St Lawrence Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of St Lawrence Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Preston-upon-the-Weald Moors, Telford, Shropshire TF6 6DH

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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 Outstanding Overall effectiveness at previous inspection

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and enjoy being here and said, ‘Our school is all about trust and the community.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are pleased with the school and like the way staff care about the pupils. One parent commented: ‘This school is nurturing and really puts the children at the heart of all decisions.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that the school is welcoming to all pupils. Pupils feel safe and behave well. Bullying very rarely occurs. If bullying does happen, leaders act quickly to sort out any problems.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders plan a range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests. For example, every pupil has competed in a sport against another school. Pupils sing in a school choir. All pupils recently enjoyed Roald Dahl drama workshops.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value and know their school’s motto of ‘being the best you can be with God’. They are proud of their school. Staff are caring and get on very well with pupils and parents.

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better?

St Lawrence CE Primary School is an exciting place in which to learn. Senior leaders have settled the school after a period of change. School leaders, governors and staff are ambitious for all pupils. They provide a broad curriculum that prepares pupils well for life.

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better?

Leaders and teachers are passionate that all pupils become fluent and skilled readers. By the end of Year 1, nearly all pupils have learned the phonics skills they need to become successful readers. As a result, pupils have a good start to reading.

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better?

Leaders ensure that pupils learn a wide range of words, and what they mean. Teachers share new words through ‘learning lenses’. These lenses identify the words to learn that lesson. Teachers also identify new words through reading stories in class. Pupils enjoy listening to these stories with the teacher. During this inspection, for example, a teacher finished a story time about Paddington Bear at an exciting moment. Pupils were clearly excited to know what would happen next and evidently enjoyed the story.

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better?

Leaders have developed plans that set out how teaching builds pupils’ knowledge and skills over time. In the main, teachers use these plans effectively because they know most subjects well. Pupils are knowledgeable about most of their subjects. For example, pupils remembered about Ernest Shackleton from their topic about significant journeys. Pupils could also recall information from previous topics, such 20–21 November 2019

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as King Henry VIII. However, staff are still developing their expertise in art and physical education (PE). In addition, some subject leaders are new to their posts and are developing their leadership skills.

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Staff have high expectations of all pupils. Leaders and teachers work well with parents of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers support pupils with SEND and make sure work suits their needs.

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Pupils behave well and are polite and courteous to adults and other pupils. Pupils start work quickly, but on occasion need reminders to keep doing their work.

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The school teaches pupils to look after themselves and others, and this is a real strength. Teachers guide pupils about the importance of physical and mental health. Pupils are also taught to think about others and they respect that everyone is different. As a result, they are considerate and thoughtful to others. They understand the difference between right and wrong. Staff take pupils to places of interest, and this enriches their learning. However, pupils’ knowledge of different cultures and religions is patchy.

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In the Reception class, the children have clear routines. They enjoy listening to stories and learning new words. Children take turns and are quick to help each other. Teachers plan very carefully so that children can get better at key skills. For example, children would not give up when they found it hard to use scissors. The early years leader’s plans develop children’s knowledge and skills exceptionally well in all subjects. Staff use these plans to give children an excellent start.

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Leaders give parents of Reception children lots of information to involve them in their children’s learning. The information provided for parents and children when they first start school is exemplary.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils’ safety is very important to the school. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. Pupils know a lot about online safety. They can explain how to recognise if a website is secure. Pupils also know what information they should not share online.

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Safeguarding

Some pupils are ‘safeguarding ambassadors’ and help promote safety. A pupil in the group said, ‘Being safe is our name, being safe is our game.’

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Safeguarding

Staff have good relationships with families. Leaders take prompt and effective action when they have concerns. 20–21 November 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some leaders are new to post. School leaders should make sure that these subject leaders continue to get the training they need to do their jobs as well as possible.  Currently, staff expertise in subjects such as PE and art are not as well developed as they could be. To improve this, leaders should provide more training and learn from practice across the federation.  Pupils have a limited awareness of cultural and religious differences in the world. To improve this, leaders should ensure that the curriculum offers sufficient opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of the diversity of the world.

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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. 20–21 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10088513 Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5–6 March 2014

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Information about this school

 A new executive headteacher was appointed in September 2018. A new head of school took up her post in January 2019.  The school’s executive headteacher is also the executive headteacher of Tibberton Church of England Primary School. The two schools are federated.  The school is a small primary school. There are three mixed-age classes. Since the previous inspection, there have been several staff changes. Only one teacher remains in post since the last inspection.  The school’s governing body federated with the governors of Tibberton Church of England Primary School in September 2019.

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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

 We held meetings with the executive headteacher, head of school, subject leaders, the coordinator for early years and other members of staff. The head of school and special educational needs coordinator from Tibberton Church of England Primary School attended relevant meetings. We met two members of the governing body, including the chair. We also spoke by telephone to a 20–21 November 2019

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representative of the local authority and the school’s improvement partner.  We took account of the 23 responses to the Parent View free-text service and 25 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. We also reviewed 12 responses to the pupil questionnaire and five to the staff questionnaire. Some support staff and parents were also asked about their views.  We focused particularly on reading, mathematics, geography and PE. We visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to subject leaders, teachers and pupils.  We spoke informally with pupils and observed their behaviour at various times during the day, including break and lunchtime.  We also checked safeguarding arrangements. We reviewed safeguarding records, spoke to staff about how they keep pupils safe and checked the school’s records linked to the safe recruitment of staff. We met with the school’s safeguarding lead and spoke to pupils.

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Inspection team

Mark Cadwallader, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda McGill Ofsted Inspector 20–21 November 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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