Wootton St Peter’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Wootton St Peter's Church of England Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's vision that 'Our children become the rocks upon which a better world can be built', is reflected in the sense of community that pervades the school. Pupils are caring and considerate members of their school community.

They treat others with compassion and show respect for difference in all its forms. Pupils are proud to fulfil their leadership roles. As house captains, reading and playground buddies or collective worship monitors, pupils learn how to make a positive contribution to school ...life.

Social times are joyous and safe. Pupils appreciate the various activities and play equipment that are provided for them. Throughout the school, there are warm and productive relationships between pupils and staff.

Pupils trust that staff want the best for them. Pupils recognise and respect the high expectations of adults in the school. They consistently meet these by being kind and following the rules and routines of the playground and classrooms well.

This is a happy school, where all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. The school is ambitious for what pupils will experience. Pupils benefit from having their needs well known and met by staff.

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

Across the curriculum, the school has identified the knowledge that pupils need to know and in what order. This is especially secure in core subject areas, where the sequence of key knowledge is coherently designed and built upon from the early years onwards. In Reception, children secure the early literacy and numeracy knowledge they need to be ready for learning in Year 1.

There are some non-core subject areas in which the sequence of learning is not precisely defined. The school has decided the knowledge outcomes in these subjects but has not fully thought through the steps of learning that will help pupils to achieve those outcomes. Subsequently, pupils are learning in these subjects, but not as well as they could be.

Through most of the curriculum, pupils achieve well and confidently talk about what they have learned. This is reflected in the highly positive published outcomes for the school in 2024.

Staff know well the subjects that they teach.

They design activities that help pupils to build their knowledge securely over time. Staff make effective checks on how well pupils are learning. When they spot that a pupil has fallen behind, they make accurate changes to activities to close any gaps in knowledge.

This is evident in the expert teaching of phonics. When staff identify that a pupil needs extra help with their reading, additional activities are put in place to ensure that these pupils have the knowledge to be confident and accurate readers.

The school is tenacious in its work to support the increasingly complex needs of pupils who enter the school.

The school creates specific and ambitious targets for pupils with SEND. Consequently, the provision for these pupils is precise and meets a range of needs very well. The school works well with external agencies to provide the specialist support required by those with the most complex needs.

From Nursery onwards, pupils learn the routines and behaviour expectations of the school. Children in the early years stage follow these expectations well and are focused and motivated learners. These positive attitudes to learning are seen throughout the school.

Lesson times are calm and purposeful. Low-level disruption is extremely rare but managed well by staff if it does occur. A small number of pupils with SEND can find it difficult to manage their emotions.

When this happens, they are skilfully supported by staff and helped to re-engage with learning.

Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. In personal, social and health education (PSHE), pupils take part in discussions and debates, where they learn to recognise and value their views, as well as those of others.

Pupils also learn about different cultures and religions in the local community and beyond. During PSHE lessons, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. They learn about safety in the community through visits from the fire service and police.

School leaders are precise in their evaluations and know what they need to do to move the school forward. Staff are proud to work here. They are motivated by the school's vision and benefit from the quality professional development they receive.

They know that their views will be heard and acted on. Governors work well with the school to ensure that the best possible provision is in place for its pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not refined the curriculum in a small number of non-core subjects. This means that pupils are not learning as well as they could through the entire curriculum. The school should make sure that in all subjects taught, there is a progression of knowledge sequenced towards ambitious endpoints so that pupils can build coherent knowledge effectively over time.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in March 2019.