St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Great Yeldham

Inspection of St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, Great Yeldham Church Road, Great Yeldham, Halstead, Essex CO9 4PT

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Emma Flin. This school is part of The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Emma Wigmore, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Michael Ferguson. 13 and 14 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish in this friendly and welcoming village school because of its high expectations. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They attend well. The school’s Christian values and its motto, ‘To be the best you can be’, underpin all aspects of school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They treat each other and adults with kindness and respect. Bullying incidents are rare. When pupils have any worries or concerns, staff deal with these promptly and effectively. Pupils say they feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take pride in carrying out their roles and responsibilities, such as register monitors and friendship buddies. Pupils enjoy the opportunities they are given to become responsible members of their local community. Eco-warriors help to keep the school grounds tidy, and hall monitors prepare the hall for worship. Pupils enjoy their visits to St Edmund’s retirement home, where they entertain and chat with residents.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A significant majority of parents and carers are highly positive about the school. One parent echoed the views of many, saying: ‘St Andrew’s is a fantastic school. Staff work hard to make sure children are happy and that they achieve well.’

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better?

The school has created an ambitious curriculum which ensures that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn well. Leaders have identified the important knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils need to know in preparation for the next stage of their education.

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better?

Teachers have secure knowledge of the subjects they teach. They ensure that pupils are taught content in a logical order. Teachers use careful questioning to check that pupils understand what is being taught. However, in some areas of the curriculum, the school does not find out how well the curriculum is helping pupils to remember important knowledge over time.

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better?

The teaching of reading is given high priority. Children in Reception are extremely well supported to learn and recall new sounds quickly. As a result, children in Reception and pupils in key stage 1 learn to read well. The school provides pupils with books to read that match the sounds they know. Staff support weaker readers to catch up quickly. Pupils love learning to read and visiting the school library. They enjoy listening to their teachers reading stories to them. Older pupils are confident readers. They passionately discuss books they have enjoyed.

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better?

Children in Reception are excited by their learning. They enthusiastically follow routines and instructions. Children are kind and friendly. They understand the importance of turn taking and sharing. Children benefit from a carefully planned curriculum. Leaders have prioritised children’s language development. Skilful staff 13 and 14 September 2023

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are passionate about their work. They expertly provide an engaging learning environment that matches the children’s interests and developing needs. Children are very successfully prepared for Year 1.

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The school carefully identifies the needs of pupils with SEND. Teachers adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all pupils. Pupils with SEND receive the appropriate support they need. Consequently, they achieve well alongside their peers.

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The overwhelming majority of pupils have positive attitudes to school. Pupils behave sensibly and are keen to learn. Should any low-level disruption in lessons occur, adults address it successfully. Pupils take pride in their work. The school has a range of effective strategies in place to support pupils’ well-being and mental health. These include spending time with Bean, the school dog. These approaches help pupils feel calm and ready to learn.

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The school provides a wide range of activities to promote pupils’ personal development. Pupils contribute positively to the school and to the local community, including helping to serve tea and cakes at the church café. Pupils take part in fundraising activities, including donating to the local food bank. Pupils attend a range of lunchtime and after-school clubs, such as archery, dodgeball and art club. These activities help pupils to learn new skills and build compassion for those less fortunate.

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Pupils learn about other faiths and different communities. Pupils learn to respect the views of others. They also learn about healthy relationships and how to keep themselves healthy, both physically and mentally.

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Governors and trustees know the school well. They ensure that they support and challenge school leaders effectively. Staff, including those new to teaching, feel well supported by leaders. They are proud to work at this school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of the curriculum, the school does not check regularly how well pupils have remembered some important knowledge. This means that leaders are not clear how successfully pupils are meeting the aims of their ambitious curriculum. The school should ensure that assessment checks identify how well pupils are recalling and retaining the depth of knowledge intended. 13 and 14 September 2023

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 13 and 14 September 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 There is an early morning childcare club and an after-school childcare club, both of which are run by school staff.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school is part of The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with members of the school’s leadership team, including the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. Inspectors also met with the local parish priest and with five members of the local school board, including the chair of the board. 13 and 14 September 2023

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 The lead inspector held an online meeting with the trust’s school improvement leader and spoke on the telephone to the trust’s chief executive officer.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with the subject leader, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including development plans, curriculum documents, governor visit reports, trust visit reports and minutes of governor and trust meetings.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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 To gather and consider the views of parents, inspectors spoke to parents on the playground at the start of the school day. Inspectors considered the 31 responses made by parents to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, including 20 free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the 12 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for pupils.

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Inspection team

Nick Rudman, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Nicola Shadbolt Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 September 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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