St Peter's Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Peter's Church of England Primary School Belford Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 1JA

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Outcome

St Peter's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Paul Griffiths. This school is part of the Yorkshire Causeway 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, Jane Goodwin, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Alison Glover.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this welcoming, friendly school. The school’s Christian ethos underpins everything that happens here. There is a strong focus on building positive relationships. As a result, pupils are respectful of their peers and adults. They show empathy and care for each other. For example, pupils in Year 6 help to look after pupils in ‘the nest’. This is the school’s quiet space where pupils can go if they have any worries or concerns. The school has created a highly inclusive culture. Pupils are very respectful of difference.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour in lessons, and around school, is calm and orderly. Instances of poor behaviour are unusual. Where this does happen, the school acts swiftly to address it. Pupils demonstrate the school’s simple behaviour rules of ‘responsible, respectful, safe’ consistently well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their learning and achieve well. They have confidence in adults to give them extra support with their learning when they need it. The school has developed an ambitious curriculum. Leaders have thought carefully about how to plan for the mixed-age classes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the opportunities they get to take on responsibilities. For example, they can become a librarian, Makaton leader or well-being warrior.

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

Since the previous inspection, the school has reviewed its curriculum. This has had a positive impact in many subjects. For example, the curriculum for mathematics is well 12 and 13 March 2024

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planned and sequenced. Pupils benefit from a structured approach to lessons. They have opportunities to revisit prior learning and to build on this with new knowledge. Teachers receive high-quality training. As a result, they have secure subject knowledge. They choose resources carefully to support pupils’ learning. Children in the early years build firm foundations in number. Carefully chosen activities in the provision support children to develop their learning further. For example, following some direct teaching on odd and even numbers, children made an odd or even monster using different numbers of eyes and limbs.

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Pupils soon become competent readers. Children in Reception begin to learn phonics almost as soon as they start school. The school insists that all staff and volunteers are fully trained in how to teach phonics. It is taught consistently well. Any pupils not keeping up with the phonics programme receive timely intervention. Pupils are positive about reading. They are proud of their new school library which is very well stocked. The school has worked to improve parental engagement with reading. For example, parents and carers were invited to attend a phonics information evening.

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The foundation subjects, such as history and geography, are carefully planned. The school has identified important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember. However, pupils cannot consistently recall what they have learned in these subjects. They can recall some facts and information about a topic, such as the ancient Egyptians. They are not clear though, about how historians or geographers might work. This is because they have limited opportunities to use resources such as compasses and maps as part of geography fieldwork, or to evaluate sources and write as a historian.

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Targeted training ensures staff are skilled at meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers make effective adaptions to lessons. This means that pupils with SEND learn the curriculum alongside their peers. The school considers what is important to these pupils, as well as what is important for them. Leaders show tenacity in securing any external support that these pupils may need. Similarly, pupils who speak English as an additional language (EAL) are well supported. For example, teachers use stem sentences to help these pupils articulate their thinking.

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Pupils talk with maturity about a range of issues. They are clear that the school treats everyone equally. They understand the importance of learning about diversity and show a keen interest in others. Through the school’s curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE), pupils learn how to lead safe, healthy lives. There is a range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests. For example, pupils can attend tchoukball, chess and art clubs. Pupils also have opportunities to compete regularly in a range of sports. Pupils play an active role in the local community. They attend the local church for events such as the harvest festival and sing carols for local residents at Christmas.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They receive a wealth of continued professional development from both the trust and external providers. The trust provides effective support to the school. Those responsible for governance play an active role in school life. They fulfil their statutory duties well and show commitment to the school. 12 and 13 March 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, teachers do not develop pupils' disciplinary knowledge well enough. Pupils have limited opportunities to work like a geographer or a historian, for example. The school should ensure that teaching matches the knowledge that is outlined in curriculum plans so that pupils’ disciplinary knowledge builds over time.

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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 predecessor school, Harrogate, St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, to be good in May 2015.

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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' 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 12 and 13 March 2024

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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). 12 and 13 March 2024

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School details

Date(s) of previous inspection 6 February 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school is a Church of England primary school within the Diocese of Leeds. The most recent section 48 inspection of the school’s religious character took place in March 2019.  The school is situated in Harrogate town centre. This impacts on the stability of the school’s population. More pupils than usual join or leave the school at points other than the start and end of the academic year.  The school has a higher-than-average proportion of pupils who speak EAL.  The current headteacher was not in post at the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 12 and 13 March 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, special educational needs and disabilities coordinator and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the chair of the trust board, the chief executive officer of the trust, the trust’s primary school improvement lead, the chair and other members of the governing body and a representative of the diocese of Leeds.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For early reading and mathematics, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The same activities were

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undertaken for the history deep dive, except for visiting lessons.  Curriculum plans for art and design and geography were reviewed. In addition, the inspector spoke to some pupils about their learning in geography and looked at their work.  The inspector considered how the school caters for pupils’ wider development, including meeting with the PSHE leader to discuss the curriculum for PSHE.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school was observed.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector examined the single central record and looked at how safeguarding incidents are reported. The inspector spoke to leaders, staff, governors, trust leaders and pupils about the culture of safeguarding in the school.  The inspector considered the responses made by parents to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, as part of the inspection. This included any free-text comments. The inspector also spoke with some parents at the end of the school day.

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Inspection team

Philippa Kermotschuk, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 12 and 13 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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