St Peter's School

ST PETER’S SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 16 th – 17 th October 2000

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ST PETER’S SCHOOL

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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ST PETER’S SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Cottonmill Lane St Albans Hertfordshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs J Turberville

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: February 1996 St Peter’s School, St Albans - 4

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Team members

Evenlode Associates Limited 6 Abbey Close Alcester Warwickshire B49 5QW

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Team members

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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Team members

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE St Peter’s School, St Albans - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

This is a primary and nursery school that caters for 225 full-time pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 in the main school, and 47 part-time children aged 3 and 4 in the nursery. Most pupils come from the immediate neighbourhood of the school near the centre of St Albans, and are of white United Kingdom origin, but about 11 percent are of other ethnic origins, mainly Afro-Caribbean or Bangladeshi. Fifteen pupils have a home language other than English, either Bangla-Sylheti or Gujarati. Sixty two pupils are on the school’s register of special educational needs, mostly with relatively mild, moderate learning difficulties. Pupils’ attainment on entry covers a wide range, but overall is average. Just over 6 percent of pupils are entitled to free school meals, which is below average.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective school, which consistently enables its pupils to attain very well in national assessments. Teaching is good, standards are high, and the school is very well led and efficiently managed. A significant strength is the consistency of good provision from class to class, particularly in teaching, so that pupils go from strength to strength as they progress through the school. The school provides very good value for money.

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What the school does well

• Standards are high in English, maths and science. • Teaching and learning are good throughout the school. • The school is very well led and managed. • Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good. • Pupils are making very good progress in information and communications technology (ICT). • Pupils achieve well in art. • The school cares very effectively for its pupils.

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What could be improved

• Pupils’ writing in geography, history and religious education could be better. • Challenging work for brighter pupils could be set more consistently. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in February 1996 and has shown good improvement since that time. It has maintained and built upon the existing high standards. The three key issues in the last report have been resolved. Registers are now taken appropriately. The monitoring and evaluation of teaching were developed and improved, and are of good quality. The curriculum for design and technology meets statutory requirements. The school has a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, and is well placed to continue to improve.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 11 year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

1997 1998 1999 1999 English A* A* A A* well above average above average A B mathematics A A* A* A* average below average C D science A A* A* A* well below average E

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

A* means that the school’s results are in the top 5% nationally. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 7 Children in the foundation stage, in the nursery and reception classes, are making good progress in their learning. The vast majority are on course to achieve the early learning goals by the end of the reception year, and a substantial number may exceed them.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

The inspection evidence shows that the school attains consistently high standards in English, maths and science at the end of each key stage. This is confirmed by the results of national assessments over several years; this year’s results are similarly high, although national comparative figures are not yet available. In information and communications technology (ICT) standards meet national expectations by the time pupils are eleven. Currently, pupils are making very good progress in ICT, following the installation of excellent facilities and improved staff expertise. Standards in art are good by the end of the school. Standards at least meet expectations in all other subjects.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

Overall, pupils’ achievements are very good in the light of their attainment on entry to the school.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Pupils have very positive attitudes to school. They work hard, and enjoy the full range of aspects of school life, both in the classroom and outside.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. Most pupils behave very well, although a small minority of pupils with recognised behavioural difficulties sometimes show unsatisfactory behaviour.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Good. Pupils get on well with each other and with the adults in the school, and most are mature and responsible for their age.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

Lessons seen overall Good Good Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

Teaching and learning are consistently good throughout the school. Teaching in the lessons observed during the inspection was all at least satisfactory. Seventy six per cent of lessons were good or better, of which 20% were very good. Good teaching was observed in every class. Teaching of basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, is good. Teachers have generally high expectations of work and pupils respond by working hard, guaranteeing consistently good gains in their knowledge and understanding. Relationships are good and teachers manage pupils well, ensuring good levels of discipline. High expectations of behaviour contribute well to this, and occasional instances of unsatisfactory behaviour are handled well, so that there is minimal disruption to pupils’ learning. Teaching methods are good, which leads to a high level of interest and concentration from pupils. Teachers make good use of time, ensuring

