St Giles CofE Primary School

Inspection of St Giles CofE Primary School Portland Crescent, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY2 5NJ

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 October 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 18 and 19 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders put the interests of their pupils at the heart of all they do. They make sure that all pupils, whatever their needs, are engaged in the life of the school. As a result, pupils enjoy coming to Saint Giles. They are happy and feel safe. They live up to the school’s core values: respect, resilience and responsibility. Pupils behave very well in lessons and around school. They have positive attitudes to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bullying is very rare, but leaders deal effectively with it when it occurs. Pupils get on very well with each other. Those spoken to said they would tell a trusted adult if anything upset them. They praised the pastoral team which helps look after them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders set high ambitions for all pupils to do as well as possible. This means that standards, including in reading and mathematics, are high by the time they leave school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have many opportunities to take on responsibilities. They can stand for election to the worship, finance, well-being and eco-committees. The school uses a ‘polling station’ for the school council elections to help pupils’ understanding of democracy. These were broadcast on Radio Shropshire, with the headteacher acting as returning officer.

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better?

The school has put in place ambitious curriculum plans. They are sequenced, so that pupils can build on their previous learning in greater depth or revise their learning. In history, for instance, pupils make comparisons in ‘crime and punishment’ based on their previous studies of the Romans and the Victorians. In science, pupils talk confidently about density, applying previous learning to an investigation of fresh and salty water.

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better?

In Reception, the curriculum is designed carefully to provide the building blocks for future learning. Many older pupils spoken to could recall their history learning in early years on castles, which helped them prepare them for future topics studied.

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better?

Pupils attend school regularly and are enthusiastic about their work. In lessons, including in early years, pupils’ work is checked regularly and carefully to see how well they are doing across subjects and themes. Staff use this information well. They establish which pupils are ready to move on with their learning and those who need further help and support.

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better?

Children in Reception settle quickly into routines. They get off to a prompt start. They learn to read as soon as they join in Reception. The school has recently introduced a new phonics scheme. This scheme is well embedded. Teachers and additional adults have been trained well to deliver the programme consistently. Books are well matched to the letters and sounds that children know, including for those at the early stage of reading. There are many opportunities for pupils to read 18 and 19 October 2023

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widely for pleasure, to widen their vocabulary and enhance their comprehension. Pupils, including those who have fallen behind, quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to be confident readers.

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The school has experienced a significant rise in the number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) who find learning difficult. The school makes suitable adaptions across the curriculum to enable most pupils with SEND to do well. However, for some with high needs, the adaptions are not always sufficient to enable them to consistently access their work successfully.

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The school plans very well for pupils’ personal development. Pupils have an excellent understanding and appreciation of diversity in the local community and beyond. Pupils know and accept there are different types of relationships. They gain a very wide experience of different faiths and extensive experiences of trips and visitors to the school. Pupils meet authors from a wide variety of backgrounds to inspire them to be writers. Educational visits, such as visiting Carding Mill valley, or workshops on stone age man, bring the curriculum to life. Pupils can perform dramas in French and as part of their religious education studies. They can also become sports leaders. Every year, older pupils attend a residential trip to Oaker Wood or Kingswood Cholomendy.

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Leaders make sure that they take full account of staff workload. This was much appreciated by those who completed the staff survey. Senior leaders, however, are finding that more of their time is being spent working with pupils with complex needs.

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Governors know the school very well through their regular link visits and positive engagement with external support. The have established a unified school community. As a result, a very large number of parents who responded to their survey said they would recommend the school to another parent.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has an increasing number of pupils with SEND, including some with very high needs. In some instances, adaptions made to the curriculum do not enable pupils to access their work. As a result, they do not succeed in some tasks. The school should ensure that adaptions made are sufficient to enable all pupils to achieve well, including in early reading.  Some senior leaders are spending an increasing part of their time working with pupils with complex needs. This means that they do not always have sufficient 18 and 19 October 2023

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time to carry out their strategic roles. The school should ensure that the school has the resources and capacity to meet the increasing needs of pupils with SEND, and so relieve senior leaders’ workload.

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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). 18 and 19 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://www.st-giles.shropshire.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 October 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The deputy headteacher was appointed in September 2023.  Both assistant headteachers were appointed to their current roles since the last inspection.  There have been significant changes to the membership of the governing body since the last inspection, including a new chair and vice chair.  In the last three years, the proportion of pupils on the SEND register and those with education healthcare plans has risen significantly from below to above the national average.  The school makes use of one registered and one unregistered alternative provider.  The school has a Christian ethos. The school’s last Section 48 inspection was in October 2017. The next scheduled inspection was delayed because of the COVID- 19 pandemic. It is now due in 2024. 18 and 19 October 2023

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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 held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other leaders and staff.  Inspectors spoke to several groups of pupils.  Inspectors met five members of the governing body, including the chair and vice chair.  An inspector met the school’s improvement advisor from the local authority.  An inspector visited an alternative provision, which is unregistered.  Inspectors took account of responses to the Ofsted Parent View free-text service, the online questionnaire, and the staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.  Inspectors considered information on pupils’ behaviour, attendance and personal development.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics,

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Information about this inspection

physical education, history and science. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also listened to pupils reading. They also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects, including in the early years foundation stage.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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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Inspection team

Mark Sims, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Maneer Samad Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 October 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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