Saint James' Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Saint James’ Church of England Primary School Moorgreen Road, West End, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 3EG

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Inspection dates: 30 April and 1 May 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 30 April and 1 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are confident, resilient and caring. They conduct themselves impeccably and are rightly proud of their school. Pupils feel able to navigate their lives courageously. One pupil summarised this, describing school and life by saying, ‘We all work together and build the strength to ride the waves of the ocean.’ The school’s values of love, respect and courage are known and understood deeply by pupils and staff. Pupils have exceptionally strong relationships with each other and staff. Pupils make a highly positive contribution to each other’s well-being. For example, pupils take on responsibilities such as being part of the school’s Christian values team, ‘eco- warriors’, librarians and prefects. Staff have the highest expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Bullying is taken very seriously. Any behaviour incidents are resolved positively and swiftly. Pupils feel very safe and are happy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils achieve well. Outcomes by the end of key stage 2 demonstrate that they are ready for their next stage of education consistently. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have their needs identified quickly. Disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with SEND, are supported effectively. The school promotes pupils’ good attendance highly effectively. Leaders build a strong culture which prioritises regular attendance and punctuality successfully.

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better?

The school teaches phonics and early reading in an exemplary way. Staff are well trained and implement a systematic and rigorous approach. Reading books to help early readers are matched closely to the sounds that pupils know. If any pupils fall behind, they receive extra help that enables them to catch up to their peers quickly. Pupils develop a love of books, choosing titles from the school’s ‘40 favourite books’ selection eagerly. Pupils talk confidently about different texts, genres and types of stories used within the curriculum. In Reception, children enjoy sharing ‘books of the week’ with their classes and are taught to read through precise phonics teaching that builds children’s learning strongly. This helps them to become fluent, confident readers.

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better?

Across the curriculum, the school is highly ambitious for every pupil. The school works tenaciously to support disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with SEND. This is reflected through thoughtful adaptations to the curriculum where needed. In some subjects, such as mathematics and geography, the curriculum equips pupils with key knowledge and skills clearly. Teachers implement sequences of lessons systematically. This helps pupils to build their learning cumulatively over time. Work in books for these subjects shows that learning is consistent and secure. Where the curriculum is developed fully, teachers check how well pupils know and understand appropriately. In some subjects, however, the school is still identifying the specific knowledge that pupils need to embed. This means that in those subjects staff do not check pupils’ learning as precisely, and some pupils do not always build on their prior knowledge and learn as effectively as they could.

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Children’s personal, social and emotional development starts strongly in the early years and grows to become a distinguished part of school life. In Reception, children play and work together positively. Children are highly engaged in their learning such as moving using crates and ropes, gardening and helping each other during messy play. There is a clear focus on language building and social understanding. Activities are planned carefully to help children enjoy the wide range of resources available in the classrooms and outdoors. This helps to build children’s confidence and independence. Across the school, pupils learn how to keep physically and mentally healthy, including when online. Pupils with SEND and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds consistently benefit from a variety of engaging opportunities. For example, theatre groups, sports clubs, knitting and Lego clubs all support pupils’ wider development skilfully. Trips and visits are deliberately linked to the curriculum.

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For example, when learning about rivers, pupils visit the River Test, and when learning about Earth and Space pupils visit a planetarium. Residential trips are highly valued and build pupils’ confidence expertly. These opportunities are successful in helping pupils, as one member of staff said, ‘take managed risks and be out of their comfort zones’.

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Governors share an ambitious vision and know the school incredibly well. They work closely and engage with staff excellently, offering high-quality challenge and support. Leaders are highly skilled. They support staff very well with issues such as workload and well-being. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive and appreciate the efforts of all staff at the school. One parent captured the thoughts of many, stating, ‘The ethos of ‘love, respect, and courage’ shines through every aspect of the school. I can’t praise staff highly enough.’

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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 developed the curriculum to identify the precise knowledge and vocabulary that they want pupils to learn clearly enough. This leads to a small number of pupils not achieving as well as they could, including in the early years. The school should ensure that knowledge and skills build effectively for all pupils across all curriculum subjects and areas of learning.  Assessment information is not always precise enough to identify what pupils know and understand. This means that some pupils have gaps in their subject-specific knowledge and do not build on their prior knowledge as effectively as possible. The school needs to ensure that teachers check what pupils know and can do consistently and effectively across the curriculum. 30 April and 1 May 2024

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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). 30 April and 1 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 14 and 15 November 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provisions.  The school is part of the Church of England Diocese of Winchester. The school’s last section 48 inspection was carried out in October 2016.  The school offers a breakfast and after-school club.

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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.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, the staff and the members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The inspector also met with a 30 April and 1 May 2024

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representative from the Diocese of Winchester and other leaders within the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography, physical education, science and history. 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, where possible, looked at samples of pupils’ work.  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.  The inspectors considered the views of parents shared through Ofsted Parent View. They gathered the views of pupils and staff through surveys, interviews and discussions conducted throughout the inspection.

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 The inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including self- evaluation reports, minutes of governing body meetings and behaviour incident logs.

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Inspection team

Carl McCarthy, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Kate Magliocco Ofsted Inspector 30 April and 1 May 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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