Steeple Morden CofE VC Primary School

Steeple Morden CofE VC Primary School

Address: 7 Hay Street, Steeple Morden, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 0PD Unique reference number (URN): 110793

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils' attendance has improved significantly, including for pupils who are often absent and especially for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and for disadvantaged pupils. In some cases, attendance is now above national averages. Leaders have taken swift and necessary action to tighten the systems to review and act on absence issues. Parents and carers are now better informed about their children’s attendance and the school's attendance policy. This has led to fewer authorised absences. There are very few pupils on a part-time timetable or who attend alternative provision. Where this is the case, leaders make sure that these decisions are in the best interests of these pupils.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils typically behave well at this school. The school is calm and orderly. Pupils are polite and listen well to each other. There are warm and positive relationships between staff and pupils in most instances. Pupils are generally engaged and focused in lessons. Pupils play co-operatively together. There has been a reduction in unwelcome behaviours. This is in part due to the significant investment the school have made to its structured outdoor adventure play provision at lunchtimes. Staff are also well trained to model safe and enjoyable play at these times. Pupils understand what bullying is and have trusted adults who they know will help them should this arise.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders ensure that the early years curriculum clearly builds children's knowledge over time. It is also suitably adapted to meet the needs of the children. The learning activities set by staff ensure that children’s needs and gaps in their knowledge are addressed effectively. For example, children who need to develop their pencil grip are directed to activities to strengthen their hand strength. Staff skilfully support children with learning the letter sounds they need to know to read. Children apply their phonics knowledge in their writing and form letters accurately. Children learn early mathematical concepts well. Adults ask pertinent questions to ensure that children can think creatively. Staff also model new vocabulary clearly. The children use these new words in their play. For example, children know what ‘carnivore’ means and how to describe a cylinder.

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Early years Expected standard

Children benefit from activities, such as counting, mark making, measuring and retelling stories. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well-supported by staff to access the curriculum. Children talk confidently about what they learn and what they find difficult. Children have the necessary literacy, numeracy and social skills to be ready for Year 1. Most activities that staff provide have a clear learning purpose. However, some activities could have more ambition so that children achieve even more highly.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The school's new leaders, ably supported by governors, are having a significant and positive impact on its improvement. Leaders manage the school well on its upward trajectory. Parents and carers are very positive about the school and the improvements being made. Leaders are very accurate in their understanding of the school’s strengths and the areas still to work on. They address all the right priorities in the right order. They tackle key challenges very well. The school engages effectively with support from the local authority, without being over-reliant on this help.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have improved the quality and effectiveness of their checks and oversight of staff's work. Staff appreciate the support leaders give them, including to manage their workload. Staff receive the necessary training to do their roles. As a result, leaders have achieved a noticeable improvement in the quality of the school's work on behaviour, attendance, the curriculum design and the early years. Leaders have a clear sense of what to prioritise next, for example they are rightly focused on the improvement of the school's curriculum and teaching and its impact on pupils' achievement.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Governors ensure that they are well informed as to how well the school performs. They are proactive and effective in reviewing this important focus. Governors fulfil their statutory duties.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders ensure that the school has a carefully considered personal development programme. This is ambitious and typically staff teach it well. Pupils, for example, can recall learning about anti-bullying, about rights and responsibilities, healthy eating, road safety, drug misuse, online safety and puberty. They understand about how to manage finances wisely.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school successfully weaves its ethos through its values. Pupils understand the meaning of the school’s parable. They are accepting of everyone. Older pupils understand the concept of free speech and know that discrimination is wrong. Older pupils show care and compassion towards younger pupils. Pupils enjoy engaging in ‘big question’ discussions about other faiths and cultures.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The introduction of the high-quality outdoor play provision at lunchtime has had a positive impact on pupils’ character development. It is developing their teamwork and creativity, their ability to assess risks to their personal safety and how to solve problems independently. Pupils also have the chance to develop leadership skills as house captains, play leaders or members of the school council or travel ambassadors.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils benefit from a high standard of pastoral care. The school offers counselling to support pupils’ mental wellbeing. Staff have training on how to support pupils who may be anxious about attending school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Children in early years are encouraged to think about how to be good at sharing and become more independent, ready for Year 1. Older pupils have an effective transition with the main feeder secondary school, so are ready for the changes that they may experience in the next stage in their education.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils access a range of sports clubs and wider opportunities. Leaders have ensured that there is parity of access to all these offers. They track take-up carefully to ensure that pupils

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Needs attention

who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils have an equal chance as other pupils to benefit from these experiences.