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

a brisk pace to learning. Homework is used well to support learning, particularly at Key Stage Two. Teachers generally use day-to-day assessment effectively to match work to pupils’ needs and provide a suitable level of challenge. This ensures that pupils of all abilities, including those with special educational needs, make good progress in their learning. However, in occasional lessons, the work for higher attaining pupils is not sufficiently modified to challenge them, and their progress is then only satisfactory. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 8

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Good. The basic curriculum is covered effectively, although pupils lack sufficient opportunities to write at length in some subjects. Good contributions are made to pupils’ learning by a range of visits and visitors, and by a very good range of extra curricular activities. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. Effective use is made of the skilled support staff and pupils make good progress. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good. Despite the lack of specialist help, pupils are well supported by all staff, learn quickly and soon match the achievements of their classmates.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Provision for moral and social development is good. Provision for cultural development is very good. Satisfactory provision is made for spiritual development.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Very good. Procedures for child protection and for ensuring pupils’ welfare are very good. There are excellent procedures for monitoring and supporting pupils’ personal and academic progress, including an innovative computerised system.

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Aspect Comment

The school works well in partnership with parents.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Very good. The headteacher provides clear educational direction to the school and is well supported by an effective, hardworking staff team. Together, they ensure that the school’s aims and values are reflected throughout its work. Subject leaders provide good support to colleagues. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and fulfil their responsibilities effectively. The school’s evaluation of its performance The school monitors its performance thoroughly and is always seeking to improve. The school development plan is of very good quality and provides a clear basis for improvement. The strategic use of resources Resources are used very well to support the school’s educational priorities. Financial management is very good and excellent use is made of new

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Aspect Comment

technology. Principles of obtaining the “best value” for money are applied very well. Good use is made of a range of skilled support staff to support pupils’ learning, particularly in ICT and for pupils with special educational needs.

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improved

St Peter’s School, St Albans - 9 • Behaviour in the school is good. • Teaching is good. • The school is well led and managed. • Children are happy and making good progress. • The school has high expectations of work and behaviour. • A significant minority of parents do not feel well informed about how their children are getting on. • A few parents do not feel that the school works closely with parents.

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improved

The inspection team agrees with parents’ positive views. Inspection evidence shows that, in comparison with schools generally, the information about how children are getting on is very good, and the school does work closely with parents.

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

1. For several years the school has obtained very good results in national assessments at the end of each key stage. Results have usually been well above the average for all schools nationally, and for schools where similar numbers of pupils are entitled to free school meals.

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

2. Standards in English are good at the end of both key stages. At age seven, pupils speak audibly and listen well to what their teachers and other pupils have to say. They read accurately dialogue from familiar stories such as “Cinderella.” Higher attaining pupils put appropriate emphasis and expression into their reading. Pupils work out unfamiliar words well, using the sounds that they have learnt. They retell familiar stories, such as “The Gingerbread Man,” accurately using full stops and capital letters. Higher attaining pupils are beginning to use speech marks, exclamation marks and words written in capital letters for emphasis to add interest to their stories. They spell reasonably well and make good attempts to work out words that they do not know. Their handwriting is easy to read and well spaced.

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

3. At age eleven pupils speak with confidence; they can provide a report on what their group has achieved and evaluate what they have done. Pupils read accurately. They are confident in reading poetry, stories and factual texts. They can discuss and compare the books that they have read and talk about their favourite authors. Working in groups, they plan the characters and settings for a Victorian story that they are to write. Their standard of poetry writing is good; the best writing builds on skills they gained from working with a professional poet, such as “Pattering of tiny feet in the golden leaves like raindrops on the roof.” Pupils write clearly in ink, using joined up writing. Many pupils are beginning to use paragraphs to organise their writing and the higher attaining pupils use a good range of punctuation effectively.

