St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Primary School Belfast Street, Hove, East Sussex BN3 3YT

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 November 2024

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Outcome

St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Expectations are high for all in this school, where lofty ambitions are met through a warm and nurturing ethos. Everything the school does is dedicated to finding the best in everyone, both academically and emotionally. Values of courage, respect, curiosity, love and joy permeate school life. High standards of education have been maintained since the previous inspection. Pupils achieve well across the curriculum and particularly excel with reading. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well as a result of impressive support.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Excellent leadership has secured tangible improvements across many aspects of school life. Behaviour and attendance are strong. Personal development is exceptional, enriching pupils’ lives with inspirational experiences. Pupils thrive with frequent opportunities to nurture their unique talents and interests. Music is the beating heart of school life. The choir includes everybody and inspires all. Everyone gets to learn musical instruments.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Disadvantaged pupils are well represented in every opportunity, including the impressive school orchestra. Trips, visits and experiences are extensive. Pupils recall memorable encounters including geography field trips, visits to historical sites, residential activities and sports events. Parents and carers rightly say, ‘the school goes above and beyond’. One example of extracurricular enrichment involves pupils learning survival skills at the beach.

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Children in early years have settled in joyfully. Transition into school is impressive, helping children to learn routines quickly. Staff quickly identify needs and find essential support to help children flourish. As pupils move through the school, staff show consistent skill to adapt learning to include everyone. Across the classes, close collaboration and communication pinpoint where specific support is needed. This ensures full inclusion in the school’s engaging curriculum. Every subject is planned with clear knowledge and skills. Leaders ensure that constant professional development keeps teachers highly trained with expert subject knowledge. They impart this knowledge with enthusiasm and clarity.

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The school’s successful reading programme starts strongly in early years. Well-trained staff teach sounds with precision and skill. They identify any gaps and give effective support to anyone who struggles. This particularly benefits pupils who speak English as an additional language, who are learning to read impressively. The school enhances pupils’ confidence in reading with innovative work on fluency. Pupils, including those with SEND, learn to become skilled and motivated readers. This success is also seen in writing and mathematics, where the school has driven improvement to ensure success for all. Pupils learn mathematical concepts and apply them in a range of ways. Their writing is accurate, articulate and well structured. In core subjects, teachers identify errors and give precise feedback to help pupils learn and remember key content over time. However, checks are not used as effectively in some foundation subjects. The school has already

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Classrooms are purposeful and industrious. Pupils are respectful, collaborative and kind. They feel empowered to try their best. Staff celebrate pupils’ efforts with positive encouragement. As a result, pupils are highly engaged and lessons are never disrupted. Behaviour is brilliant from early years to the end of key stage 2. Another success involves attendance. Since the pandemic, there have been challenges with absence rates. However, pupils at this school now attend better than the national average. Pastoral care and strategic work by the school have particularly improved the attendance of disadvantaged pupils. This means that all pupils attend highly to benefit from the school’s rich curriculum and wider experiences.

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Preparation for modern Britain is exemplary. Pupils know how to stay safe online and understand healthy relationships. They have an advanced understanding of equality. This is showcased by the pupil diversity council who work to ensure equality across the school. Other roles give pupils further responsibility to have a tangible impact on school life. Well- being leaders promote the emotional and mental welfare of all. Year 6 ‘buddies’ partner with children in early years to give them valuable help. Pupils make a difference to society through an array of fundraising initiatives. Community experiences involve faith leaders, authors and local businesses, boosting pupils’ multicultural awareness and aspirations for the future.

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Leaders have the best interests of every pupil at the heart of their decisions. Leaders at all levels are highly dedicated, reflective and effective, promoting consistency and success for all. Staff are happy, proud and well supported. Governors bring extensive knowledge and expertise to provide impressive inspiration, challenge and support. Parents and carers 19 and 20 November 2024

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are unanimous in their praise for the school. One parent represented the views of many when commending the school for helping pupils ‘to be the best version of themselves’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment in some foundation subjects is not fully embedded. This means that feedback to pupils does not always help pupils to achieve as highly in every subject as they do in English and mathematics. The school should ensure that assessment is used effectively across the whole curriculum.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2019.

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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. 19 and 20 November 2024

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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). 19 and 20 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Fran Beckett OBE

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School details

Website www.st-andrews.brighton-hove.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 March 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Chichester. It was inspected under section 48 in May 2023 and judged to be excellent. The next inspection should take place by May 2028.  The school currently uses one registered alternative provision.  The school runs before-school provision, overseen by the governing body.

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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.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteachers, teachers, head of inclusion and support staff. 19 and 20 November 2024

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 The lead inspector met with seven governors, including the chair of governors.  The lead inspector spoke by telephone with representatives from the diocese and local authority.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors discussed and evaluated pupils’ work in English, mathematics, history and music.  The lead inspector listened to a range of pupils read. The inspector observed catch-up interventions to learn how staff provide extra support to pupils.  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 spoke to a range of pupils to learn their views about the school.

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 Inspectors considered the responses to the staff survey and spoke to a range of staff about their views of the school.  Inspectors spoke to a range of parents and took account of responses to Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Scott Reece, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Neil Small Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 November 2024

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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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