Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary School

Overview

Leaders have “completely reversed the fortunes” of the school, raising ambitions and ensuring pupils receive a “good quality of education.” Pupils are described as “happy” and “confident readers,” achieving well across many subjects while demonstrating high expectations for behaviour.

Strengths

• A “new and well-designed curriculum” clearly identifies learning goals, with the ‘St Paul’s Way’ approach helping pupils “remember what they have learned over the long term.”
• Teachers carry out “effective checks on pupils’ learning” to overcome misconceptions and adapt delivery well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Leaders “promote a love of reading,” with teachers delivering the phonics programme “consistently well” so pupils become “fluent, confident readers.”
• Staff morale is high due to a “supportive environment” created by leaders, who actively support staff workload and well-being.
• Pupils are “well prepared for their move to high school” and develop a strong understanding of equality and democracy.

Areas to improve

• Subject leaders need “sufficient oversight of curriculum delivery” to fully support teachers and evaluate what is going well in their subjects.
• Systems to record and evaluate behaviour incidents are “not as robust as they could be,” limiting leaders’ ability to identify patterns in pupils’ conduct.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective,” with staff well-trained to identify concerns and work with agencies to ensure pupils receive necessary help.