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Achievement Needs attention

Generally, pupils’ outcomes are close to national averages in reading and mathematics. However, this is not the case for disadvantaged pupils. Typically, pupils’ attainment in writing is below national averages. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities generally do not make suitable progress from their starting points.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils can recall their learning of the curriculum in a range of subjects. Pupils in some classes have started to catch up on gaps in their previous knowledge. Current pupils' phonics and multiplication skills are improving. These positive changes are because some teaching in the school has started to be better. Children in the early years gain a secure foundation of essential knowledge for their future learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Sometimes, staff do not adapt teaching in lessons to meet the needs of pupils well, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or disadvantaged pupils.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

However, the school's new leadership uses its well-informed understanding of high-quality primary education effectively. They take clear, thoughtful actions to support the work of staff, which result in the positive improvement of the quality of the curriculum and teaching. Leaders have a very accurate understanding of the areas that need work next. Leaders have worked skilfully to ensure that an ambitious curriculum is in place in each subject. They recognise that while staff build their knowledge of the new curriculum that some aspects are not taught as the school intends. Where teaching is most effective, staff help pupils to build secure knowledge and to catch up, where needed.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders ensure that staff teach pupils each curriculum subject and develop pupils' knowledge of subject-specific vocabulary. However, some staff's expectations of what pupils should achieve are unclear or lack ambition. In some classes, teaching does not focus well enough on gaps in pupils' reading, writing and mathematical knowledge. Sometimes, staff do not make effective enough use of checks on pupils' learning to inform next steps in teaching.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have recently introduced a new reading scheme. Staff appreciated the training that they have received. The quality of phonics teaching has improved.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The support that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive does not always meet their specific needs well enough. Some teaching of the curriculum is not suitably adapted to help them learn effectively. As a result, the agreed targets for pupils with SEND are often not met and just repeated without enough good reason.

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Inclusion Needs attention

However, leaders have started to address this issue. For example, they ensure that pupils with SEND have their needs accurately identified. Typically, teachers ensure that pupils with SEND do have the necessary equipment and staff support to help them access the curriculum. Leaders make appropriate referrals to external agencies to seek additional guidance for these pupils and others who face challenges in their learning.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The school's decisions on spending extra funding for disadvantaged pupils are well thought through. Leaders have succeeded in ensuring that these pupils attend school more often than in the past. Access to counselling has resulted in more-settled behaviours and improvements in the overall wellbeing for these pupils and also for pupils known to social care. In the rare instance where alternative provision is needed to support specific pupils, this has a positive impact on meeting pupils' needs and improving their wellbeing.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are enthusiastic about the recent, positive improvements to the school's work that leaders have put in place. They know that leaders are ambitious for them and want pupils to succeed as highly as they can. Pupils appreciate how staff take care of them and keep them safe. Pupils in Year 6, for example, appreciate the additional help they receive to catch up on gaps in knowledge and be ready for secondary school. Children in early years make a positive start to their school life and soon follow the high standards set for them.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Overall, pupils benefit from the necessary changes that leaders have started to make to improve the quality of the school's work, including in its curriculum and teaching. However, sometimes pupils find that teaching is not adapted well enough to meet their needs. This limits how well pupils achieve, including in their reading, writing and mathematics. This includes pupils with special educational needs and or/disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. On occasion, pupils' learning is not extended well enough by staff. Many pupils here are capable of achieving more.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils look forward to coming to this school and now attend more regularly. They behave well overall. Pupils are confident that staff will sort out any worries they may have. Pupils relish using the school's high-quality outdoor play provision. They love the chance to build dens, play in the sand, sledge, and climb over huge tyres and obstacles. They talk about this building their confidence, resilience and teamwork. Playtimes are joyous and harmonious.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils experience high-quality wider opportunities, due to leaders' ambition and vision, which is well supported by parents. Through fundraising and subsidies, pupils visit the theatre in the West End and go on residential trips. Visits to Duxford Air Museum and science businesses, for example, bring to life their learning from the classroom and broaden their horizons.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that staff use information from checks on pupils' learning to ensure that support is suitably adapted to meet the varied needs of pupils, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders should make certain that staff resolve gaps in pupils' reading, writing and mathematical knowledge securely, so that these pupils catch up quickly. Leaders should ensure that staff set precise targets for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and take ownership for increasing the amount of progress that these pupils make from their starting points. Leaders should check that staff implement the curriculum in the ways that the school intends, so that pupils achieve as highly as they should.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Ann Lynn.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and the assistant headteacher during the inspection. Inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils. The lead inspector spoke to members of the governing board, including the chair of governors. The lead inspector also had a meeting with a representative of the local authority.

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About this inspection

Inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. There has been a complete change of senior leaders. The current headteacher was appointed in September 2024. The assistant headteacher took up their post in September 2025.

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About this inspection

The school currently runs its own after-school provision.

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About this inspection

The school currently uses one unregistered alternative provider.

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About this inspection

The school is registered as having a Church of England religious character. It is in the Diocese of Ely. Its last section 48 inspection was in June 2025.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 56% 62% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2022/23 (final) 68% 71% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 75% 73% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 68% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 33% 46% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 67% 62% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2022/23 (final) 50% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 50% 59% Close to average

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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gap

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 6.1% 5.9% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 12.9% 16.2% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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