St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery

Overview

This is a welcoming school where “warm relationships underpin everything” and pupils enjoy attending. Leaders have taken “rapid and decisive action” since the previous inspection, resulting in a progressively sequenced curriculum and improved attendance. Pupils are well prepared for their next stage, demonstrating high expectations for behaviour and personal development.

Strengths

• Staff take time to know pupils, helping them feel comfortable to “share any worries” and supporting them to “be more awesome”.
• The curriculum is well sequenced, with strong teaching in reading and computing that helps pupils “retain their knowledge” and build on prior learning.
• Early reading is a priority; staff are well-trained, and pupils who struggle receive “ample support” to become fluent and confident readers.
• Pupils develop leadership skills through purposeful opportunities, such as democratically voting for role models and engaging in local community service.
• The school identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) “quickly and accurately” and adapts the curriculum to ensure they access learning.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, including mathematics, assessment is not used with enough precision to identify misconceptions, leading to “gaps in pupils’ knowledge”.
• Support for some pupils with SEND “lacks precision”, meaning there is sometimes a lack of clarity around individual next steps to meet personalised targets.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”