St Luke's Primary School

Overview

St Luke’s Primary School continues to be a good school, providing a happy and supportive environment where staff are ‘champions for every child’. The curriculum is ambitious and personalised for pupils with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), with a strong emphasis on developing communication skills. Leaders maintain high expectations, ensuring pupils feel safe and well cared for through effective behaviour monitoring and strong relationships.

Strengths

• The curriculum is ‘personalised for pupils with complex SEND’, sequenced logically to build knowledge and revisit learning over time.
• Staff have ‘high expectations for all pupils’, and there is a strong culture of reading where fluency and accuracy improve as pupils progress.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are strong, with pupils being ‘well known by staff’ and feeling safe from bullying.
• Early years provision is well resourced, with children behaving well and being ‘well supported by staff’ in a recently developed building.
• Governance is strong, and staff report feeling supported by leaders who are ‘approachable and are calm’.

Areas to improve

• Leaders need to further develop teachers’ understanding of how pupils with differing complex needs learn, as some teachers lack the knowledge or experience to meet all needs effectively.
• Leaders must continue working with parents to overcome barriers to attendance, as some pupils remain absent due to parental anxiety following the pandemic.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with a ‘strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school’ and staff clear about their responsibilities to keep pupils safe.