Gamston St Peter's CofE Primary School

Inspection of Gamston St Peter’s CofE Primary School Gamston, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 0PE

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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

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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 Chris Edwards. This school is part of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Chris Moodie, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Phil Blinston. 6 and 7 March 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils strive to be the ‘best they can be’ at this small village school. Everyone works together in harmony. Pupils are welcoming, polite and courteous. They understand what it means to be a good friend. They listen to each other’s ideas and praise their friends for showing positive attitudes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are unwavering in their praise for the school. As one parent, typical of many, commented: ‘We love this school. It focuses on children’s celebrations and successes and not just the academic.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They pay attention in lessons and enjoy their social times together. They look forward to receiving ‘kindness awards’ during celebration worship. They relish the opportunity of seeing their name written in the ‘Gold Book’. It means they have gone the extra mile to live out the school’s values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils fulfil their roles and responsibilities in school with pride. They lead their peers in mindfulness activities. Some are sports leaders. Others are democratically elected to be school councillors. Pupils benefit from attending a range of extra-curricular clubs. They enjoy taking part in sports events and competitions. Careful adaptations mean that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) can participate fully in all school events.

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better?

The school has established a united, shared vision. Staff, pupils and parents appreciate the recent changes. These have been worked through methodically and logically to ensure improvements are sustainable. The school, in conjunction with the trust, has an accurate and evaluative understanding of its strengths and development needs.

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better?

The school endeavours to establish strong, positive relationships with all. Staff are proud to work at this school. They can see how the improvements to the school are supporting their workload and well-being. Parents enjoy attending the ‘Coffee, Cake and Conversation’ gatherings. This helps them to understand how the school is helping their child to learn.

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better?

In subjects such as mathematics and art and design, the school’s curriculum outlines what pupils must know and recall. Teachers deliver these subjects well, making regular checks on what pupils can remember. Some subject curriculums are being refined. In these subjects, the school is ensuring that the curriculum builds logically from the early years. In other subjects, the curriculum is not yet implemented consistently.

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better?

The school, alongside the trust, has prioritised developing teachers’ subject knowledge. Staff appreciate the support they receive to enhance their expertise. The 6 and 7 March 2024

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school continues to ensure teachers know how to address gaps and misconceptions in pupils’ learning.

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Provision for pupils with SEND is carefully considered. Teachers break down the knowledge into small steps so that pupils with SEND can succeed. This helps them to become increasingly independent and fluent in using and applying what they know. However, occasionally, teachers do not make the best use of resources and equipment to reduce barriers to learning that pupils with SEND may encounter.

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Pupils enjoy reading. Adults carefully help pupils with SEND to share their favourite stories using pictures and images. They learn to retell stories using repetitive words and phrases. Children in the early years learn to sound out words. This helps them to read books that are well matched to their stage of development. Pupils further on in the reading programme learn about sounds that can be written in alternative ways and recognise spelling patterns. Should pupils fall behind in the programme, extra support is put in place.

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Children in the early years settle well into school routines. They enjoy singing familiar songs and rhymes. They learn to take turns and share. Some children apply what they have learned with adults to their own independent learning. For example, children talked knowledgeably about parts of a plant as they mixed colours to paint flowers. Sometimes, adults do not develop children’s language in meaningful ways during independent activities.

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Through the school’s personal development programme, pupils learn about how to manage finances and budgets. They begin to recognise how they can contribute towards their community. They make decisions about how fundraising will be shared among local charities or to improve their school. For example, pupils raised funds for a ‘friendship bench’ for the school’s playground. Pupils enjoy learning about different communities in modern society. They have some understanding of how to stay safe online.

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Those responsible for governance at the school provide support and challenge. They have the expertise to fulfil their responsibilities.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s implementation of the wider curriculum, including provision for SEND and the early years, is not consistently realised. Thus, they are not yet having the full, desired impact. The school must ensure that its vision for the curriculum, SEND and for early years is consistently embedded so that all pupils benefit from 6 and 7 March 2024

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the school’s offer.  Checks on how well the curriculum is being implemented are not fully established. This means that parts of the curriculum are not delivered as leaders intend. The school must ensure that staff have secure teaching knowledge to teach the school’s curriculum. It must ensure that regular checks are made so that the curriculum is implemented as intended.

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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). 6 and 7 March 2024

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School details

Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in April 2022.  Gamston St Peter’s CofE Primary School converted to become an academy in March 2023. When its predecessor school, Gamston CofE (Aided) Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  Gamston St Peter’s CofE Primary School is part of the Diocese Of Southwell And Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust. The last section 48 inspection of Anglican and Methodist schools took place in September 2017. This is an inspection of the school’s religious character.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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 6 and 7 March 2024

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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 considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, physical education and history. For each deep dive, the 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. The lead inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors considered the school’s personal, social and health education

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curriculum alongside the wider personal development offer.  Inspectors considered pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school. They sought the views of pupils, staff and parents. They considered the school’s logs for pupils’ behaviour.  The lead inspector held meetings with those responsible for school governance.  The lead inspector examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation and improvement plans.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. The inspectors met with groups of staff and pupils and considered responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Shaheen Hussain, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rebecca Thompson Ofsted Inspector 6 and 7 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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