Stoney Middleton CofE (C) Primary School

Overview

Stoney Middleton CofE (C) Primary School is rated as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report highlights a ‘highly personalised learning’ environment within a small school setting, complemented by collaborative ‘together days’ with other schools in The Woodland Federation. Pupils thrive in an ‘inclusive, nurturing culture’ where they feel ‘safe and welcome’, supported by staff who ‘get us, and they know what we need’.

Strengths

• Phonics teaching is effective, with staff addressing gaps ‘straight away’ and pupils reading ‘expressively’.
• Staff possess ‘good subject knowledge’, using clear explanations, visual aids, and quizzes to build vocabulary and recall.
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is ‘tailored to their individual needs’, helping them regulate behaviour and achieve highly.
• Pupils demonstrate ‘kindness and respect’ for one another, with older pupils supporting younger ones and a strong understanding of school values.
• Leaders monitor attendance ‘very closely’ and intervene early, ensuring pupils attend well even when receiving education away from school.

Areas to improve

• The school must refine curriculum thinking in a ‘small number of foundation subjects’, where the sequence is not ‘exact’, leading to pupils remembering activities rather than ‘underpinning knowledge’.
• Curriculum checks do not occur with the same ‘frequency or depth’ in all subjects; the school must ensure all subjects are taught and learned well to secure pupil understanding.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.