Wallsend St Peter’s CofE Aided Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are friendly in this welcoming school.

Most work hard in lessons and enjoy earning reward points for demonstrating positive behaviour. Pupils trust staff to help them. This helps pupils to stay safe in school.

Pupils understand about bullying, including online bullying. Staff take action to sort out any issues.

Leaders' high expectations for all pupils are not fully achieved.

This includes expectations for pupils' behaviour. Some subjects in the curriculum are not as well developed as others. There is variability in how well some curriculum subjects are taught across the school.

This means that pupils, including those in the early yea...rs, do not gain the important knowledge that they need to achieve well in all subjects. Leaders have not checked how well the curriculum is taught in all subjects.

Pupils know the school's core values.

Older pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities, such as being a buddy to younger pupils or becoming a school councillor. They value the local and school environment, taking responsibility by picking up litter and recycling. Pupils enjoy the increasing number of visits and visitors.

This helps them to understand how to stay safe, including when online.

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

There have been significant changes to leadership, governance and staff since the previous inspection. Many staff are new this year.

Current senior leaders and governors are implementing much-needed improvements. Leaders have a clear picture of what they still need to do. Many changes are recent and not fully embedded.

As a result, pupils, including children in the early years, do not achieve as well as they should.

Leaders have made sure that all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), access the full curriculum. In some subjects, such as English, mathematics and geography, the curriculum contains detail about what pupils need to learn at each stage.

Leaders ensure that staff are well trained to teach the curriculum. However, some staff are new to the school and have not had the benefit of this training. Some foundation subjects are not planned well enough.

Consequently, staff do not have the information that they need to teach these subjects well. Some subject leaders are new to their role. They have not made checks on how well curriculum subjects are taught, therefore they do not have all the information they need to support teachers well enough to improve their practice.

Leaders have prioritised reading. Pupils enjoy listening to staff read to them. Most pupils enjoy listening to stories such as 'Sally and the Limpet', by Simon James.

These stories help pupils to understand the vocabulary for the topics they are studying. Pupils enjoy earning raffle tickets for reading often. Leaders make sure that there is consistency in the teaching of phonics.

Staff use assessment well to ensure that pupils read books that match their phonic knowledge. Pupils who need extra help have support to help them catch up. This means that pupils at the early stages of reading are achieving well.

Leaders work with external agencies to ensure that pupils with SEND have their needs identified. Some staff tailor support and resources to meet pupils' needs in lessons, for example by simplifying instructions into manageable steps. However, not all staff know how to adapt activities to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve success.

Children in the early years are happy and settled because staff care for their needs effectively. The new curriculum makes clear the important knowledge that children need to learn to prepare them for Year 1. Most staff are clear about what children need to learn.

Activities are purposeful and match the curriculum well in most areas of learning. For example, in Nursery, children use resources to show the number of children attending. However, the curriculum in the early years has recently been introduced.

Many children do not have the knowledge and skills to prepare them well enough for Year 1.

Many pupils show positive attitudes to learning. However, in some lessons, not all staff support pupils' behaviour well.

As a result, learning is occasionally disrupted. Some staff do not apply the school's behaviour management system consistently.

The curriculum for pupils' personal development is helping pupils to understand how to live healthy lives.

Pupils understand differences in families, cultures and religions. They enjoy listening to visitors in assemblies. For example, a recent visit from an imam spoke to pupils about racism.

This helps pupils to understand that discrimination is wrong. Leaders have introduced a range of activities and events. However, they are not planned in a coherent way.

This makes it difficult for leaders to check how well pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain.

Governors know what needs to be done to improve in the school. They ensure that staff are well supported.

Staff are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff receive safeguarding training.

This means that staff are alert to any concerns that may indicate that pupils need help. Safeguarding concerns are reported promptly. Leaders have ensured that there are thorough and clear safeguarding procedures in place.

They make sure that safeguarding concerns are followed up in a timely manner. Leaders make effective use of external agencies to get help for pupils and their families when it is needed. Governors and leaders ensure that checks are made for anyone who works at the school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, leaders have not mapped out the important knowledge that they want pupils to know and revisit. This means that pupils do not develop a deep understanding of these subjects. Leaders should identify the knowledge and skills that pupils should learn and revisit over time for each subject.

• Leaders do not know how well the curriculum for all subjects is being implemented. This means that leaders do not have all the information they need to give teachers helpful feedback and appropriate support to develop their practice and subject knowledge. As a result, there is variability in how well the curriculum is taught, including in the early years and core subjects.

Leaders should monitor how effectively the curriculum is implemented across the school and continue to provide teachers with support to improve where necessary. ? Pupils with SEND are, at times, not being supported effectively in their learning. Some staff do not know how to make adaptations to tasks that enable pupils with SEND to learn and remember the intended curriculum.

This includes pupils with specific behaviour needs. Leaders need to provide further training for all staff to ensure that they fully understand how to adapt learning effectively to meet pupils' needs. ? Some staff are not using the school's behaviour policy consistently well.

As a result, pupils' behaviour occasionally disrupts learning. Leaders should ensure that all staff are consistent in their approach to managing poor behaviour. ? The curriculum for pupils' personal development has been introduced recently.

Some aspects of the curriculum, such as the wide range of opportunities to develop and nurture interests, are not planned in a coherent way. Pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they could be. Leaders need to ensure that wider opportunities and enrichment activities are planned to support pupils' personal development more effectively.