St Leonard's CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Leonard’s C of E Primary School Innage Lane, Bridgnorth, Shropshire WV16 4HL

p.1

Inspection dates: 18 and 19 January 2022

p.1

Outcome

St Leonard’s C of E Primary School continues to be a good school.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work hard and achieve well at this happy school. They are safe and well cared for. They develop positive attitudes to learning and behave well. Pupils are very sociable. They enjoy working in groups during lessons and playing together at breaktimes. They treat adults and each other with respect.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils and want the best for them. Their high ambitions are realised through pupils’ good behaviour and successful achievement.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a strong understanding of the difference between bullying and ‘fall-outs’. Their trust in adults means that they are confident about reporting both, should they occur. Staff deal quickly with incidents and take effective action to prevent them reoccurring.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy all aspects of school life, including the range of clubs, trips and school events usually on offer. Staff have continued to provide additional opportunities to extend pupils’ interests and talents, despite the pandemic. The school newspaper, ‘St Leonard’s News’, is a big hit. Pupils create and manage this initiative themselves. It provides all the latest news in the school community. It has also sharpened pupils’ journalism and computing skills.

p.1

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

Leaders have put in place an ambitious and well-balanced curriculum. Pupils build their knowledge and skills in a clear sequence, from Nursery through to Year 6. Staff set work at the right level for different ability groups. This includes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This enables all pupils to achieve well.

p.1

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

Staff assess pupils in different subjects. They use this information to spot where support is required and identify gaps in pupils’ learning. Adults provide further help in class and extra teaching sessions where needed. Some pupils attend after-school ‘catch-up’ lessons 18 and 19 January 2022

p.1

2

to cover missed content. As a result, pupils are getting back on track and catching up quickly.

p.2

2

Reading is a high priority in the school. Leaders ensure that staff are well trained so that all pupils learn to read competently. Children in the early years and key stage 1 develop the phonics skills they need to become confident and fluent readers. Teachers match books to pupils’ abilities. Leaders check that pupils read regularly at home and school. If pupils are struggling, adults hear pupils read more often in school. A wide range of books are available in classrooms and the library. Leaders have recently bought books about diversity and different cultures with money raised by the parent-teacher association. This has aided pupils’ development as well as their reading ability.

p.2

2

Leaders’ plans in mathematics are well sequenced and implemented effectively. Children in the early years make a strong start learning about numbers. The emphasis on number work continues across the school. Teachers help pupils improve their speed and agility in mental arithmetic through regular practice. Less priority is given to other areas of mathematics, such as measurement or interpreting data. Also, pupils struggle to explain their answers in mathematics as they do not practise reasoning very often. This means pupils’ skills in these areas are less well developed.

p.2

2

Leaders make sure that no pupils get left behind in their learning. Teachers identify pupils early. Pupils with SEND receive effective help and achieve well. Extra time and resources are provided. Tasks are also adapted to make sure pupils can complete them. Leaders work closely with a wide range of external services. They make sure pupils receive specialist input where needed.

p.2

2

Pupils behave well in and around school. They listen to adults and get on with their work quietly. This ensures that there are no distractions or disruptions to their learning.

p.2

2

Pupils enjoy a range of activities and opportunities beyond the classroom. These develop their character and interests. Pupils readily take on roles and responsibilities, such as book club, sports leaders or school council members. Pupils show maturity and independence in these roles. They have a good knowledge of physical and mental well- being as these areas are incorporated well into the curriculum.

p.2

2

Leaders are supportive of staff well-being. They have revised the marking policy to reduce teachers’ workload. Staff are a united team. They work collaboratively and encourage and care for each other.

p.2

2

The trust and the governing body provide effective levels of support and challenge to leaders and staff. Good practice is shared between all schools in the trust. This has strengthened and enhanced leaders’ and teachers’ professional development.

p.2

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 18 and 19 January 2022

p.2

3

Safeguarding is at the heart of the school’s work. All staff are vigilant. Leaders ensure that staff are fully trained in identifying and reporting concerns about pupils. Leaders record concerns raised but do not always provide sufficient information to show how, or if, these concerns are followed up.

p.3

3

Important safety messages are taught through the curriculum, assemblies and school events. These include road, water and online safety and stranger danger. Annual anti- bullying week ensures that pupils know about the harmful effects of bullying. Pupils feel confident that adults will always help them if they have any worries.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Systems to report safeguarding concerns are effective and are understood well by all staff. However, sometimes leaders’ recording of the information submitted is not robust or detailed enough. It is unclear what action is taken in response to issues raised, or when. It is also unclear whether concerns are resolved or whether further escalation is needed as this is not documented. Leaders should improve systems for logging incidents so that they are able to review their chronology of events, actions taken and their impact.  Leaders have prioritised number work and place value in the mathematics curriculum to address gaps in pupils’ learning which have emerged during the pandemic. However, this has reduced the time spent on other domains, such as measure, geometry and statistics. Pupils’ reasoning skills are also at an early stage of development. Lack of practice and application of these aspects is hampering pupils’ ability to work at greater

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

depth. Leaders should ensure that there is sufficient balance and coverage of all programmes of study and that reasoning skills are threaded throughout the mathematics curriculum.

p.3

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 some evidence that a good school could now be better than good, or that standards may be declining, 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.

p.3

Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2014.

p.3

4

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.

p.4

4

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

p.4

4

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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. 18 and 19 January 2022

p.4

School details

Inspection number 10212337 Type of school Primary

p.5

School details

Website http://www.stleonardsprimary.co.uk

p.5

School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

p.5

Information about this school

 The school joined the TrustEd Schools’ Partnership multi-academy trust in November 2017.  The school received its last section 48 inspection in March 2016. The next inspection is due in 2023.  The school introduced before- and after-school wraparound care in September 2021.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

p.5

Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders, three representatives from the trust, including the chief executive officer, and two governors.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and science. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at 18 and 19 January 2022

p.5

6

curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils and looked at work in pupils’ books.  The inspector met with all teaching staff to talk about the curriculum, staff workload and the behaviour and personal development of pupils. She also met with groups of pupils to talk about their learning.  The inspector looked at curriculum plans and observed some pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to staff.  The inspector checked the school’s single central record and spoke to the headteacher about safeguarding procedures. A selection of safeguarding records were examined.  The inspector considered a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and plans for improvement. Records of attendance were checked.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at playtime and talked to them about behaviour, bullying and welfare.  The inspector talked to parents at the end of the school day and considered the

p.6

6

responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, and parents’ free-text responses. The inspector gathered the views of pupils and staff on site through discussion with these groups and from their online questionnaire responses.

p.6

Inspection team

Heather Simpson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 18 and 19 January 2022

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7