Setting

Simon Temple St Peter's Church of England Primary School Mount Pleasant Aylesford ME20 7BE

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Education act 2005 to St Peter's Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 26 March 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Education act 2005 to St Peter's Church of England Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in January 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, other senior leaders, members of the Governing Body and representatives of the local authority. The inspector toured the school with Year 6 pupils and had a telephone conversation with a Local Leader of Education. The school improvement and post Ofsted action plans were evaluated.

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Context

There have been no major changes since the section 5 inspection, which judged the school to require improvement.

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Main findings

The school’s post inspection action plan appropriately covers the areas identified for improvement in the recent inspection. Some of the weaknesses had already been identified by the school and included in their annual improvement plan. The post Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 3115319 Direct F 0117 3150430 Direct email :matthew.parker@tribalgroup.com inspection plan includes targets related to outcomes for pupils at the end of Year 6. However there are no targets related to how well pupils across the school should be achieving at interim points during the year. As a result, it is not clear how, or when, governors and staff will evaluate whether the school is on track to achieve its targets.

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Main findings

Governors continue to be keen, active and have a strong desire to see the school flourish. The governing body has been restructured so that it can operate more effectively. However, the pace of improvement is limited, in part, because senior staff and governors believe the school to be better than it actually is. They have had insufficient opportunities to experience good provision in other schools. This is beginning to be addressed through the partnership with a Local leader in Education who is the headteacher of an outstanding school in Lewisham. Senior staff have visited this school and are enthusiastic about plans for greater liaison and opportunities for staff to work with partner school colleagues.

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Main findings

Subject leadership roles are beginning to develop and there are increasing opportunities for leaders to support colleagues in planning effective lessons and to review the work in pupils’ books. One teacher is undertaking training in order to take over responsibility for pupils with disabilities and those who have special educational needs. There is some evidence of improvements, for example, more opportunities for pupils to produce lively and interesting writing. However, there is also evidence which shows that there is more to do to focus on what, and how well, pupils are learning and to make sure that all pupils make good progress in every lesson.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 enable staff and governors to compare their provision, and the outcomes for pupils, with other schools to gain a better understanding of good and outstanding practice  improve systems for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the action plan and ensure that there are clear overarching targets and interim targets which involve all year groups so that improvements are more easily measured  enhance the knowledge and skills of governors and senior leaders by enabling them to work with the LA consultant and the LLE to monitor and evaluate the impact of actions taken to improve provision and raise standards  improve teachers’ understanding and use of learning objectives and steps for learning to improve the pace of learning in each lesson, and check that activities challenge pupils of all abilities.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school has had a difficult relationship with the local authority in the past. However, it is currently working well with a local authority consultant, particularly in developing senior leadership roles. Since January, the school has also benefitted from the support and challenge of a Local Leader in Education and is beginning to use this expertise through visits to her school and joint monitoring of their own teaching and learning.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Kent and the diocese.

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