St Lawrence Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Lawrence Church of England Primary School Wharf Lane, Lechlade, Gloucestershire GL7 3AU

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Outcome

St Lawrence Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, courteous and caring of others. Pupils live out the Christian values of the school, especially friendship. Pupils enjoy school. This is reflected in their high attendance.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils demonstrate positive learning attitudes and strive to do well in lessons. This is because teachers have high expectations of pupils. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are skilfully supported by staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between pupils and adults are strong. Pupils play with their peers and older or younger pupils. The vast majority of pupils are well behaved. Some pupils need extra help to meet leaders’ and teachers’ expectations. Leaders provide support to these pupils to be more successful. Pupils report that there is no bullying in school. Even so, they do know who to speak to if they have any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities with relish. These include being buddies for younger pupils, sports leaders and members of the school council. Pupils appreciate the range of extra-curricular clubs on offer.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The majority of parents are appreciative of the support and care staff provide for their children. One parental comment, typical of many, states, ‘This is a lovely school with great values.’

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

Leaders, staff and governors are ambitious for every pupil at St Lawrence. Leaders have created a well-designed curriculum that starts from the early years. In some subjects this is new and not yet embedded. Leaders and teachers have worked hard to identify where there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge due to COVID-19 restrictions. These gaps are being addressed quickly in lessons. 24 and 25 May 2022

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Leaders ensure that teachers know pupils well. Teachers plan learning that builds on pupils’ knowledge successfully. Leaders identify pupils with SEND accurately. Leaders make sure teachers and teaching assistants have the correct knowledge and training to support them well.

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Leaders have recently introduced a new way of teaching phonics. This is being implemented in a consistent way. Teachers make sure children know the sounds letters make. However, pupils are not always successful in applying their knowledge of phonics when writing. Those children in early years and pupils in Year 1 who struggle with reading are supported well. They have regular catch-up sessions to enable them to start to read with greater fluency. Reading lessons help pupils to understand a range of texts. Leaders are aware that the love of reading needs to be further developed so that all pupils enjoy reading for pleasure.

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The teaching of mathematics is strong. Teachers have a clear understanding of what pupils need to know to be successful. As a result, pupils enjoy mathematics and are building their knowledge well. Pupils know which methods to use when calculating. They can apply this knowledge with accuracy in problem solving and reasoning tasks.

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In music, pupils take part in lessons with enthusiasm. Pupils are able to recall what the pulse, beat and rhythm is within the songs they hear. They can play parts of these songs using instruments. However, pupils are not able to recall their prior learning with enough detail. This is also the case in other subjects. Leaders are creating new assessment systems to help teachers check how much pupils have remembered and know from their learning.

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The school’s work to promote pupils’ wider development is of high quality. This includes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils have opportunities to represent their school at local sporting and cultural events. Leaders place a strong emphasis on social and emotional support for pupils, especially those whose families are in the armed forces.

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Staff appreciate the support of leaders in their professional development. Teachers participate in regular training provided by the trust the school is part of. Staff say that leaders’ expectations are realistic and workload is manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have created a culture of vigilance to enable staff to keep children safe. Regular training provides staff with the correct information to be able to report and act on safeguarding concerns. Leaders work well with outside agencies to provide the support families may need. Governors and school leaders have ensured that robust systems for the recruitment of new staff are in place.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe both in person and online. They know how to report anything that may worry or concern them. 24 and 25 May 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils do not consistently apply their phonic knowledge when writing. As a result, pupils’ spelling is not as accurate as it should be. Leaders need to ensure that pupils use their phonic knowledge to improve their spelling accuracy from the early years into Year 1 and beyond.  In a few subjects, the sequence of learning is not yet fully embedded. Consequently, pupils are unable to recall prior knowledge. Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessments to accurately check what pupils have remembered, know and can do across the school curriculum.

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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 Lawrence Church of England Primary School, to be good in January 2017.

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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. 24 and 25 May 2022

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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. 24 and 25 May 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school became an academy converter in March 2018. The school is part of the Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust, a multi-academy trust of 17 primary schools in Gloucestershire.  The school runs wraparound care provision at the start and end of the school day for pupils who attend the school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  St Lawrence is a church school. The school’s previous section 48 inspection took place in February 2017. The school was judged to be outstanding.

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Information about this inspection

 This is the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders, a group of staff, representatives of the Diocese of Gloucester Academy Trust and members of the local governing body. 24 and 25 May 2022

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and music. The inspector met with subject leaders, visited lessons across the school, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work .  A wide range of documents was scrutinised, including those relating to safeguarding, behaviour, school self-evaluation and curriculum documentation.  The inspector reviewed the 69 responses to Ofsted Parent View including free-text comments, 79 responses from the pupil survey and 16 responses from the staff survey. The inspector also spoke to some parents and carers.

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Inspection team

Paul Smith, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 May 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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