St Peter's Church of England Academy

St Peter's Church of England Academy Mountbatten Way, Raunds, Wellingborough, NN9 6PA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Strong leadership and management, particularly from senior leaders, governors and the academy trust, have substantially improved the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement since the school became an academy.  Subject leaders in English and mathematics lead their areas of responsibility well and are bringing about improvements in pupils’ achievement.  All pupils are now making good progress, regardless of background or ability.  Many older pupils, who had made inadequate progress in the past, are now making up much lost ground and achieving well.  Pupils’ behaviour has improved. They are extremely keen to learn and try hard in lessons. This has contributed greatly to raising achievement in the academy.  Pupils enjoy school and have very positive relationships with each other and with staff. The academy keeps pupils very safe at all times.  Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour. They make lessons interesting and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

lively, so pupils enjoy learning and concentrate well.  In most lessons, teachers keep a careful check on how pupils are making progress, quickly intervening to help any who are in difficulty.  The academy provides a wide range of exciting experiences that successfully promote pupils’ personal development as well as their academic achievement.  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The academy actively and successfully promotes British values.  The very strong links with the partner secondary academy have contributed greatly to the academy’s development.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always provide the level of challenge that would enable the most-able pupils to make truly outstanding progress.  Occasionally, teachers do not check on pupils’ progress carefully enough in the course of the lesson. Although teachers mostly use their marking to gives pupils clear advice on how to improve, they do not always ensure that pupils have enough time to act on this advice.  The presentation of pupils’ work is sometimes very untidy, in part because they do not consistently follow the academy’s policy on the use of joined handwriting.  Not all subject leaders have had enough opportunity to lead improvements in teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. They undertook several of these observations together with the Principal or with the vice principal.  The inspection team held formal meetings with members of staff, representatives of the governing body and the trust, and with pupils. Inspectors also listened to pupils reading.  Inspectors checked a range of documentation, particularly that relating to pupils’ achievement and safeguarding.  The inspection team analysed examples of pupils’ work in their books and on displays.  Inspectors took account of the 17 replies to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as the 104 responses to the school’s own survey of parental opinion.

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Inspection team

Steven Hill, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 St Peter’s Church of England Academy became an academy on 1 November 2013. Its sponsor is the Manor Learning Trust, a multi-academy trust based in the Manor School Sports College. This is a secondary school, which is the other academy in the trust and is on the same site. The two academies have the same Principal.  The academy is smaller than the average primary school.  Most pupils are White British, with a few coming from a range of other ethnic heritages. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who receive support from the pupil premium is average. The pupil premium is extra government funding to support the education of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, or who have been eligible in the past, and for children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  At the time of the inspection, the school’s vice-principal was on leave and a senior leader from the Manor School was undertaking much of the day-to-day management of St Peter’s.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding by:  insisting that pupils present their work tidily, and use joined handwriting in line with the academy’s policy  providing time to ensure that pupils always act on the advice teachers provide when they mark pupils’ work  always checking on pupils’ progress during lessons so that timely help can be given to those pupils who need it  making sure that the most-able pupils always have work that challenges them to attain really high standards.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Provide leaders, in subjects other than English and mathematics, with more frequent opportunities to check on the quality of provision in their subjects, and to use the information gained to improve teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The Principal, with strong backing from the trust and governors, has given a very clear lead to colleagues since the academy opened. Staff have worked very well as a team to establish a culture where improving pupils’ progress and personal development are central to everyone’s efforts. This has underpinned the significant improvements made in teaching, achievement and behaviour across the academy.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy manages teachers’ performance well. Senior staff monitor lessons, planning and pupils’ work, as well as records of pupils’ attainment, to give them a clear indication of the strengths and weaknesses of individual pupils. The academy provides extensive additional support and training for any teachers whose performance needs to improve, and the effectiveness of teaching has increased as a result. Leaders set teachers clear targets for their performance over the year, and teachers work successfully to meet them.

