Stickney Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Stickney Church of England Primary School Main Road, Stickney, Boston, Lincolnshire PE22 8AX

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early Years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 15 and 16 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this welcoming and inclusive school. Pupils, staff, parents and carers talk about the sense of belonging. Professional relationships between staff and pupils are strong.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations of behaviour. Pupils behave well. They are happy and feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s values successfully guide pupils in their actions and behaviours. Pupils treat each other, staff and visitors with kindness and respect. Pupils’ mental health is a priority. Pupils show independence when needing time out of the classroom. The ‘castle calm’ is used effectively to support them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thoroughly enjoy their leadership roles. The church councillors take pride in taking food into church for the harvest festival. The environmental officers ensure that all pupils (and adults) turn the lights off.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school wants pupils to achieve well and has made significant changes since the last inspection. Pupils know what is expected of them and work hard to be successful. Most pupils now achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively to access learning with their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are mostly positive about the school. Comments shared with inspectors included, ‘My children feel important here. They’re encouraged, praised, and nurtured.’

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

The school prioritises reading. Children learn phonics as soon as they start in Reception. Staff demonstrate high levels of expertise in teaching phonics. Leaders regularly check on pupils’ progress to identify those who need extra help with their reading. The school provides effective support to help pupils to catch up. Pupils read from books that are matched to the sounds that they know. Pupils quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers. They achieve well.

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

The school has overhauled the curriculum. It is clear what pupils need to learn and in what order. The school has ensured that the planned, ambitious curriculum enables pupils to build their knowledge and skills from the early years to the end of Year 6. In some subjects, teachers create successful sequences of learning. Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge. They revisit learning with pupils and remind them of what they have learned before. In these subjects, pupils apply this knowledge to new learning. They talk about their learning securely, demonstrating a depth of understanding. However, the implementation of some foundation subjects is still in the early stages. In these subjects, pupils do not achieve as well. 15 and 16 July 2025

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In some subjects, staff do not check pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Where this is the case, pupils complete activities that are not well matched to what they know. Sometimes, activities are too easy or too difficult for them. As a result, they do not achieve as well as they could.

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The school swiftly identifies the needs of pupils with SEND and the strategies that will support them to learn best. Staff ensure that pupils can access the learning, including, for example, through the use of word banks and communication aids. In most subjects, pupils with SEND achieve well. The school is developing ways to adapt learning further in the wider curriculum.

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The school has implemented significant changes to the early years provision. As a result, routines are well established, and children behave well. The curriculum is well thought out. Teachers design some activities that encourage children to remain focused and explore their learning, for example, when watering the seeds to help them to grow. When this is the case, there is a sharp focus on developing communication and language. However, some activities in continuous provision leave children’s learning to chance.

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The school has ensured that pupils attend well. The number of pupils persistently absent from school has reduced significantly.

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The provision for personal development is highly effective. Pupils talk with confidence about different religions and cultures. They demonstrate a depth of knowledge about fairness and respect, including of those who are different to them. They show a strong understanding of the fundamental British values and how these link to the school values. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. The school supports pupils’ personal development through trips, residential visits and an array of after-school clubs. Pupils develop their interests and talents, for example, through presenting their artwork as part of the art exhibition. Pupils learn how to stay safe in the community and when online.

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Leaders are sharply focused on ensuring that pupils thrive, both personally and academically. The governing body is equally determined, providing effective challenge and support. Staff appreciate the efforts that leaders make to manage their workload and support their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some of the foundation subjects are in the early stages of implementation. In these subjects, pupils’ work does not always demonstrate the same level of understanding as 15 and 16 July 2025

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in other areas of the curriculum. The school should ensure that these subjects are firmly embedded, so that the curriculum is consistently strong across all areas. This will enable all pupils to know and remember more in all subjects.  In some lessons, teachers do not check closely enough on how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. This means that teaching is not always closely matched to what pupils already know. The school should ensure that teachers consistently assess how well pupils achieve in lessons and, where necessary, adapt teaching in light of this.  The intended learning outcomes for some of the activities in the early years are not always clear. As a result, children gain little knowledge from some of these activities. The school must ensure that children are engaged in meaningful learning throughout the early years setting.

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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.

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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). 15 and 16 July 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Rachael Cotton (Executive headteacher)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 7 and 8 March 2023, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is federated with The New Leake Primary School. Together, they form the Stickney and New Leake Primary Schools Federation. The two schools share the same executive headteacher, executive deputy headteachers and governing body.  The school is a voluntary controlled Church of England school. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in January 2020. This is an inspection of the school’s religious character.  The school make use of one registered alternative provision.  There is a before- and after-school club managed by the school.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 15 and 16 July 2025

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the continuing impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in the evaluation of the school.  The inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, executive deputy headteacher, curriculum leaders, the early years leader, those responsible for SEND and groups of staff and pupils.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in three subjects: early reading, mathematics, and music. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited lessons, spoke with teachers and pupils, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  The inspectors met with the chair of the governing body and a foundation governor.

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 The inspectors took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View, including free- text responses, and Ofsted’s survey for school staff and pupils.  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.  The inspectors considered pupils’ behaviour at various times of day, including in lessons, and around the school site. They scrutinised the school’s records for attendance and behaviour.

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Inspection team

Donna Chambers, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Joanna Hall Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 July 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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