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

4. Standards in mathematics are good by the end of each key stage. By the start of Year 2, almost all pupils are secure in finding patterns of numbers based on multiplication tables, and understand odd and even numbers. They can find half of a set of objects, and start to tell the time accurately. Pupils who have only just started in Year 3 show a good understanding of place value (how the position of a digit within a number affects its value). They are almost all able to work out problems such as 46 + 30 mentally, both quickly and accurately. About a third of the class can tackle more difficult sums such as 276+460 in their heads. When asked to explain their working, they can do so confidently, showing a good grasp of number and a good level of mathematical thinking. By Year 6, pupils are particularly secure in their understanding of mathematical ideas. This means they have a very firm foundation on which to build new concepts, and they take on

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

new ideas easily. In a good lesson during the inspection, pupils made good progress in their understanding of percentages, and were able to work out many problems for themselves because of their secure understanding. They were able to explain their thinking, and some could help their classmates who were “stuck” by getting them to think the question through for themselves. The St Peter’s School, St Albans - 10 good teaching in this lesson, with work carefully matched to the various needs of different groups of pupils, supported their good learning, as did their conscientious efforts and good behaviour.

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

5. Standards are good in science , and this is reflected in pupils’ work. Pupils at the start of Year 2 show a good general knowledge of electricity and its uses and dangers. In a very good lesson seen during the inspection, they quickly learned how to make a bulb light up and were able to draw and label a diagram showing what they did, writing simply but accurately about their work. The teacher’s clear planning and instructions, good use of help from support staff, and pupils’ own interest, excitement and perseverance all supported very effective learning in this lesson. By Year 5 pupils show they have maintained their interest in the subject. In a very good lesson observed, they made very good progress in their understanding of sound and vibrations. They showed very good observational skills, and a good ability to make generalisations from their observations and to link cause and effect in what they saw. For example, rice on a drum jumps

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Standards are high in English, maths and science

higher when the drum is hit harder, because vibrations are bigger. They tackled practical work with great enthusiasm, collaborating well and recording their findings simply but effectively. The excellent preparation of the practical work by the teacher, and pupils’ very positive attitudes to the subject, supported major increases in their knowledge of vibrations and in their understanding of scientific method.

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

6. Teaching is good. It supports all boys and girls’ learning effectively throughout the school and this leads to good standards in lessons and very high standards in the national assessment tests. In all lessons seen during the inspection, teaching was never less than satisfactory, in 76 percent of lessons teaching was good or better, and was very good in 20 percent.

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

7. Basic skills in literacy and numeracy are taught successfully from an early age. For instance, many children in the reception class can correctly name objects beginning with the sound “m”; higher attaining pupils discuss the differences in book covers and use terms such as “end papers” with self-confidence. Such teaching promotes pupils’ interest and perseverance in tackling difficult areas, for example when pupils in Year 5 were using both multiplication and division skills to solve complex problems.

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

8. The basic skills of information and communications technology are taught very well and this promotes pupils’ very good progress in the new computer suite. The number of people who are involved, including pupils from the nearby St Albans School, successfully assists teaching, and this strategy allows effective one-to-one tuition. In such lessons, particularly when wearing headphones, pupils show a remarkable degree of concentration.

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

9. Pupils are managed well and teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. For instance in a Year 6 art lesson, the teacher’s very calm manner led to a relaxed working atmosphere, where pupils learned a demanding technique. Likewise, in a highly organised Year 1 science lesson, pupils worked at a very good pace tasting three sorts of jelly and constructing a graph of their likes and dislikes.

