St Martin's Garden Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Claire McMurtry and Tracy Boulton Co-headteachers St Martin’s Garden Primary School Lympsham Green Odd Down Bath Somerset BA2 2UN

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Garden Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 15 November 2024, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Garden Primary School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Garden Primary School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust, other trust leaders, trustees and governors the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also met with groups of staff and pupils. In addition, I carried out lesson visits, scrutinised curriculum documentation, looked at pupils’ work in mathematics and history and scrutinised the school’s plans for improvement. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

The school should take further action to:  Ensure staff use assessment well to identify pupils’ misconceptions and correct them so that pupils know and remember more over time.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection, there have been notable changes to the school’s leadership. You started as co-headteachers during the week of the inspection, following a period where you supported the school alongside the previous headteacher. This seamless transition in leadership has meant your staff have felt well supported through this time of change. The school and trust have worked together closely. You have taken great strides to address the areas for improvement highlighted in the previous inspection report. Although some work needs time to embed and requires further refinement, it is clear that the school is moving swiftly forward in these areas.

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Main findings

Leaders’ actions have included deciding on the most important knowledge pupils need to learn. You have ensured learning is sequenced so that it builds over time. This helpful layering of knowledge was evident in the lessons visited. The actions you are taking are having a positive impact on the quality of education pupils are receiving. This is also the case for pupils within the school’s resource base and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The vocabulary pupils need to learn has been interwoven with the work on the key knowledge pupils need to remember. Alongside this, leaders have clearly thought about the teaching strategies used to help pupils learn. For example, teachers use the ‘flashback four’, repetition of vocabulary and symbols to go alongside words. As a result, pupils are beginning to use this vocabulary when they talk about their learning. However, there is still more to do.

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Main findings

Pupils have a more secure understanding of some subjects than others. Furthermore, teachers do not always address verbal or written misconceptions promptly enough. Although this is so, pupils are beginning to remember their learning long term. For example, many pupils can demonstrate how to complete long division calculations and they can explain the significance of key historical people, such as Alan Turing. This knowledge is not widespread or embedded yet, so you are right to continue working on this.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection, school and trust leaders wasted no time to act on the areas highlighted by the previous inspection report. The school has made the necessary changes to start improving the quality of education and develop leaders at all levels. Those responsible for governance have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and developmental areas. Improvement plans are focused on the areas that needed improving. The school measures the progress against these areas in review days. Training alongside these developments ensures that leaders and those responsible for governance know what to look for. The trust has provided effective support and staff are wholly appreciative of this.

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Main findings

You have also engaged well with support provided by local foundations and hubs to improve the quality of education. This is helping, in particular, to support pupils who are disadvantaged to learn well. You have acted on this feedback, and because of this, the implementation of the curriculum is improving.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO of Palladian Academy Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Bath and North East Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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