All Saints CofE (C) First School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: All Saints CofE (C) First School Church Lane, Standon, Stafford, Staffordshire ST21 6RN

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Outcome

All Saints CofE (C) First 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?

This is a small school with a big presence in the local community. Most pupils say they enjoy coming to school and feel happy and safe. This is because they are well cared for by staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and when moving around the school. Pupils play happily together on the playground and most pupils say that people are kind. Occasionally, pupils fall out and this makes some pupils feel sad. When pupils report bullying, the school takes this seriously and takes action to make it stop.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils. Teaching supports pupils to achieve well in reading and mathematics. Pupils are enthusiastic about their learning. They know and remember a lot of what they learn across other areas of the curriculum. Some pupils, however, find writing quite challenging. This is because they have not had enough practise writing simple sentences and securing fluent handwriting.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of the roles they have within school, such as being a sports ambassador or on the school council. The wider curriculum is carefully organised to prepare pupils for life beyond the local community. Pupils explore cultures and religions through stories, music and art.

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

The school is ambitious for all pupils to do well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff work closely with parents when children first start to identify any specific needs. The school seeks advice and support to meet identified needs and acts on this to provide extra help when needed. This works particularly well 25 February 2025

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when the need is identified early, such as speech and language needs when children first start. The extra help often supports children to catch up quickly.

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Across the school, there is a broad and balanced curriculum that enables pupils to develop their knowledge and skills. In mathematics, teachers model concepts clearly using appropriate resources. This helps pupils to understand number and other areas of mathematics. Pupils in Year 1, for example, understand how to find total amounts through grouping and counting in fives. Teachers adapt resources, enabling pupils with SEND to learn alongside their peers.

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In the early years, children develop their language and communication skills through stories, songs and rhymes. High-quality phonics teaching builds on this in Reception and Year 1 so that most pupils can read age-appropriate texts with confidence and fluency. For those pupils who fall behind, additional support helps them to catch up.

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The curriculum in early years has an appropriate focus on developing children’s early writing skills. Children learn to form letters using phrases to remind them where to start and end the letter. They also learn to write simple sentences using the sounds they know. However, when pupils move to key stage 1, some start writing at length too quickly. Some writing tasks do not match the needs of those who still need to master letter and sentence formation, which hinders their progress. As these pupils move to key stage 2, they often fail to complete the work set and view writing as too hard.

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In some areas of the curriculum, the work pupils complete helps them to learn and remember important knowledge, such as the legacy the Romans left behind. Younger pupils spoke with passion about the unfair treatment of Rosa Parks and the issue of racial segregation. At times, however, teachers do not give pupils tasks that help them to learn the intended curriculum. This leads to pupils having gaps in their knowledge.

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Attendance is a high priority in the school. It has effective systems in place to monitor attendance and engages with families to provide support when this is needed.

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The wider curriculum and opportunities pupils have help prepare them for life beyond the school and their local community. Pupils gain important leadership skills through the roles of responsibilities they have. They have had opportunities to support the running of the school fair and appreciate making decisions about how to spend the money raised. Pupils also enjoy the opportunities provided by the range of after-school activities.

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The school has been through a challenging time recently with instability in leadership. Governors and staff have continued to prioritise the needs of pupils. They have maintained standards and continue to work on improvement. Staff appreciate the support they receive and feel well supported by the acting headteacher, who has been in post since January.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 25 February 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in English does not secure some aspects of transcription skills pupils require to develop fluency in writing, such as accurate letter formation and fluent handwriting, well enough. It does not secure pupils’ understanding of how to construct sentences effectively. As a result, some pupils struggle to write fluently and accurately. The school should ensure the English curriculum enables pupils to secure the basic skills of transcription and become fluent writers.  In some areas of the curriculum, the work pupils complete does not focus on the key knowledge and skills that the curriculum intends pupils to learn. As a result, pupils do not know and remember as much of the curriculum as they should. The school should ensure that the work pupils complete helps them to know and remember the important knowledge identified in the 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 December 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. 25 February 2025

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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). 25 February 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.allsaints-standon.staffs.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 17 and 18 December 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The substantive headteacher was not present for the inspection and has been absent since September 2024.  In the autumn term, the deputy headteacher was the interim acting headteacher. At the time of this inspection, an acting Headteacher was in post who is also a first school headteacher at another school. She provides support to this school three mornings a week.  The school uses no alternative provision.  The school is a Church of England school. It had a section 48 inspection in 2018. It is due to be inspected no later than eight years after this date.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 25 February 2025

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 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 spoke to the acting headteacher, the deputy head, the special educational needs co-ordinator, other staff, the governors, including the chair of governors, a representative from the local authority and a representative from the diocese.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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 took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff and

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discussions with staff. Inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Helen Forrest, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mary Maybank Ofsted Inspector 25 February 2025

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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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