Stoke St Gregory Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Stoke St Gregory Church of England Primary School Stoke St Gregory, Huntham Lane, Taunton, Somerset TA3 6EG

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 25 and 26 January 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

The quality of pupils’ learning in different subjects and year groups is too variable. Some subjects are not planned well enough for pupils to learn all that they should. However, pupils get off to a good start in mathematics and reading, including in the early years foundation stage.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Sometimes, pupils’ poor behaviour is not dealt with swiftly enough by staff. However, all staff welcome the new approaches to managing behaviour, which are now beginning to make a difference.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well and work hard. They feel safe, love the school and attend regularly. Pupils know how to report bullying, should it occur, and they say that teachers are good at dealing with it. Any pupils with particularly challenging behaviour are given support in the classroom and at playtime.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and pupils have welcomed the actions the new headteacher has taken to improve the school. They say the school is improving well. Staff also agree. They have confidence in leaders, and morale among the school team is good. Parents find staff approachable and value the ‘family feel’ of the school.

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better?

Since the previous inspection there have been several changes in leadership. The new headteacher arrived at the end of 2020. Senior leaders have tried to secure a well-planned curriculum, including for the early years. However, this work is not finished. Leaders have plans to improve middle leadership in order to strengthen the curriculum. Unavoidable delays due to COVID-19 mean these have not yet been implemented.

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better?

Leaders’ curriculum thinking does not identify precisely what pupils should learn or remember. Teaching is not based on accurate checks on what pupils know. Pupils can recall some facts about history and science, for example, but not always the appropriate ones. The curriculum lacks precise guidance about what should be taught. This leads to a lack of challenge for pupils. Assessment is not consistently precise enough in the early years. As a result, teaching is not planned sufficiently well to help children who need to catch up in their development.

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better?

In contrast, the curriculum in mathematics is effective, including in the early years. Pupils gain secure knowledge in all aspects of the mathematics curriculum. They have a good understanding of number, such as to recall multiplication facts. Pupils try hard to work through different problems and can explain their thinking and reasoning.

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better?

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to read well. High-quality literature is a worthwhile and enjoyable part of the reading curriculum. The chosen books engage pupils’ 25 and 26 January 2022

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interest and develop their broader cultural understanding. These books help pupils to reflect and develop empathy.

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Staff are confident to teach reading through phonics. Children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 practise with books that help them remember the sounds they have learned. Almost all pupils in key stage 1, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well in reading. All pupils across the school read regularly to their teachers. Disadvantaged pupils and those who need to catch up have further additional help. However, teachers do not use assessment sharply enough in extra reading sessions, to identify precisely gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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‘Wisdom, willingness and wonder’ are the values that now underpin pupils’ personal development. Pupils say they are helping them to make good choices. These new values and the school’s Christian foundation make a good contribution to pupils’ personal development. However, the school has only relatively recently agreed a well-planned programme for relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The previous programme to support personal development had lapsed. Staff have had training, but the programme is still being embedded.

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Pupils are enthusiastic about the house system. House leaders know they should be role models and be trustworthy. Pupils relish opportunities to learn new interests. They are enjoying playing the ukulele and are keen to join the choir. Pupils who need help with behaviour, some of whom have SEND, are benefiting from the school’s pastoral support programme.

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Governors have changed how they work, so that they work more closely with school leaders. This is deepening their understanding of the school’s performance and helping it to improve.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff and governors have had up-to-date training in safeguarding. Staff know the pupils well and are vigilant for their safety and well-being. They are quick to spot a pupil at risk and promptly report concerns to the leader. Leaders engage with a range of agencies who can offer timely support. Leaders use family support well. Pupils are given the information they need to keep themselves safe.

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Safeguarding

All checks have been carried out on adults who work with pupils. The records are well kept.

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 Leaders’ curriculum thinking is not sufficiently sharp. This leads to teachers planning tasks which do not have sufficient depth. Leaders should ensure the curriculum enables children in the early years and pupils across the school to learn well.  Middle leadership is not fully established. This limits leaders’ ability to strengthen the curriculum further. Senior leaders should ensure that subject leaders develop the expertise needed to improve the quality of education.  The teaching of reading is not based on an accurate assessment of what pupils need to know next. This limits the achievement of some disadvantaged pupils and those who need to catch up. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum and assessment enables all pupils to improve their reading.  The strengthened curriculum for RSHE, and personal development more generally, is new. Not all staff are confident to deliver it. Leaders should ensure that all staff

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have the ability to implement this aspect of the school’s curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

to 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.

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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. 25 and 26 January 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211714 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 27 and 28 February 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher joined the school in November 2020. This was the second change in headteacher since the previous inspection.  The school is currently organised into four classes. There is a single-aged class for the Reception Year. Key stages 1 and 2 are organised into mixed-age classes.  The school has recently joined the Huish Community Learning Partnership.  The last Section 48 inspection of the school was in September 2017. In May 2019, there was an updated review of the school.  The school uses one registered alternative learning provider.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation. 25 and 26 January 2022

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the senior teacher and the early years leader. The headteacher is also the special educational needs coordinator.  The lead inspector met with governors. She had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. She also spoke on the telephone to the alternative learning provider the school uses.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and science. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, visited lessons, talked to pupils and looked at pupils’ work. The inspectors reviewed other subjects in the curriculum through the school’s planning. The lead inspector observed an adult reading with pupils.  The inspectors met with a group of staff to gain their views of the curriculum and their welfare. They took account of the eight responses to the online survey for staff.  The inspectors reviewed the school’s policies and procedures used to keep pupils

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safe. They discussed safeguarding with staff.  The lead inspector met with parents and carers at the start of the school day. Inspectors took account of the 23 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. The views of the 43 pupils who responded to the pupils’ survey were also considered.

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Inspection team

Wendy Marriott, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Mark Lees Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 January 2022

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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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