St Mary's CofE Academy Stotfold

Overview

St Mary’s CofE Academy Stotfold has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection. The report describes a school where pupils are “safe, happy and ready to learn,” benefiting from staff who “deeply care about them” and a curriculum with “high expectations.” Most pupils achieve well and are suitably prepared for the next stage of their education.

Strengths

• Staff provide a “warm welcome” and skilfully support pupils to access an “ambitious curriculum,” resulting in most pupils achieving in line with national expectations.
• The school has managed a significant increase in pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well, with staff trained to identify needs and encourage independence.
• There is a “strong culture of mutual respect and kindness,” leading to good behaviour and empathy among pupils who “play and learn harmoniously.”
• Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities, including clubs and visits, which broaden their horizons and develop their sense of responsibility.
• The trust board provides “effective oversight” of education quality and safeguarding, while staff well-being and workload are actively monitored.

Areas to improve

• The school must ensure sufficient time is given to address gaps in pupils’ knowledge in wider curriculum subjects, as current checks are not always used robustly enough to fill these gaps before moving on.
• The school needs to more precisely outline key knowledge to support language acquisition for a few pupils with SEND requiring specialist communication support, as the bespoke curriculum for these pupils is only in early stages.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.