St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Hitchin

Overview: Pupils are happy in the nurturing atmosphere at St Andrew's, where they are enthusiastic and inquisitive learners. The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour and achievement, and pupils work hard and achieve very well, particularly in core subjects.

Strengths:

• The school's curriculum is ambitious and well-planned, with leaders ensuring that pupils build knowledge effectively towards clearly identified endpoints.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and explain new learning well, teaching pupils the specific vocabulary needed for each subject.
• The school has refined its systems for identifying pupils with SEND, and provision for these pupils is carefully planned to meet their needs.
• Pupils behave well, with positive attitudes to learning leading most pupils to attend well.

Areas to improve:

• There are inconsistencies in the way teachers check pupils' learning, address misconceptions and provide pupils with the time and information needed to improve their written work.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.