St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Lisa Thompson Headteacher St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School Coleman Street Whitmore Reans Wolverhampton West Midlands WV6 0RH

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 14 May 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in April 2015.

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

The school’s mission statement, ‘With Faith, Hope and Love we can achieve greater things’, has become a reality across the school. Since the last inspection, you have addressed all weaknesses identified in the previous inspection report, improved teaching, raised expectations and established a strong leadership team. As a result, standards have improved. You have developed the skills of senior and middle leaders so that the capacity of the leadership team has increased. You, the leadership team and governors have a clear understanding of the strengths of the school and the areas for development. However, further work is needed to ensure that a greater proportion of pupils make even better progress across the school and achieve the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2. Staff continually reflect on their practice and take decisive action to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of all learners.

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

Governors have high expectations of all staff. They use their skills and expertise to monitor specific aspects of school life. They ask leaders appropriately challenging questions based on their observations. Governors work closely with the designated leaders for safeguarding and fulfil their statutory responsibilities. They keep themselves up to date with training. They check safeguarding procedures so that pupils are kept safe. Governors are committed to the school and are proud to be part of the school community.

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

Most parents and carers who responded to the school’s own questionnaire and those who spoke to inspectors during the inspection shared positive views about the school. Parents commented on the care and support their children receive with one parent summing up the views of many saying, ‘The school values families, not just the pupils.’ Pupils echoed this sentiment with one pupil saying, ‘This is a school for everyone.’

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

The culture of safeguarding is strong. You ensure that all staff and governors are well trained and are clear about policies and procedures. The record-keeping for the recruitment of staff is thorough and precise. Concerns about pupils are carefully logged and appropriately detailed. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Short inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and are confident that if they have a problem it will be sorted out. Pupils say bullying is rare because a group of pupils known as the Anti-Bullying Committee are instrumental in raising awareness about the different types of bullying and mediate if problems arise. Through your curriculum and assemblies, you teach pupils about e-safety, road safety and water safety around canals and rivers. These messages are reinforced by a range of visitors, including Severn Trent Water.

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Inspection findings

 Most pupils by the end of key stage 2 make better progress than other pupils nationally. Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 is above national figures. However, some of the most able do not reach the standards of which they are capable. The inspection found several positive strategies being implemented to address this. These include effective questioning and timely intervention by support staff, which help pupils deepen their thinking and understanding. Bronze, silver, gold and platinum tasks set in lessons enthuse pupils and encourage them to challenge themselves in terms of what they can achieve and, as a result, many pupils are now making stronger progress.  Attendance has been an improving picture since 2015. Current attendance in April 2019 is 96.2%, bringing the school above the latest national attendance figures. The school has introduced a number of reward systems including attendance ‘Teds’ for the early years where children take home teddies, which

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Inspection findings

has proved very popular. In key stage 2 trophies for attendance and rewards such as ‘pizza parties’ have had a dramatic impact on improving attendance.  Parental and family involvement is now a strength of the school having been a focus since the last inspection. A number of initiatives and events regularly take place that are well supported by parents. The school has gained two recognised awards, ‘The Wolverhampton Star Award’ for outstanding contribution to the school’s wider community and the ‘Families First Quality Award’. These externally credited awards demonstrate the school’s on-going efforts to work with and engage families in school life.  Since the last inspection, the role of middle leaders has developed significantly. Middle leaders are undertaking appropriate professional development and training to help them fulfil their roles and responsibilities. The curriculum has recently been redesigned and middle leaders continue to monitor its effectiveness

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Inspection findings

and adapt lessons to the needs of pupils. The very strong leadership of the headteacher and senior leaders is a result of their clear vision for school improvement. Self-evaluation is thorough and based on internal and external monitoring and analysis of data. Pupils achieve well and teaching over time is good, with some excellent features. The excellent practice evident in the school now needs to be shared more widely throughout the school. Pupils’ progress throughout the school, from Reception to Year 6, reflects this whole-school improvement. Pupils’ work confirms this.  The curriculum is rich and interesting and provides every opportunity for all pupils to develop a full range of skills, knowledge and understanding over time. The school is highly inclusive and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils with complex social and emotional needs benefit from the care and support they receive and the curricular opportunities they have.

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Inspection findings

Classrooms are bright and stimulating with specially dedicated reading areas that include ‘a Victorian classroom’ where pupils have a wealth of books linked to the topic being studied that term. Pupils are highly engaged and focused in their learning. The school places great emphasis on physical education, music and the arts. The school currently holds the, School Games Mark gold award. The school has a dedicated forest school area and an appropriately trained leader. Pupils from across the school access the ‘forest’ as part of lessons and as an after- school club. Many examples of high-quality work across a range of subjects were observed both on display and in pupils’ books. Of noteworthy mention is the quality of science education at the school, where pupils undertake a wide range of investigations including observations, fair-testing and pattern seeking. The science is linked to the termly topic, and when studying space saw pupils writing

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Inspection findings

to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States about the design of astronauts’ suits. Pupils talk about their enjoyment of trips, visits and visitors, including the ‘animal man’ and visits to Warwick Castle and Harry Potter World.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 a greater proportion of pupils make even better progress across the school and achieve the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2  the excellent practice in teaching and learning that is evident within the school is shared more widely, so that all pupils benefit. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Lichfield, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wolverhampton. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and other members of the leadership team, including middle leaders. I met with three governors, including the chair. I also met with the school’s business manager.

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Information about the inspection

I carried out short observations with senior leaders in different year groups and looked at pupils’ work in books and on display. I talked with pupils at breaktime and met with a small group to talk about school life and work. I spoke to parents at the end of the school day.

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Information about the inspection

I paid attention to several key lines of enquiry. These included safeguarding and the impact of leadership and management on pupils’ progress and attainment across the curriculum and on attendance rates and parental engagement.

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Information about the inspection

By the end of the inspection, there were four responses to Parent View, four Ofsted free-text messages and one written comment. I took account of these responses and the school’s own questionnaire. I considered the 52 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and the 52 responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire. I looked at several documents, including the school’s evaluation of performance, records relating to attendance, the work of governors and several school policy documents. I also checked the school’s website and the procedures for keeping pupils safe.

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