St Anne's CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Anne’s C of E Primary School London Road, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE29 2WW

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Outcome

There has been no change to the school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud representatives of the school’s values of ‘respect, kindness, growth and nurture’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils listen carefully to teachers and take pride in their work. However, pupils’ achievement varies. This is because pupils’ teachers have yet to receive guidance about how best to teach the knowledge, vocabulary and skills that pupils need to know.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave kindly, helping others to concentrate on their learning or to enjoy their play. They learn to do this in the early years, being introduced to clear rules and routines that set the expectations well. Pupils say that bullying is rare. However, if bullying does happen, adults across school take swift action to stop it. Pupils know that staff are always there for them, listening to and resolving any worries. This helps pupils to feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Taking on responsibility contributes towards successfully enhancing pupils’ personal development. Pupils enjoy raising money for charity and taking part in acts of worship, which are often led by their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like how staff nurture their understanding of the world. They learn to respect one another regardless of difference. They broaden their experiences of society through visits to different places of worship and places of historical significance, such as a local castle.

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

Leaders prioritise reading. They have introduced a new phonics programme that carefully builds pupils’ knowledge of the sounds that letters make. This includes pupils receiving books that match the sounds they learn. This means that most pupils read their books fluently and confidently. Teachers give considerable time to reading within the school day. 14 and 15 June 2023

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Pupils read as part of a class activity and listen to the class teacher read from a list of set books. As a result, pupils achieve well in reading and develop a love of literature.

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Elsewhere, the success of the curriculum varies. Issues with staffing are hindering leaders’ ability to finish developing and then checking their curriculum changes. Leaders are putting in place a well-planned curriculum that breaks down learning step by step. This, in turn, supports teachers where it identifies what pupils need to know so that teachers can check this against what pupils do know to inform future teaching. However, where much of the curriculum is new, some older pupils did not learn what the curriculum specifies they should have learned when they were younger. Teachers do not always account for this well in their explanations and the activities they arrange for pupils. This means that pupils’ lack of understanding persists, gaps develop and pupils struggle to keep up with learning what they need to learn.

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In some subjects, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not have activities appropriately adapted to help them to succeed. There is insufficient time set aside for leaders and teachers to engage with parents as partners in their child’s learning. As a result, pupils with SEND sometimes find it hard to learn and they rely too greatly on adult support. This limits pupils in developing their independence and they do not achieve as well as they could.

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There is a consistent approach to managing behaviour. Expectations of how pupils behave are high. Pupils understand the difference between right and wrong. This results in little disruption to learning throughout the school.

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Generally, pupils’ wider development is effective. Leaders and staff support pupils to become polite and respectful. Leaders have developed a curriculum that helps to develop pupils’ character. Pupils work well individually and in small groups. They mostly show resilience when working on activities that are challenging or require a lot of concentration. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, pupils had access to a wide range of sports and other extra-curricular clubs. These are being reintroduced, such as football, netball and choir.

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Governors share the aspirations of school leaders. They know the school well. Governors make regular visits to check on the safety of pupils and to meet with subject leaders to see how well learning is going. Governors ensure that the well-being of staff and pupils is a priority within the school. Staff’s workload is regularly considered and adaptions have been made to policies accordingly. Governors have an accurate view of the schools’ strengths and weaknesses. Working with school leaders, governors have contributed towards bringing about recent improvements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders’ checks on the suitability of staff to work with children are thorough. Governors, leaders and staff know how to raise any concerns about pupils’ welfare. They understand and carry out their safeguarding duties effectively. Staff have regular and up-to-date training. 14 and 15 June 2023

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Leaders take appropriate, timely actions to ensure that pupils and families get the support they need. There are named staff who support the development of links between home and school well.

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Pupils learn how to keep safe, including online. They know what to do and who to go to if they have a worry.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in some subjects is less well developed than in others. Some curriculum implementation has been slow, so while plans are in place and are generally well considered, they are at different stages of being embedded. Where this is the case, pupils’ learning does not build sufficiently well on their prior knowledge. This means that pupils do not know and remember all the key knowledge that has been identified in the curriculum plan. Leaders should continue to embed the newly introduced curriculum plans so that pupils build up the knowledge and skills required to be ready for the next stage in their education.  In some subjects, activities are not adapted appropriately for pupils with SEND. Consequently, this hinders pupils in developing their knowledge as they should. Leaders should ensure that staff receive training on how to make appropriate adaptations so pupils with SEND can successfully access the curriculum. Leaders should

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

also strengthen their systems for setting and reviewing additional support for pupils with SEND in consultation with parents so that parents are confident that the support their child receives is helping them to achieve their best.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2014. 14 and 15 June 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 and 15 June 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Diocese of Ely.  The school has a religious character, Church of England, and was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 on 24 May 2017. The school’s next section 48 inspection will be within eight school years.  Currently, leaders do not make use of any alternative providers.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with leaders, including the headteacher, the assistant headteachers, the special educational needs coordinator and five representatives of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and music. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, visited a sample of 14 and 15 June 2023

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lessons, spoke to teachers, met with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector met with leaders and reviewed records related to safeguarding and pupils’ behaviour. The inspector also reviewed policies related to safeguarding and the school’s single central record of pre-employment checks on staff and volunteers. The inspector also gathered evidence about the culture of safeguarding in discussion with governors, staff and pupils.  To gather the views of stakeholders, the inspector took account of the 47 responses to the pupil questionnaire, the 29 responses to the staff questionnaire, and the 84 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including 83 free-text responses. Further to this, the inspector held discussions with several pupils, parents and staff to gather their insights

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about the school.  A range of documents were reviewed, including leaders’ school development plans, curriculum plans, school policies and minutes of governing body meetings.

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Inspection team

Duncan Ramsey, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 June 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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