St Andrew's CofE Primary School

Overview

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), “thrive” at this school and are “happy” with a “positive attitude to learning.” The report highlights an “ambitious curriculum” that has been overhauled since the previous inspection, resulting in pupils making “steady progress” and achieving well across subjects. Leaders have maintained a strong focus on improvement despite facing significant challenges, including fire and flood damage.

Strengths

• The curriculum is “broad and balanced,” with a “sensible order” for building knowledge that ensures pupils have “secure foundations.”
• Reading is “central” to the curriculum, supported by “high-quality texts” and a “well-established phonics programme” delivered consistently well.
• Pupils value their “diverse community,” settling quickly and showing respect for others, while leadership roles help develop their “wider talents.”
• Staff identify additional needs “quickly and effectively,” ensuring pupils with SEND receive timely support and access to the same curriculum as their peers.
• Leaders have remained “focused on addressing the issues raised during the previous inspection,” with pupils’ outcomes “improving apace.”

Areas to improve

• Leaders should “finalise their curriculum thinking in the early years” by identifying individual learning steps, as the curriculum in one or two areas is currently “under-developed.”
• Leaders must ensure pupils with gaps in reading knowledge, particularly some with SEND or learning English, are supported to “catch up with their peers as quickly as possible.”

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective,” with staff well-trained to keep pupils safe and concerns passed on in a “timely fashion.”