Swanage St Mark’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Swanage St Mark's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is Rebecca Martin.

The school is part of the Coastal Learning Partnership, which means that other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Paul Howieson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Louise Ellis.

What is it like to attend this school?

Swanage St Mark's is a happy, nurturing and vibrant school where pupils' well-being and personal development underpin everything.

Children thrive when they join in the early years and, for the pupils who join the school at othe...r times, staff ensure they quickly become settled. Pupils behave exceptionally well. They are polite, kind and respectful towards one another and staff.

They have absolute confidence that staff will help them to learn well and will listen to them when they need support.

Pupils love reading. Children in Reception enjoy immersing themselves in books and listening to stories throughout the day.

As pupils get older, they continue to read to adults almost every day. Listening to stories while enjoying toast is a highlight of many pupils' days. The curriculum is well planned.

Staff are knowledgeable and pupils enjoy their lessons.

Pupils feel part of their wider community. They are proud of their school and are motivated to learn.

They enjoy a wide range of additional activities on offer. The school is proud of its commitment to competitive sports, for example. The school works effectively with families and other community groups to enable pupils to develop their talents and interests.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has thought carefully about what pupils need to know in each subject. It has broken this knowledge down and has clear expectations about how staff should teach pupils so that pupils know more and remember more. For example, teachers help pupils to recall prior learning using 'flashbacks' before teaching new knowledge.

This is mostly effective. In addition, staff check pupils' learning over time. This enables the school to accurately identify where pupils have gaps in their understanding.

Occasionally, the activities pupils complete are not precisely matched to content in the curriculum and what leaders intend pupils to learn. The oversight of some parts of the curriculum is not as strong as in others.

The school's published outcomes last year were low in some areas.

The school has responded robustly. The impact of the school's actions is evident in how well current pupils learn reading, writing and mathematics. Additionally, the school's work to tackle poor attendance, a factor linked to previous weaker attainment, has been successful.

Significant improvement has been made in this area.

The school has effective systems in place to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These children are well supported and receive additional help, if needed.

Staff confidently adapt learning in lessons, if appropriate. Pupils who speak English as an additional language thrive at this school. This is, in part, as a result of the highly effective phonics provision, which enables these pupils, and others, to learn to read quickly and to develop a love of books.

Children in the early years enjoy their phonics lessons, rapidly learning the routines and actions that help them to match letters to sounds. Older pupils who are at the early stages of reading regularly read books matched to the sounds they know. Staff know pupils individually and work relentlessly to ensure all pupils can read well.

The learning environment in the school is purposeful and inviting. Children in Reception learn and play for extended periods because every activity has been carefully planned. They use equipment respectfully and talk to one another about their learning.

Staff consistently use language to model conversation and build on children's growing understanding of the world around them. The early years provision is a strength of the school.

Learning is not disrupted by poor behaviour.

If pupils are struggling, staff provide exemplary pastoral support to ensure children are ready to learn. As a result, pupils feel safe and well cared for. Additionally, pupils are supportive of one another if they do not meet the school's high expectations.

They are forgiving and learn from their mistakes. Their understanding of British values shines through in their behaviour.

Nearly all pupils take part in additional clubs and activities, including cookery, Eco Club and an array of sports.

There are many opportunities to become pupil leaders and to represent the school. Staff work tenaciously to make links with sports coaches and other organisations to widen access to art, music and sport for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and pupils with SEND. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and recognise risks, including online.

The school has faced a number of challenges within its community. With support from the trust and local governors, staff have maintained a tireless focus on the pupils and continue to provide a good quality of education. They are outward-facing and reflective, so continue to refine the curriculum and drive improvement where needed.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The implementation of the curriculum in a few areas is less effective than in others. For example, activity choices are not always closely matched to the intended learning outcome, or challenging reading is not always appropriately scaffolded.

This means that pupils do not always learn what has been identified in the curriculum. The trust must ensure that leadership at all levels is able to check the effectiveness of the curriculum so all pupils learn what is intended.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2018.

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