St Anne's CofE (VC) Primary School

Inspection of St Anne’s CofE (VC) Primary School St Anne’s Vale, Brown Edge, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST6 8TA

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 1–2 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff care for pupils’ well-being at St Anne’s. Pupils recognise this. They say they are well looked after and happy. Parents and carers feel welcome at the school. Leaders, staff, pupils and governors talk about school values, such as honesty, frequently. They show kindness and respect in their day-to-day work. Leaders have created a strong sense of community at the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children get off to a good start in their reading. They learn reading skills from the beginning of the Reception Year. These skills help pupils learn about different subjects as they move through the school. Pupils acquire knowledge well. Pupils enjoy their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They respect other pupils, staff and their school environment. In lessons, pupils get on with their learning as instructed by their teachers. Bullying incidents are very rare. Pupils understand what bullying is. They are confident that staff would deal with any incidents should they arise.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Throughout the school day, pupils are kept safe. Staff are vigilant. They show this by looking out for the pupils. Pupils say they feel safe and secure at St Anne’s. Pupils learn and play in a safe environment.

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better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has improved well. Leaders have taken the time to design an effective curriculum. The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. Pupils acquire knowledge in a range of subjects.

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better?

Teachers plan lessons carefully. They give pupils time to recap on their learning from previous lessons. Pupils, notably those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn well. When teachers know what they want pupils to remember and do at the end of a sequence of work, pupils often acquire the skills they need to do this. However, such end points are not always identified in subject plans.

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better?

Leaders ensure that reading is prioritised. Leaders and teachers are passionate about reading. They promote a love of reading among pupils. Leaders and teachers know the skills that pupils need to secure as they progress through the early years and key stage 1. The teaching of phonics is effective. Staff support weaker readers well. As a result, they catch up with their classmates.

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better?

Leaders check that teaching is effective in every year group. They identify areas where staff could improve their performance. Leaders do not carry out subsequent checks to see if agreed ways to improve teaching have been implemented. Therefore, they cannot be sure that actions have been implemented.

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better?

Children enjoy their learning in the early years. Staff have thought carefully about 1–2 October 2019

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the design of the indoor and outdoor environments. The range of activities provided encourage children to explore and be curious. Occasionally, staff in the early years do not question children as well as they could. This is because they do not ask more than one question to probe children’s understanding. This means that, sometimes, the activities subsequently presented are not sufficiently challenging. When children move into Year 1, at times they could be challenged with harder work.

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Teachers have good subject knowledge. They know what they need to do to support pupils with SEND. Through the additional support of adults and resources in the classroom, pupils with SEND acquire the knowledge they need to be successful.

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Disadvantaged pupils are supported effectively. This is because leaders spend pupil premium funding wisely. Staff know what each pupil needs to do to overcome their own barriers to learning, such as weak phonics skills. Staff are given more time to work with pupils. Staff choose the best resources to support pupils’ learning. This leads to disadvantaged pupils achieving well in different subjects.

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The headteacher is ably supported by the deputy headteacher. They ensure that St Anne’s is a school where pupils and staff can learn and work free from unwanted distractions. Staff agree with pupils that they are very well cared for. This is owing to leaders paying attention to everyone’s well-being. Staff work collegiately, making sure that workload is managed appropriately.

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Pupils regularly attend school. Attendance rates have been good, when compared with the national averages, over the past few years. Pupils enjoy their studies. They show their positive attitudes to learning by listening attentively to adults and then getting on with their work.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The headteacher and governors ensure that all staff understand and carry out their duties. A vigilant culture exists at the school. Staff understand school systems, designed to keep pupils safe. All staff adhere to these systems. For example, if staff are concerned about a pupil, they know what to do.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are able to talk about what the school does to help keep them safe. For example, they know that visitors should wear lanyards to show that the school office has permitted them to enter the school. Parents say the school keeps their children safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have designed and implemented a curriculum which enables pupils to learn and remember knowledge. When teachers plan sequences of lessons, they do not always specify what skills pupils need in order to reach desired end points. Consequently, pupils do not secure skills as they progress through some units of work. Leaders should ensure that all subject plans make clear what skills and knowledge pupils need to acquire.  Children in the early years are taught well. However, children are sometimes capable of making stronger progress through the Reception Year. When they enter key stage 1, teaching does not frequently expect pupils to build on their skills and knowledge secured in the early years. This means that learning slows at the start of this key stage. Teachers should ensure that pupils receive sufficiently challenging work when they move from the early years into Year 1.  Teaching has improved since the previous inspection. Leaders monitor the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

effectiveness of teaching well. They identify how teaching could be improved and agree with teachers how to do this. Leaders, however, do not frequently check that agreed actions have been implemented by staff. This means that variability in teaching remains. Leaders should follow up their monitoring to check that actions have taken place.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 1–2 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111673 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.st-annes-brownedge.staffs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 28 June 2017

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Information about this school

 St Anne’s is designated a voluntary controlled school.  The early years is made up of one Reception class. There is one class for each year group in Years 1 to 6.  The school runs a before- and after-school club for its pupils.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other key leaders. They met with the chair of governors and three other governors.  Inspectors held telephone calls with a representative from the local authority and an external consultant.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils, senior leaders, curriculum leaders and teachers to talk about the quality of education at the school.  The inspectors made visits to classrooms. Many of these visits were with senior 1–2 October 2019

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leaders.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and observed the teaching of phonics.  Inspectors spoke to pupils formally and informally about their learning and experiences at school. They looked at their work in a range of different subjects to see how well the curriculum is applied.  Inspectors visited the breakfast club.  Inspectors considered a range of documentation provided by the school. They looked at the school’s self-evaluation, the school’s key priorities, school policies, curriculum documents, SEND records, published information about pupils’ performance, behaviour records, attendance information and minutes of governing body meetings.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding leader. They spoke with staff, pupils and parents and checked documents relating to safeguarding.  Inspectors focused on reading, mathematics, history and science as part of this inspection. They considered all other subjects as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Jeremy Bird, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Ellen Taylor Ofsted Inspector 1–2 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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