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The leadership and management are good

 The effectiveness of all leaders has increased since the conversion to academy status. There is good leadership of special educational needs, for example, boosted by support from skilled staff at the Manor School. The academy makes good use of the strong subject knowledge and expertise of subject specialists within the academy’s own staff, for example in mathematics, English and French. This ensures pupils are taught to a high level in these subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 The English and mathematics leaders have made a major contribution to improvements in their subjects. They track pupils’ progress, monitor the quality of work and planning, and observe lessons. This enables them to help colleagues share good practice and to address any shortcomings in provision or weaknesses in progress. This has strongly supported the improvements made in reading, writing and mathematics since the academy opened. Other subject leaders have made a start on implementing a similar approach in their areas of responsibility, but opportunities for them to make a major contribution to their subjects have been limited. This was because of the need to focus initially on English and mathematics. Senior leaders have plans to address this.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy has based its teaching programmes securely on the new national curriculum. It implements this by linking different subjects in meaningful ways, which motivates pupils by making learning interesting and relevant to their everyday lives. The academy rightly gives high priority to reading, writing and mathematics. Staff have successfully addressed identified weaknesses in pupils’ spelling, grammar and punctuation this year. The academy ensures that pupils have good opportunities to practise these basic skills in different subjects. This consolidates their learning and enhances their understanding. However, teachers do not rigorously enforce the academy’s policy for encouraging pupils to use joined handwriting, and this contributes to weaknesses in the presentation of some pupils’ work.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils learn to value diversity, and the success of this is clear in their positive relationships with each other. They know that the academy will not tolerate discrimination.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy makes good provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. British values have high prominence in the work of the academy. Leaders have evaluated the academy’s own ‘values’ programme to ensure this prepares pupils effectively for life in modern Britain. The promotion of democracy is particularly strong. The regular election of pupils, to roles such as house captain or school councillor, contributes to this. During the week of the inspection, pupils carried out a mock election of their own on the day of the general election. Candidates for different parties provided manifestos, put up posters to state their case and, on polling day, all voted for their preferred candidates.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy spends its pupil premium funding effectively. Spending is mostly used to provide targeted support for eligible individuals to help them make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This has been successful, and disadvantaged pupils have made the same progress as their classmates this year. This has greatly narrowed the gap between the attainment of such pupils in Year 6 and that of other pupils nationally. The academy has also used some of the funding to ensure that disadvantaged pupils are fully involved in all aspects of academy life. This has had a positive impact on their self-esteem, their attendance and their attitudes. This exemplifies the successful way the academy promotes its policy of equal opportunities for all.  The academy spends the primary physical education and sports premium money effectively. It has provided a mix of extra equipment and specialist teaching and this has generated enthusiasm and

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The leadership and management are good

improved pupils’ participation in sport. The academy’s teachers have increased their own skills and pupils have taken much more part in competitive sport with other schools, with some success.

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The leadership and management are good

 The trust has provided excellent support for the academy. The particularly strong links with the Manor School have enabled St Peter’s to take advantage of a wide range of staff expertise, including the specialist teaching of sports, music and art. It has also enabled the academy to enhance the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy is rigorous in ensuring that pupils are safe. It has established good links with a variety of outside agencies so that it can support any pupils needing help and liaises closely with parents. Parents are positive about the school, and are particularly pleased that their children feel safe there. The procedures for safeguarding are effective and meet statutory requirements.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good. It is shared between the trust board, the directors of the trust and the ‘local governing body’, who provide most of the detailed day-to-day support and challenge to the academy. All these leaders have a good understanding of the academy’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, they know how well pupils are achieving through their use of data, and keep a careful check on the quality of teaching through formal ‘performance management’ systems. They ensure that the academy tackles any issues concerning weaker teaching rigorously, and that it rewards good performance.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are eager to learn and they work hard in class. They listen attentively to their teachers and usually concentrate well on what they are doing. They get on conscientiously when they are asked to work independently.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have very positive relationships with each other and they collaborate extremely well, when playing together outside, or when working on shared tasks in class. They are considerate of each other’s needs and interests, listen politely to each other’s opinions and express their own ideas thoughtfully.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are appreciative of the care that their teachers give them and are keen to please them by working hard and behaving well. Pupils in Year 6 are very aware of the importance of good behaviour and its possible impact on their future lives.

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Behaviour

 Pupils occasionally show occasional lapses in concentration in class but settle quickly back to work after a quick word from an adult. They generally take a great pride in their success and are keen to contribute their ideas in lessons, and do so sensibly. However, they do not all show enough pride in the presentation of their work, and this can be rather untidy.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Staff implement the academy’s policies consistently, and ensure all visitors to the school are carefully checked. They record any incidents and follow them up carefully.

