The Lincoln St Peter at Gowts Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Lincoln St Peter at Gowts Church of England Primary School Pennell Street, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN5 7TA

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Outcome

The Lincoln St Peter at Gowts Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were 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?

‘Unlocking potential in all, empowering a community of hope’, expresses the very essence of this vibrant, inclusive school. The school’s motto is lived out daily. Pupils are nurtured, cared for, and provided with a high quality of education. Pupils value their learning. They are proud of the school, their successes, and achievements. The ‘hedgerow of hope’ displays their impressive learning with the local community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have great ambition for all pupils. They have high expectations of staff to raise aspirations and broaden horizons for pupils. Staff are united in providing the best opportunities and experiences for every pupil. Pupils are highly motivated to learn. They focus diligently on learning in their lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe. Staff have high standards and pupils live up to them. The school is calm and orderly. Pupils are respectful of each other and adults. Leaders and staff’s expertise mean that pupils’ behaviour is very positive. Pupils say that bullying is very rare. They trust staff to resolve incidents quickly and sensitively. They know that an adult would help them if they had any worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff provide a huge range of meaningful experiences to support pupils’ personal development. They provide a wealth of opportunities to develop pupils’ interests and talents.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers know that their children are looked after well. They value what the school provides as part of the local community. Typically, a parent commented that ‘the school encourages diversity and understanding and is a wonderful place for children of all backgrounds.’ 29 and 30 March 2022

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

Leaders have developed an ambitious and well-planned curriculum for all pupils. The curriculum is designed to progressively build pupils’ knowledge and skills from Nursery to the end of Year 6. Subject leaders have thought carefully about the key knowledge pupils should learn and when. Teachers provide expert teaching. They effectively introduce new learning. They focus on ensuring that pupils learn and use new vocabulary accurately.

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

Teachers have high expectations of pupils. They have strong subject knowledge and check to make sure that pupils’ learning is secure before moving on. Pupils appreciate the ‘learning flashbacks’ that help them recall their previous learning. They are suitably challenged. For example, in science, pupils develop a mature understanding of evolution.

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

Teachers make sure that the curriculum is equally ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers and support staff adapt the curriculum to enable all pupils to know more and remember more over time. Leaders ensure that pupils who have English as an additional language get off to a good start. They have access to the full curriculum and quickly catch up.

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

Leaders have prioritised reading. They enable pupils to learn to read well. Staff are excellently trained to teach pupils to read. Children in the Nursery are supported with activities that prepare them well for phonics in Reception. Leaders ensure that phonics is taught faithfully to the chosen scheme. All resources and books are carefully matched to the sounds pupils learn. Pupils get off to a very strong start in reading. Those who need extra help are given support and do not fall behind. Pupils learn to read accurately and fluently. Leaders ensure that older pupils learn to read with understanding. Teachers introduce pupils to a wide range of authors and books. Pupils are enthusiastic and speak with confidence about their reading.

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

Leaders’ work to promote pupils’ personal development is exemplary. They coherently plan rich experiences for all pupils. There is a strong focus on developing pupils’ confidence and character. Pupils learn to respect and celebrate differences in others. They learn about different cultures, religions and beliefs. They learn about physical and emotional health, age-appropriate relationships, and sex education. They take part in community-based projects and charity fundraising. 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?

Staff provide pupils with an extensive range of experiences to enrich learning. Pupils take part in many clubs. They are introduced to new experiences such as varied sporting and musical activities. Pupils recall meaningful experiences including residential trips.

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

Leaders provide children in early years classes with very well resourced indoor and outdoor classrooms. Children learn through activities that interest them. Teachers plan activities that fully support children’s personal, social and emotional development. The early years staff clearly understand the important knowledge they want children to remember. Teachers provide children with rich opportunities to develop early literacy and 29 and 30 March 2022

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mathematics. For example, Nursery-aged children used Easter chicks and eggs to recognise, order and count numbers to five.

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Staff are proud to be part of the school. They appreciate the strong and varied professional development opportunities that they have. They believe that their workload is mostly fair. They enjoy working at the school. Staff feel cared for.

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Governors understand their responsibilities well. They know the school’s strengths and priorities for improvement. They support and challenge leaders effectively. They are mindful of staff and leaders’ well-being and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding leaders know pupils very well. They understand and fulfil their responsibilities well. They respond appropriately to concerns about individual pupils’ welfare. They work effectively with a range of external agencies to provide help when needed. Staff are well trained to recognise and respond to any concerns they may have about pupils.

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Safeguarding

Safer recruitment processes are in place. Leaders ensure that all necessary checks are undertaken before an adult starts working with pupils.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about potential risk and how to keep themselves safe. For example, they learn about risks when online and when using social media.

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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 in October 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. 29 and 30 March 2022

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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. 29 and 30 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211571 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body/Local authority

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11-12 October 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is a voluntary controlled Church of England school. The school’s last Section 48 inspection took place in July 2016.  The provision in the early years includes one full-time Reception class and a Nursery provision that includes part-time children aged from two years.  The school does not use the services of alternative provision.

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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.  The inspector met with the headteacher and senior leaders. He met with three governors in person, and one governor remotely.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, and science. For each deep dive he met with teachers and subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. He listened to pupils read. 29 and 30 March 2022

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 In addition, the inspector considered other subjects, including design and technology, history, geography, religious education and French. He sampled pupils’ work and spoke with pupils.  The inspector met with the special educational needs coordinator and the early years leader.  The inspector met with safeguarding leaders. He reviewed the single central record, the safeguarding policy, and related documents.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents. These included behaviour and attendance records and various policies.  The inspector met with staff and pupils to discuss different aspects of school life.  The inspector met with a local authority officer.  The inspector considered the views of parents who completed the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, including the free-text responses. He reviewed responses to the staff questionnaire. He analysed responses to the pupils’ questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Chris Davies, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 29 and 30 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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