St Luke's CofE Primary School

Inspection of St Luke’s C of E Primary School French’s Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB4 3JZ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 21 and 22 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Luke’s is a place in which pupils are happy and safe. They learn about positive relationships through the ‘St Luke’s way,’ the school’s set of agreed values. Pupils are well cared for and are respectful to adults and each other. Younger pupils benefit from working alongside their older peers in mixed-age classes. Pupils collaborate well, including children in the early years. They listen to each other and take turns respectfully.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not benefit from a well-considered curriculum in all subjects. In some areas, pupils’ learning does not build closely enough on their prior knowledge. This means they do not always achieve as well as they could.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour is positive. Pupils respond well to leaders’ high expectations for their conduct. This helps them to be orderly around the school. Pupils learn to consider others. As result, bullying is rare. If it does occur, adults resolve any issues.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about important life skills, such as information regarding possible future careers. They experience exciting visits and activities which develop what they learn in class. Opportunities provide equity for all pupils. For example, a recent event inspired all pupils, irrespective of gender, to consider a career in engineering.

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better?

Leaders are working collaboratively with the trust to review and improve the curriculum. They have put in place an ambitious curriculum aimed to help all pupils develop the knowledge they need to be successful. This includes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In some subjects this is working well, for example in mathematics and in art and design. In other curriculum areas, and in some aspects of the early years, leaders have not broken down the learning precisely enough for the specific needs of the pupils. This particularly applies to pupils in mixed-age classes. This means that some pupils do not develop the detailed knowledge they need.

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better?

The delivery of the curriculum is variable. Where the curriculum is well designed, teachers plan appropriate activities that help pupils learn the key knowledge. Staff know how to support pupils with SEND to access the curriculum. However, in some areas, the lack of precise plans means teachers do not check closely enough what pupils know.

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better?

In early years, children confidently build up what they know in key aspects, such as understanding of number. However, in some areas of learning, staff do not have the secure expertise to check what children know effectively. This means children are not as ready for Year 1 as they could be.

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better?

Pupils are taught to start to read using a new phonics scheme. This develops pupils’ knowledge of sounds in a coherent way. That said, not all staff have the secure 21 and 22 March 2023

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expertise needed to teach the programme consistently well. Most pupils quickly develop fluency and accuracy in reading. However, some pupils who are in the early stages of reading struggle to read confidently. Some of these pupils read books that do not match the sounds they know closely enough. While this is the case, older pupils are enthusiastic readers. They access a range of books that reflect the diverse nature of the school community.

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Leaders have established a clear vision for how they want pupils to behave. They have put in place effective processes and routines that pupils and staff understand. This supports pupils’ focus and encourages positive attitudes towards their learning. Leaders ensure they consider pupils’ views about behaviour. For instance, the school council has set the rules for lunchtimes. As a result, there is a calm and purposeful culture.

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The personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum that pupils access supports their personal development well. For example, they learn about managing money for when they have pocket money or a part-time job. Leaders plan how to prepare pupils effectively for life in modern Britain. For instance, well-considered events, such as visits to the local cathedral and holocaust exhibitions, build closely on classroom learning. This leads to pupils articulating a mature understanding of people from different cultures.

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Staff welcome how leaders consider their workload when changes are made. Staff particularly appreciate the opportunity for training in a range of subject areas, delivered by the trust.

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The trust ensures that there is effective oversight of leaders’ work. Trust leaders and governors carry out regular checks on statutory responsibilities, such as safeguarding. The trust is focused on supporting improvements to the school’s curriculum, and leaders have already taken effective action to reflect this priority.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders prioritise safeguarding. Staff are vigilant to any concerns affecting pupils’ welfare and report these promptly. Leaders act in a timely way on information given. They are tenacious in ensuring that vulnerable pupils and families receive appropriate support. Safeguarding checks made on adults who work in the school are in place and are well managed.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are taught to keep themselves safe through the PSHE curriculum . They understand about the risks they face in the local community and online. 21 and 22 March 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not identified and sequenced precisely enough the knowledge that pupils need to learn in all areas of the curriculum. This includes some aspects of the early years. As a result, pupils do not develop a detailed understanding in all subject areas. Leaders must ensure that all curriculum plans clearly identify what knowledge is required and in which order it should be taught so that pupils learn well over time.  There is some variation in the expertise of staff to deliver the new phonics programme consistently well. This means that readers needing the most support do not achieve fluency and accuracy quickly enough in reading. Leaders should ensure that books are consistently well matched to pupils’ phonics stage and that staff have the knowledge they need to teach early reading effectively.  Staff teaching in the early years do not have a consistently strong understanding of the curriculum. As a result, adults are not accurate enough in checking and

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

responding to what children know in some areas of learning. Leaders should ensure that the full curriculum in early years identifies the knowledge that needs to be learned and assessed. Leaders should then ensure that all staff have the relevant expertise to help children build secure knowledge in readiness for Year 1.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 21 and 22 March 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Luke’s C of E Primary School is part of the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust. It became a member of the trust in March 2019.  The headteacher was appointed full time to the school in September 2021.  As a denominational Church of England school, a section 48 inspection of the school’s religious character is scheduled within 18 months. The school has not had a section 48 inspection since it became an academy.  An external provider manages an after-school care club for pupils attending the school.  Leaders make use of one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 21 and 22 March 2023

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 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 into that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, subject leaders and all other staff. Inspectors also spoke with the chief executive officer and two hub directors from the trust and with the vice-chair of the local governance board.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and art. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising records and through discussions with leaders, staff and pupils.  Inspectors considered a range of documents, including leaders’ and the trust’s

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self-evaluation and plans for improving the school.  The lead inspector held a telephone conversation with the alternative provider used by the school.  Inspectors considered 38 responses to the parental Ofsted online survey, Ofsted Parent View. They also considered 16 free-text responses. Inspectors reviewed seven responses from the Ofsted staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.  Inspectors spoke to pupils in lessons, in groups and at playtimes to gather their views about the school.

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Inspection team

Sarah Stevens, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Karen Stanton Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 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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