St Matthew's Primary School

Overview

The inspection team found that staff create a “very positive atmosphere for learning” underpinned by meaningful Gospel values, fostering respectful and nurturing relationships. Children are described as “highly motivated,” “articulate,” and proud of their school community, benefiting from rich and engaging learning contexts. The report concludes that the school has the capacity to continue to improve, with no further visits required.

Strengths

• Staff foster “respectful and nurturing relationships” with children, who are “highly motivated in their learning.”
• The headteacher’s “strong leadership of learning” supports a culture of continuous professional learning based on educational research.
• “Very well developed approaches to play” in the early years help children be “curious and creative,” extending into enquiry-based learning.
• Staff use “highly-effective approaches to teaching literacy and numeracy,” supporting “sustained and high levels of attainment.”

Areas to improve

• Senior leaders should create a “learning, teaching and assessment framework” to embed strong teaching approaches widely and ensure consistent high-quality experiences.
• Staff should “monitor and track more closely the progress of specific groups of children over time” to robustly evaluate intervention outcomes, including those relating to pupil equity funding.

Safeguarding

The report does not contain specific narrative commentary on safeguarding arrangements, though it notes that staff foster “respectful and nurturing relationships” with children.