Stockton Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Stockton Primary School School Street, Stockton, Southam, Warwickshire CV47 8JE

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Outcome

Stockton Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this small village school. They enjoy the school’s ‘family feel’ fostered through its caring ethos. Adults know pupils very well. They want the best for every child and work hard to meet each individual’s needs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults expect pupils to behave well, and they do. Bullying is rare. Staff act quickly to settle matters when pupils fall out. This helps everyone to feel happy and safe. Pupils look after each other. For instance, older pupils buddy up with younger children to help them settle into school life. As one pupil said, ‘We just like to give them a helping hand.’ Many of these friendships are maintained through the school year.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils grow in maturity and confidence by taking an active share of school life. They are polite and courteous, going out of their way to welcome visitors to their school. Some pupils have extra responsibilities such as head gardener or head boy and girl. All pupils value their role in looking after and representing the school community. They learn about the importance of respect and demonstrate it in the way they work together. This helps to promote the school’s joyful spirit.

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

Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have focused their attention on developing and refining the school’s curriculum. They have arranged opportunities for teachers to work together and share ideas. Teachers appreciate these opportunities. They feel supported in their work and their morale is high. Some have benefited from chances to work with professionals from other schools. Curriculum leaders have a deeper subject knowledge because of this collaboration. They have grown in confidence. This has helped leaders to develop an ambitious curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils.

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

Curriculum leaders have set out the knowledge and skills they expected pupils to know in each subject. They have ensured that this knowledge builds in a logical way each year. For example, in history, pupils in Year 4 learn about the consequences of events in the 23 March 2022

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past. Pupils in Year 5 expand on this knowledge, when considering the consequences of social changes in Victorian times. This logical sequence of learning helps pupils to remember the key information they need. As a result, they make good progress through the curriculum.

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Leaders have placed emphasis on revising the mathematics curriculum since the previous inspection. Children in the early years take part in daily activities that help them understand the value of numbers. This prepares them well for the Year 1 curriculum. Teachers make mathematics lessons fun and engaging. Consequently, pupils enjoy learning the subject.

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Younger pupils learn phonics every day. Staff know how to teach these lessons well. They present information clearly and pronounce sounds accurately. Pupils get lots of opportunities to practise what they are learning. This helps them to develop their knowledge of how to blend sounds. They are able to apply this knowledge to read unfamiliar words. This is helping them to increase their speed and fluency when reading.

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Staff make checks on how well pupils learn new information during lessons. Adults provide extra support to any pupil who needs help. Teachers also assess and identify accurately the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They use this assessment information to adapt activities so that all pupils are included in lessons. However, the school’s approach to assessing how much pupils know and remember, in some subjects, is not yet fully developed. This makes it hard for leaders to know the progress that pupils make through the whole curriculum.

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Pupils display positive attitudes to learning. They enjoy finding out about new things and take a keen interest in lessons. This creates an atmosphere where pupils can fully focus on their work. Occasionally, when pupils do lose focus, staff help them to get back on track.

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Leaders aim to promote pupils’ character development by offering a rich set of experiences that extend beyond academic learning. For example, the school’s ‘charter’ sets out a range of activities that pupils are encouraged to take part in before leaving the school. In addition, pupils have enjoyed attending a broad range of extra-curricular activities in the past. Unfortunately, much of this work has been disrupted by the pandemic. Leaders now intend to reintroduce a broader range of opportunities for pupils to experience. Pupils are looking forward to this.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders do all they can to keep pupils safe. They make checks on the suitability of staff before adults join the school. Staff understand their role in keeping children safe. They are vigilant to signs of abuse and raise concerns quickly. Leaders maintain accurate records and monitor these closely. They work well with external agencies to support families who need help. 23 March 2022

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Pupils learn how to protect themselves from potential risks of harm. For instance, older pupils have studied risks associated with criminal activities, such as fraud. Pupils also learn how to protect themselves when working on the internet.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s approach to assessing what pupils know and remember is not yet fully developed in some subjects. This means that staff do not know how much progress pupils make through all of the curriculum. Leaders should ensure methods are in place for teachers to check what pupils know and remember in all subjects.

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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, Stockton Primary School, to be good on 22 November 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.

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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. 23 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227746 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 October 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The school opened a nursery class, ‘Little Acorns’, in June 2021. The nursery offers provision for two- and three-year-olds.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and senior leaders.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the school governing body.  The lead inspector met with the chief executive of the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their 23 March 2022

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learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to pupils read.  Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in other subjects.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons, around the school and at lunchtime. They spoke to pupils about their opinions of behaviour at the school.  The inspectors looked at documents related to safeguarding procedures. This included reviewing records of pre-employment checks carried out on staff.  Inspectors considered responses on Ofsted’s Parent View, including parent free-text responses. Inspectors also took account of responses to the staff and pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Jonathan Leonard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Heather Simpson Her Majesty’s Inspector 23 March 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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