St Peter's CofE Primary School

Inspection of St Peter’s CofE Primary School Rendle Street, Plymouth, Devon PL1 1TP

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Inspection dates: 27 and 28 February 2024

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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 Marc Wheeler. This school is part of St. Christopher’s 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, Jo Evans, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Andrew Bailey. 27 and 28 February 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sits at the heart of the locality. Staff have an astute awareness of the needs of the local community and strive hard to meet these. The ethos of the school is rooted in the values of ‘love, hope, joy, respect and forgiveness’. Staff have high expectations of everyone. They support pupils to flourish.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils participate in a range of civic initiatives. Through these, they develop confidence and independence. For example, they work with local charities to design and improve public spaces. The school works in partnership with parents and external agencies to secure regular attendance. Consequently, most pupils attend well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are welcoming to new pupils and visitors. They are interested to find out about the lives of others. Pupils learn about future career options. They build aspiration and develop ambition about their own futures. Pupils understand the school rules and behave well. Consequently, the school environment is a calm and orderly one where pupils socialise happily.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop their talents and interests through extra-curricular clubs. They take part in activities, such as football, craft and coding. Pupils are proud to represent their school at sporting events. They make visits to places of interest, such as the local football stadium. Through these experiences, pupils build an appreciation of wider cultural opportunities.

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better?

The school has maintained a relentless focus on improvement. Pupils learn an ambitious curriculum. The curriculum begins with small components of knowledge which build progressively over time from Nursery to Year 6. Pupils regularly revisit learning. For example, in mathematics, pupils develop rapid recall of arithmetic knowledge. This helps them to solve more complex mathematical problems later. The school considers and meets the varying needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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better?

In most subjects, leaders have identified clearly the important knowledge that pupils should know and remember. They have a strong overview, so pupils receive the subject-specific input that they need to develop their knowledge securely. Where pupils have gaps in understanding, teachers adjust future planning to respond to this. However, in some subjects, this is less developed. Where this is the case, staff do not use what they know from their assessment of pupils’ understanding to inform their decisions about what comes next.

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better?

Underpinning the school’s curriculum are the carefully considered threads of reading and oracy. Pupils learn to read as soon as they start school. They increase in confidence because books are well matched to their knowledge of phonics. Beyond phonics, pupils continue to develop their reading knowledge and skills. Those pupils 27 and 28 February 2024

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who need extra help with reading get beneficial support. Pupils are supported to become confident, fluent readers. They develop a love of reading and enjoy a range of fiction and non-fiction books. Pupils relish the opportunity to share book recommendations with others. They enjoy earning ‘raffle’ tickets which encourage their positive attitudes to reading, for example.

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Children in Nursery Year make a strong start. They become familiar with high-quality texts, stories and rhymes. Staff model how to communicate in well-formed sentences. Through these experiences, children learn about the rules of language and develop a broad vocabulary. Through the curriculum, children develop their core strength, stability and balance.

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There is a carefully-planned curriculum to support pupils’ broader development. Pupils are proud advocates of their school. Through the ‘pupil parliament’ they have an active voice and take on roles of responsibility. Pupils have a mature understanding of British values. They link opportunities to vote in school with the wider democratic system.

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Pupils are interested to learn about other cultures and faiths. They identify similarities and differences between life in this country and life elsewhere. Pupils understand the importance of treating everyone with fairness and respect. They develop an age-appropriate knowledge of the potential dangers of the online world. Pupils learn how to use technology safely and responsibly.

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The school communicates regularly with parents. It keeps them up to date with their child’s progress, as well as school life in general. Parents value this. The trust and the local governing body know the school well. They plan strategically for the school’s long-term future.

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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, the school has not identified precisely what is important for pupils to learn. Where this is the case, pupils do not benefit from the subject- specific input they need to develop detailed knowledge. The school and the trust need to ensure that pupils deepen and extend their knowledge in all subjects of the curriculum.  In some subjects, teaching does not take into account what assessment highlights about pupils’ understanding of the curriculum. This means that some pupils do not build a secure understanding of important concepts and ideas before they move on to new learning. The school and the trust should ensure that 27 and 28 February 2024

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staff use assessment to inform their future planning, so that pupils know and remember more across all subjects.

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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). 27 and 28 February 2024

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School details

Website www.st-peterscofe.plymouth.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the St. Christopher’s multi academy trust.  A new headteacher joined the school in September 2022.  The school has a nursey school for two-, three- and four-year-old children.  This is a Church of England school. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in September 2016.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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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. 27 and 28 February 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 inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, other senior leaders, the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator, subject leaders, members of the local governing body, trustees and a representative from the diocese.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, 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.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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.  The inspector considered responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. The inspector also considered responses to the staff survey and responses to the survey for pupils.

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Inspection team

Liz Geller, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Barton Ofsted Inspector 27 and 28 February 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 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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