St Giles CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Giles CofE Primary School Sheepcote Road, Killamarsh, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S21 1DU

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Outcome

St Giles CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and secure at St Giles. They say that staff are kind and have done lots to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic. They have supported pupils when they have needed it and are helping them to catch up with their work. Teachers want every pupil to leave well prepared and ready for secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that there is little bullying in school. If it happens, staff sort it out without delay. Pupils have settled back into their lessons and behave well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils receive a good education. Teachers support pupils to become fluent and keen readers without delay. In mathematics, pupils develop a quick recall of facts, concepts and procedures. In geography, they learn orientation using maps and visit Rother Valley.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum is enriched by trips to Creswell Crags, Robin Wood and White Hall. There are lots of sporting events and competitions. Meanwhile, those in the Family Cooking Club make dishes such as Thai stir fry. Pupils in the Eco Squad are proud to feel they are making a difference to the world. There is something for everyone at St Giles, because ‘Everybody Matters’.

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

The curriculum pupils receive is as ambitious as it is well planned. Senior and subject leaders have decided what pupils will learn at each point. They have placed lessons in logical order so pupils can build their knowledge over time.

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

Staff begin teaching phonics immediately children begin in the Reception Year. Children quickly start to understand the sounds that letters make. The inspector saw them able to read words such as ‘chair’, while those in Year 1 tell their teacher that ‘game’ has ‘the split digraph “a” and “e” in it’. Staff are all well trained in teaching phonics. They help pupils to become fluent readers. Staff have very recently changed the scheme they use to make their phonics teaching even better. However, they have not been able to check its 8 and 9 February 2022

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The curriculum for mathematics mirrors the high expectations of teachers too. In the early years, children learn words such as ‘total’ and to recognise small amounts without having to count them. Much older pupils learn to divide 105.9 by 9 and to turn 45/100 into 0.45. They learn to use specific vocabulary, such as ‘scalene’ and ‘integer’.

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The curriculum is well delivered across subjects. Teachers’ explanations are clear. Pupils say learning is fun, and this makes them want to listen. They pay attention and do not disrupt lessons. Teachers expect pupils to be respectful, and they are.

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Teachers both spot and correct any mistakes pupils make. They help pupils if they do not understand something and support them to close the gaps in their knowledge that have emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers have effective systems of checking what pupils know. They take full account of these findings when planning what to teach next.

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Teachers ensure that they repeat things sufficiently for pupils to remember them. As a result, pupils in Year 4 can, for instance, state 239 to the nearest ten and count backwards in tenths without error. Pupils remember good amounts in other subjects too, such as geography. They can describe how salt flats occur through natural evaporation, how a volcano is formed and can use six-figure grid references.

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Senior and subject leaders want every pupil to succeed. They provide those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) with the best support possible. Written work from these pupils shows conclusively that they are being supported to know and remember more across different subjects. They talk positively about how staff have helped them to improve.

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All pupils are helped to understand the world around them. The inspector met pupils in Year 2 who were very excited after visiting a synagogue. They could describe how it had helped them to understand the many things that people of different religions and cultures have in common. They said that they would recommend all children visited it. Those who attended the sporting event for girls at Graves Leisure Centre were equally enthusiastic. They explained how sport kept them fit and how they loved taking part in a team. The wide range of opportunities for pupils is a strength of the school.

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Staff say that the school is well led and managed. Almost all feel that leaders take staff’s workload into account. Staff feel well supported, treated fairly and with respect.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained to spot the signs that a pupil could be being harmed. They understand their responsibility to alert senior leaders to any concerns. Leaders keep clear records. They work swiftly in partnership with external agencies to support pupils, as 8 and 9 February 2022

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required. Leaders have appropriate procedures to deal with allegations and the safer recruitment of staff.

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Pupils are taught about how to stay safe, including when learning online. They told the inspector how they can approach a member of staff if they are worried about something, and that this is very helpful.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Although the school’s approach for phonics is effective, leaders’ desire to raise standards further has led them to introduce a new scheme to teach children to read. This scheme is in its infancy. Leaders cannot be certain that it will help pupils to learn to read even more effectively than is currently the case. Leaders should monitor the scheme’s implementation closely and make any adjustments needed, giving staff further training and support as necessary.

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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, St Giles CofE (Voluntary Aided) Primary School, to be good in September 2014.

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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 . 8 and 9 February 2022

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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. 8 and 9 February 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St. Giles Church of England Primary School converted to become an academy school in September 2017. The school is part of the Derby Diocesan Academy Trust. When its predecessor school, St Giles Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  In order to judge whether the school continues to be good, the inspector focused the inspection on specific subjects of the curriculum. He completed deep dives in reading, mathematics and geography. This involved meeting with senior and subject leaders, scrutinising curriculum planning and visiting lessons where pupils were learning these subjects. He met pupils from the lessons and looked at their work. He met with teachers about the curriculum they were delivering. He heard children in different year groups read books. 8 and 9 February 2022

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 In addition, the inspector met with representatives of both the local governing body and the multi-academy trust. He met with the coordinator for pupils with SEND and scrutinised related documentation and records. He read a wide variety of other school documents, including the school development plan. He checked whether pupils were safe and happy at the school’s breakfast club. He held a telephone conversation with a non-registered external provider used by the school.  He took note of the responses to Ofsted Parent View and a letter he received from a parent during the inspection. He considered the results of the Ofsted staff and pupil questionnaires. He met pupils from a wide variety of year groups to ask their views about the school and what they feel it provides for them.  In order to judge the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector read the school’s relevant policies, scrutinised the single central record, checked the school’s procedures

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for the safe recruitment of staff and interviewed the designated safeguarding lead. He also spoke with staff to check details of their safeguarding knowledge and training, that they understood the importance of their responsibility to report any safeguarding concerns without delay and if they knew the procedure to do this. He checked samples of safeguarding records.

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Inspection team

Roary Pownall, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 8 and 9 February 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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