St Cedd's Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Cedd's Church of England Primary School East End Road, Bradwell-on-Sea, Southminster, Essex CM0 7PY

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Outcome

St Cedd's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this small village school. They show a great deal of compassion and care for each other. It is very important to pupils that everyone feels included. Staff and pupils have respectful and supportive relationships. This helps pupils feel safe and happy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respond well to the high expectations that teachers set. They understand and follow the clear rules and routines. Pupils behave in a calm and orderly way in the classrooms and when moving around the school. Bullying is rare. When it does happen, staff deal with it quickly and well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn a broad curriculum. They enjoy the wider opportunities leaders provide, including trips and enrichment activities that link to subjects. Pupils work hard, enjoy learning and achieve well. Pupils leave with the foundations needed for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand that being different should be valued and respected. They can talk knowledgeably about other faiths and cultures. Pupils enjoy the opportunities to take on extra responsibilities, including being play leaders and being voted into the pupil parliament.

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

Leaders have developed ambitious curriculum plans. They have carefully considered what pupils need to learn from the early years to Year 6. Each small step of learning is identified and put in a logical order. This helps pupils to build effectively on knowledge they have learned previously.

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

Children in the early years benefit from engaging and well-planned activities that capture their imagination. This helps the children to develop independence and a love of learning. There is a sharp focus on developing and building communication skills. All 14 March 2023

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adults skilfully question children, which enables children to develop their language skills. Children are well prepared for learning in Year 1.

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Staff are well trained and have good subject knowledge. They present information clearly, so that pupils understand what they are learning. Teachers check what pupils know and can do regularly. They identify and address any misconceptions. Pupils can remember and apply key knowledge using subject-specific vocabulary. Pupils achieve well over time.

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Children develop a love of reading in the early years, as they read, share and re-tell familiar stories. Teachers help pupils develop this more as they get older. They ensure that pupils can read a wide range of high-quality books. Children start to learn phonics as soon as they join Reception. Pupils build on this in Year 1 and Year 2, so they recognise, read and spell unfamiliar words. However, for a few pupils, the books that they read do not closely match their phonics knowledge. They do not get to practise reading the sounds they have learned, which slows their ability to read fluently. Pupils who struggle with reading get extra help for as long as they need it. However, a few pupils do not follow a ‘catch-up programme’ that focuses exactly on the gaps in their phonics knowledge, so they do not make the progress they could.

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Leaders are ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They provide training for staff, so that they can help to meet pupils’ differing needs. Staff help pupils with SEND learn the same broad curriculum as their classmates. Teachers adapt their teaching to help pupils with SEND learn successfully.

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Staff set clear expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Children in the early years follow routines well. This helps them to develop positive attitudes to learning. They know how to play and work with others. Pupils understand the school rules and they feel they are fair. Leaders ensure teachers have the guidance and support needed to manage pupils’ behaviour well. Pupils’ learning is rarely disrupted by the behaviour of others. Teachers tackle the few instances that occur immediately.

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Pupils develop a strong sense of kindness towards others. They understand that individual personalities make people unique. Leaders have developed a personal, social, health and economic education curriculum that helps pupils to develop resilience and look after their emotional and mental health. Pupils start to develop the knowledge they need to become thoughtful, responsible citizens.

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Governors and the trust work well together to improve the school. They engage well with parents and the community. Leaders provide many opportunities for parents to see the work of the school. Staff are supportive of leaders. Leaders consider staff well-being and what is best for pupils when making changes. 14 March 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure staff are trained to recognise how to identify children who may be at risk of harm. Staff understand how and when to pass on concerns. Leaders act on concerns in a timely manner to help keep pupils safe. They work effectively with other agencies to keep pupils safe when they need to do so.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors ensure that the necessary checks are carried out before staff are employed to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe at school. They learn how to keep themselves safe in the community and when working online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A small number of pupils do not read books that closely match their phonics knowledge. This slows down pupils’ ability to read fluently. Leaders need to ensure that books that all pupils read closely match their phonics knowledge, so that all become confident, fluent readers as quickly as possible.  A few pupils who need extra support with phonics do not receive a teaching and support approach that focuses precisely on the gaps in their phonics knowledge. This means that they continue to struggle to decode words and are not supported to make the progress that they should. Leaders should ensure that all pupils who need additional support with learning phonics have teaching that focuses on the precise gaps in their phonics knowledge.

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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 an ungraded inspection and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2017. 14 March 2023

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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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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. 14 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10255176 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23 and 24 May 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders do not currently use any alternative provision.  The school has a Christian religious character, which is inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The school’s most recent section 48 inspection took place in April 2018. The school’s next section 48 inspection will be within eight school years.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The lead inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The lead inspector held meetings with the headteacher, who is also the designated safeguarding lead. The lead inspector also spoke with a school improvement partner from the local authority, met with members of the local governing body and held a meeting with representatives of the trust.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in three subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors visited lessons, spoke to staff, spoke to pupils and looked at pupils’ work. 14 March 2023

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 Inspectors viewed a range of policies, documents and information, including minutes of governors’ meetings, safeguarding records, records of behaviour and bullying incidents and information on the school website.  The lead inspector considered the 26 responses and 20 free-text responses made by parents to the survey, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors also considered 11 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.  There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey. Inspectors spoke with pupils to seek their views and experiences of the school.

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Inspection team

Jessie Linsley, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Craige Brown Ofsted Inspector 14 March 2023

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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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