St Laurence CofE Primary School

Inspection of St Laurence CofE Primary School Jockeyfield, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1TP

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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 Good Previous inspection grade Good 5 and 6 March 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy and welcoming school. It encourages all pupils to be trustworthy, hardworking and creative. Leaders and staff have high expectations. This, and their hard work, helps all pupils to learn and develop well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are valued as individuals and as important members of the school community. They value the caring relationships that underpin the school’s positive ethos. Pupils enjoy school. Their attendance and behaviour are typically good or better.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They talk confidently about how interesting assemblies and different lessons help to keep them safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children are supported well and get off to a good start in the early years. As they grow older, pupils do lots of activities that help to foster confidence. Pupils in the school come from many different backgrounds. Their shared experiences while at school ensure that all develop common insight and understanding of the wider world. Pupils enjoy the ‘extras’ they get such as philosophy sessions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers support the school. They say it is like a ‘big family’ with ‘different people who listen to each other’. Nearly all parents and carers would recommend the school to others. The school environment is mostly attractive and well resourced.

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better?

The school’s curriculum is broad and ambitious, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It covers the national curriculum and includes plenty of enrichment activities. The school has identified what pupils should learn in each subject. This is usually translated into detailed curriculum plans for each class. In a few foundation subjects, these plans are still developing.

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better?

In most subjects, teachers ensure that pupils have solid foundations before moving on to new work. Teachers have been given training in the best teaching methods, which includes guidance on teaching different subjects. However, some foundation subject coordinators do not check if guidance is being followed. In these instances, teachers’ less effective teaching choices and pupils’ uneven learning are not picked up. However, teaching is strong overall and helps pupils do well in national tests.

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better?

Early reading is taught well. Children learn phonics as soon as they start school. Pupils benefit from focused and specialist teaching of reading, which is organised carefully. Most become fluent and confident readers quickly. Any pupils who find reading difficult receive immediate help. This includes a few pupils with severe reading difficulties who started at St Laurence after struggling at a previous school. All pupils are encouraged to read often and widely as they get older. Pupils with SEND are taught well. Teachers and other adults identify pupils with SEND quickly. They adapt classroom activities and provide extra resources to meet the needs of 5 and 6 March 2024

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these pupils. The school uses specialist staff to cater for pupils’ specific difficulties, including their social, emotional and mental health needs. Leaders check regularly on the impact of specific support provided for pupils, which is usually very effective.

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Children in the early years settle quickly. Staff pay particular attention to their speech and language development, which prepares them well for Year 1. In the popular Nursery, the physical environment and some equipment is out of date and not used fully to support the wider curriculum. In Reception, children learn well across all areas of learning.

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Pupils’ wider development is emphasised by the school and its staff. From the early years onwards, staff encourage oral confidence and fluency in pupils. As a result, pupils are articulate and confident speakers. This is supported by a wider programme of enrichment, which gives all pupils a wealth of sporting, musical, social, cultural and other opportunities. Popular clubs include ‘Stompers’ (the school orchestra), chess and cooking. Circle time, assemblies and diverse visitors to school help pupils to broaden their horizons. All pupils learn to reflect on their place in the world, including though regular ‘philosophy’ sessions in weekly circle time.

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The school is an inclusive community of pupils from different backgrounds. Pupils usually treat each other with kindness and respect. A few can lack awareness of the impact of their actions on others. The school is tackling this by introducing peer mediation in circle time.

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Leaders, including governors, have a clear and ambitious vision for the school. This is shared by the wider school community. Their twin focus on academic achievement and personal development helps to make sure that St Laurence pupils are prepared very well for the next stage of their education.

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Staff recognise and appreciate the different ways that leaders show support for them. They are proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The physical environment in the Nursery and some of the equipment is rather outdated. Their current condition limits their use as an effective tool for helping all children to develop well across all areas of learning. The school should ensure that the Nursery’s physical environment is better equipped and suitably organised so that it gives all children more and wider opportunities to learn.  In some foundation subjects the delivery of the curriculum has not been monitored closely enough. As a result, there remains some variability in how well 5 and 6 March 2024

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the curriculum is delivered. The school should ensure that subject leaders carefully monitor the quality of teaching in all subjects to ensure that it is of a consistently high standard across the curriculum.

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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). 5 and 6 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://www.st-laurenceprimary.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 June 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school is a voluntary controlled Church of England school and last received a section 48 inspection in 2018. The next inspection is due by 2026.

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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.  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.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 5 and 6 March 2024

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors met with school leaders, including those responsible for the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and safeguarding.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, history and English. For each deep dive, inspectors spoke to subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, talked to pupils about their learning and behaviour and considered samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  The lead inspector spoke with the local authority school improvement officer and a representative of the diocese of Hereford. The lead inspector also met with two members of the governing body.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including written

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comments from parents, and the responses to the online Ofsted staff survey.

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Inspection team

Mike Cladingbowl, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Johanne Clifton Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 March 2024

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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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