St Margaret's Church of England Primary School, Stoke Golding

Inspection of a good school: St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School, Stoke Golding High Street, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV13 6HE

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 September 2021

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Outcome

St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School, Stoke Golding continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if the inspector was to carry out a section 5 inspection now. The school’s next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School is a purposeful and happy place to learn. Pupils participate enthusiastically in their lessons. Not a moment of learning time is wasted because pupils use their ‘listening ears and magnet eyes’ at all times.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are excellent ambassadors for the school. They have impeccable manners and support each other, both in lessons and as they play together. The values of the school are lived out by the entire school community. Relationships are built on the principle of treating others as you would expect to be treated yourself. Respect is at the heart of the school’s ethos.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious that pupils will succeed, not only academically but also become well-rounded individuals. The school’s provision for personal development is strategic and carefully planned. Pupils take action about their concern for world issues. For example, pupils in the Reception Year wrote to the Prime Minister because they were worried about the amount of plastic in our oceans. Leaders know that pupils at the school do not live in a diverse community. They make sure that pupils have rich experiences and opportunities to learn about other religions and cultures. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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

Leaders have developed well-structured curriculum plans. These are the starting point for the school’s high ambition for the quality of education. These plans identify exactly what pupils need to learn in each subject, and when. All plans identify prior learning so that teachers know what pupils should remember from previous academic years. Clear regard 28 and 29 September 2021

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has been given to how the curriculum is sequenced and builds pupils’ knowledge layer by layer. For example, teachers develop pupils’ understanding of place value well. In the Reception Year, children were learning about numbers to five. In Year 4, pupils were learning to order numbers to 1000. In Year 6, pupils were deciding which methods were the most efficient to complete a range of calculations.

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Leaders have introduced a new programme for the teaching of phonics. This is to ensure that all pupils successfully learn the sounds they need to know to read well. This new programme is firmly established and is proving to be highly effective. Pupils in the Reception Year already know the routines for phonics lessons. They were observed reading and writing simple words. Pupils are encouraged to become enthusiastic readers. To ensure that pupils read from a range of books, leaders have introduced a ‘100 book challenge’. This includes high-quality modern and classic novels, and non-fiction texts. Pupils who are reluctant to read are provided with kindles to encourage them to read and support their development.

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Teachers have excellent subject knowledge. Leaders have made sure teachers and support staff receive the training they need to become experts in primary education. Teachers explain new learning to pupils clearly. They quickly spot where pupils are finding work difficult and provide the support pupils need so they do not get left behind. Nevertheless, there is an inconsistent approach in the checks that teachers make about what pupils have remembered from previous learning. This is particularly in the foundation subjects. This risks pupils not learning as much as they could.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well provided for. Where necessary, they receive carefully adapted tasks to make sure they cover the same curriculum as their peers.

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Pupils’ attitudes to learning are excellent. They show high levels of interest in class. Teachers plan interesting and engaging lessons to bring subjects to life. In geography, pupils in Year 2 were looking at live examples of what the weather was like in different places around the world, using an online resource. In Year 6, pupils were learning about how climate change was affecting people’s everyday lives. Pupils were considering how an increasing number of heatwaves were linked to the frequency of bushfires in Australia. Teachers also ensure that pupils learn the important vocabulary they need to understand the subject they are learning. Even the youngest pupils learn impressive subject specific words. For example, Year 1 pupils were using the word ‘phytoplankton’ to discuss the food chain for what polar bears eat.

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Leaders have created a culture of high expectations for all, while considering the workload of staff. Every staff member spoken to was highly positive about the progress the school has made to improve. Staff say that leaders have established a supportive working environment and that ‘we are a team’. Governors have played a vital role in supporting and challenging leaders to make sure they are prioritising the right things. Leaders are not complacent and have clear plans to improve the school further. 28 and 29 September 2021

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Every member of staff takes their responsibilities for ensuring pupils’ welfare and safety seriously. They receive regular and appropriate training. Concerns about pupils, no matter how small, are recorded and followed up where necessary. The school’s designated safeguarding lead works with external agencies to check that pupils are safe.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are emphatic that they feel safe at school. They say that bullying does not really happen. One child told the inspector, ‘There aren’t exactly bullies but there are children who sometimes get things wrong.’ Pupils trust the adults who work with them and are certain they would help them if they needed it.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers assess the progress that pupils make in foundation subjects. However, there is an inconsistent approach between subjects. Leaders have not assured that assessments are systematically checking that pupils are remembering prior learning. Leaders should now develop a consistent and manageable assessment system to check pupils’ learning in the foundation subjects. This will ensure that teachers are checking what pupils know and remember against the school’s planned curriculum.

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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 school to be good on 12 January 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. 28 and 29 September 2021

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

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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.

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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. 28 and 29 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199548 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website https://st-margarets-coe-primary- school.secure-primarysite.net/ Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school joined Inspiring Primaries Academy Trust in July 2017.  The school’s leadership has changed since the previous inspection. The school is now led by an executive principal who is supported by a head of school.  The school is a voluntary-aided Church of England school in the Diocese of Leicester.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  Meetings were held with the executive principal, head of school, the leader responsible for pupils with SEND, members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust.  Deep dives were completed in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. In each subject, the inspector met with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke to pupils and teachers from the lessons visited and looked at pupils’ work. The inspector heard pupils in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 read. The inspector reviewed the school’s curriculum plans for other subjects. 28 and 29 September 2021

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 The inspector met with the leader with responsibility for safeguarding and spoke to teachers and support staff about the school’s safeguarding arrangements. The inspector reviewed a range of documentation relating to safeguarding, including the single central record, child protection records and behaviour records. Pupils’ behaviour was also observed at lunchtime and around the school.  The inspector spoke to parents about their view of the school and reviewed 63 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View survey and 50 free-text comments from parents. The inspector reviewed 23 responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s survey of pupils’ views.

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Inspection team

Caroline Poole, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 28 and 29 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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