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Safety

 Pupils understand different kinds of bullying and know how this differs from other misbehaviour. A group of pupils in Year 6 said that although they could remember incidents of bullying in the past, they felt it was now extremely rare. They agreed that behaviour in the school had improved ‘100 per cent’.

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Safety

 The academy ensures pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations. They talk confidently about ‘stranger danger’ for example, and have a secure understanding of how to keep safe on the internet.  Attendance has risen and is in line with national averages.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching has many strengths that have driven the improvements in pupils’ progress since the academy opened. There are no consistent weaknesses in teaching but, occasionally, aspects of teaching that are usually good are less evident in particular lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations and generally provide pupils with work that is challenging but manageable. They give pupils, who might otherwise struggle with their work, different activities that reflect their ability. They ensure that these pupils receive extra help from adults so they make the same good progress as others. Teachers generally give the most able harder work, and challenge them to think hard about what they are doing and reach high standards. In a few instances, however , activities do not quite stretch the thinking of the most-able pupils sufficiently or move their learning quickly on to a higher level.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the vast majority of lessons, teachers keep a very close track on how pupils are getting on. They intervene quickly to help any who are struggling, or who have misunderstood some aspect of the work. Teachers regularly challenge pupils to think deeply about what they are doing and to refine their work. Occasionally, when the teacher works for lengthy periods with a particular group, other pupils work too long without anyone checking on their progress, so the teacher cannot pick up any problems quickly enough.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of reading is good and teachers give very effective help to pupils to develop their skills in regular reading sessions. Teachers provide many effective opportunities for pupils to develop their reading skills in different subjects. Staff encourage pupils to make regular use of the local library. Consequently, they become fluent and enthusiastic readers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have successfully improved pupils’ skills in writing, particularly in spelling, grammar and punctuation. They give pupils good opportunities to write in different subjects, and to practise different styles and types of writing. Pupils write about moral issues in religious education, for example, and learn how to explain their thoughts logically in science. However, teachers do not all consistently implement the academy’s policy on using a joined handwriting style.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Strong mathematics teaching has led to rapid gains in progress, particularly for older pupils. Teachers successfully encourage them to think through and explain their work, and the regular use of problem solving is helping them develop a deep mastery of different topics. This was apparent during the inspection, when pupils in Year 5 made excellent progress as they investigated different properties of angles.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers generally mark pupils’ work well. They provide positive reinforcement by praising success, as well as giving clear pointers to help pupils improve. However, they do not always check that pupils have acted on their advice and made the improvements suggested. Occasionally, pupils’ written responses seem hurried and rather untidy.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers develop pupils’ speaking and listening skills very well. Pupils readily discuss their work with each other and use any opportunities they are given to work collaboratively very effectively.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Since it converted to academy status, the academy has been particularly successful in helping older pupils to make up lost ground, particularly in aspects of their writing. The standards of the current Year 6 are on track to be somewhat above average overall by the end of the academic year. Results in 2014 were broadly average overall but below average in spelling, punctuation and grammar. The academy has largely eliminated these weaknesses in older pupils’ writing this year, after a concentration on these skills by all teachers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disadvantaged pupils across the academy have made the same good progress as their classmates over the last twelve months and the gaps between their attainment and that of their peers nationally have closed significantly. Their attainment is now also broadly similar to that of their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The attainment of disadvantaged pupils, who were in Year 6 last year, lagged behind their classmates by about two terms in reading, one and a half terms in mathematics, and by half a term in writing. They were behind other pupils nationally by about a year in mathematics and reading, and by half a year in writing.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make the same good progress as their classmates. All are in line to have made at least expected progress by the end of the key stage, with several on track to exceed this.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils make good progress overall. Their progress is not outstanding because, occasionally, teachers do not set activities that challenge them to really extend their learning. In the current Year 6, almost all such pupils are working at the higher Level 5, but there is scope for more to reach the very high Level 6 in reading and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in a variety of subjects. Specialist teaching in French is giving them confidence in speaking a foreign language. They do well in music, singing tunefully in assembly and playing musical instruments, for example the ukulele, with enthusiasm. They have good skills in using computers, and apply these well to help their learning in other subjects.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing

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Grade Judgement Description

to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 140030 Local authority Northamptonshire Inspection number 450254

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Junior School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 174 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Pat Worden Principal Linda Brooks Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected as an Academy Telephone number 01933 622400 Fax number 01933 622400 Email address enquiries@stpetersschoolraunds.co.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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