Earley St Peter's Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Earley St Peter’s Church of England Primary School Church Road, Earley, Reading, Berkshire RG6 1EY

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 September 2021

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Outcome

Earley St Peter’s Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school. They are enthusiastic about their lessons and seize the opportunities beyond the classroom. Staff develop warm and caring relationships with pupils. These relationships, supported by the school’s strong Christian ethos, help pupils to feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff want all pupils to do their best. Staff have high expectations of pupils. Leaders have put in place a broad and interesting curriculum. Teachers select topics to motivate and help pupils to be successful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is good. There are clear routines that ensure that the school is calm and orderly. Pupils help to maintain a purposeful and happy atmosphere when taking on their role as play leaders in the playground. Pupils said that incidents of bullying are rare. Adults respond and help pupils promptly and well when issues are raised.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Nearly all parents who made their views known are pleased with the school. They value the nurture the school provides. One parent said, ‘I have been very grateful for the kindness, compassion and understanding shown by the whole staff team during home learning.’

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have developed an effective curriculum for all pupils. Together with teachers, they have planned subjects so that it is clear what pupils must know and the order in which they will learn things. This helps children in the early years and pupils across the school build their knowledge and skills. Teachers often make meaningful connections between subjects. However, not all teachers are as confident when teaching some subjects as they are with others, because their subject expertise is not as strong.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have developed effective ways to check pupils’ progress and the standards that they reach. Staff know pupils well and understand their individual needs, especially those 14 and 15 September 2021

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who need extra help. Teachers and support staff use these checks carefully to plan work that helps pupils to learn new knowledge.

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Leaders place great importance on teaching pupils to read. Teachers focus on ensuring that pupils develop strong reading skills from an early age. Leaders’ plans make it clear which sounds they should know as they move through the school. Teachers check to make sure that pupils are keeping up. Pupils read a range of books that focus on the sounds they are learning. As a result, pupils become more confident and fluent readers. Pupils enjoy reading. The books they read by themselves and stories read as a class are well chosen. In early years, teachers are very confident and knowledgeable in teaching phonics and this gets children off to a good start.

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The curriculum caters effectively for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These pupils are fully involved in lessons and achieve well. They are supported by teaching assistants who know pupils’ precise needs. Staff adapt the curriculum and the resources used in different subjects thoughtfully to ensure that pupils learn well.

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Pupils behave well in lessons so that everyone can learn without interruption. Leaders and teachers are clear about the behaviour that they expect from pupils. Pupils know exactly what is required of them. Pupils are attentive, work hard and sustain their concentration. They are considerate and respectful of each other and towards staff. Pupils’ books show that they take pride in their work. Pupils’ high-quality presentation is evident in different subjects and across all year groups.

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Staff widen the range of opportunities for pupils beyond the development of academic skills. Pupils learn how to stay safe and enjoy healthy relationships. They know how to make nutritious choices about the food they eat. Pupils benefit from carefully planned opportunities to study different cultures and religions. Some pupils act as ‘learning ambassadors’ to help other pupils to understand what is being taught and learned, both previously and currently. Pupils have meaningful opportunities to contribute to the daily life of the school. For example, pupils join the school council, where they share their suggestions about how to improve the school.

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Leaders have high expectations of staff and a strong understanding of what the school needs to do to get better. Staff say that leaders care about their well-being and workload. They speak highly about the support they receive and of leaders’ regular and informative communication. Staff are confident to speak to leaders if they have concerns about something.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff take safeguarding seriously and make it a high priority. Staff are well trained. They know the signs of neglect or abuse in pupils and how and when to report any concerns they may have. 14 and 15 September 2021

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Leaders with responsibility for safeguarding, both within the school and the trust, are diligent. They have strong knowledge of the issues facing the pupils and their families. Leaders work closely with other professionals when needed to make sure that pupils are safe and get the help and support they need. Procedures for the safe recruitment of staff are robust.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers are less confident when teaching subjects beyond English and mathematics because their subject knowledge is not as strong. Consequently, pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Leaders should precisely evaluate where teachers’ subject knowledge could be improved and provide further training and support.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Earley St Peter’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, to be good in April 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 are the school and you are 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. 14 and 15 September 2021

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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. 14 and 15 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200855 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.earley-st-peters.wokingham.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This is a Church of England primary school and offers provision for nursery-aged children.  The school’s next section 48 Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools is due in the next two years. The last inspection of this type took place in September 2016.  Earley St Peter’s Church of England Primary School converted to become an academy school in July 2017. When its predecessor school, Earley St Peter’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is one of nine schools in the Keys Academy Trust.  The school manages a before- and after-school childcare provision.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision. 14 and 15 September 2021

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Meetings were held with senior leaders and teachers about other subjects.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school, including breaktimes and lunchtimes. He met with pupils to gather their views through formal and informal discussion.  In order to judge the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector read the relevant school policies, scrutinised the single central record, checked the school’s procedures

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Information about this inspection

for the safe recruitment of staff and interviewed the designated lead for safeguarding. He met with school staff to check their understanding of safeguarding and their training. He met with governors, including the chair of governors, to check details of their safeguarding knowledge and training.  The inspector met with senior leaders. They discussed a variety of school documents and discussed school policy and procedure.  An online meeting took place with a representative from the Diocese of Oxford.  The inspector took account of the 66 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View, including the free-text responses. He also took account of the views of staff through discussion and via the 30 responses to the survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Richard Blackmore, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 September 2021

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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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