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

10. Teachers plan lessons satisfactorily. In most cases they make effective use of the large amount of assessment information at their disposal. Their habit of sharing their aims for the lesson, particularly in literacy and numeracy, means that pupils are clear about the tasks that they are about to do. In occasional lessons, the work for higher attaining pupils is not sufficiently modified to challenge them, and their progress is then only satisfactory. Teachers use a good range of interesting methods to involve pupils in the work. In particular, the wide range of visits and visitors to school contributes very effectively to the breadth of their learning, and supports the very good level of cultural education. In conversation, pupils speak fondly of the various visits they have made, and remember clearly much of what they have learned. Pupils in Year 6, for example, enjoyed their residential visit to Cuffley last year, and are already looking forward to a residential

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

St Peter’s School, St Albans - 11 trip later this year. Good use is made of the skilled support staff. For example, the successful use of additional support to divide a Year 2 class into two halves, allowed pupils to be challenged well to build ever-larger circuits in order to light up a bulb.

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Teaching and learning are good throughout the school

11. Work is marked conscientiously, but this varies in quality. In the best examples seen, for example in English in Year 3, marking recognised clearly pupils’ success, particularly in meeting their individual targets, and gave advice on what still needed to be improved. Homework is used successfully to support pupils’ learning across the curriculum.

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The school is well led and managed

12. The headteacher provides very clear leadership and educational direction to the school. He leads a very effective team, who work together well to develop the school’s provision. All staff and governors share an understanding and commitment to the school’s aims and values, and the headteacher takes the lead in setting an agenda to put them in place. Teachers and governors are involved in formulating the very good school development plan, which identifies suitable targets for action, outlines how they are to be accomplished, and sets appropriate time scales. Financial management and administration are very good. The school’s spending and efforts are carefully targeted on the school’s priorities. Action to meet targets has supported, for example, the acquisition and use of the new ICT suite, which is strongly supporting pupils’ improving standards. The work of the head, governors and staff has remained focused on pupils’ attainment and

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The school is well led and managed

standards of teaching. This has helped maintain the consistently high standards in national tests. The head’s monitoring of teaching has contributed to the good quality of teaching in each class. There are now plans to extend this monitoring to involve members of the senior management team. Subject leaders give good support to colleagues and their monitoring of pupils’ work and teachers’ planning contributes to the maintenance of standards. Excellent use is made of new technology to support the school’s work. In particular, the innovative recording and assessment system supports the excellent monitoring of pupils’ academic and personal development.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good

13. Children in the nursery arrive confidently at the beginning of the session and try hard, for example, to perform the words and actions to simple songs. They are already well settled into nursery and are confident with the range of adults present. Children in the reception class show confidence in moving around the school building and behave very impressively in the information and communication technology suite. Both classes show positive attitudes to their learning.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good

14. At Key Stages One and Two, pupils’ attitudes to learning are very good. Interviews with pupils, and their parents’ comments, confirm that pupils enjoy coming to school. Pupils in Year 6 mentioned many positive aspects of school and agreed that “There are no really bad points.” Pupils concentrate very well in lessons and persevere to improve their performance, for example in art, where pupils in Year 4 showed very good appreciation of the style of Georgia O’Keefe and successfully used their imagination to copy her techniques. Pupils are enthusiastic about the wide range of tasks that are set and show real pleasure and satisfaction when they achieve success; for example in a Year 5 science lesson where pupils undertook a range of exciting practical activities based on sound and vibration.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good

15. Pupils’ behaviour in and around the school is good. They move around the school in an orderly manner and most tolerate the sometimes cramped conditions, for example in Year 5, surprisingly well. They listen politely to other pupils’ performance on the recorder in assembly and are supportive of a pupil who has recently been chosen to play tennis for the county. In a few lessons, a small minority of pupils with acknowledged behavioural difficulties sometimes do not concentrate adequately, or are inclined to be silly. Teachers handle such instances well, ensuring that good order is maintained and that the learning of other pupils is not affected. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 12 16. Relationships between all boys and girls and with adults are good. Most work harmoniously together, for example, in a Year 6 English lesson where pupils co-operated particularly well, to plan the setting and characters of a Victorian melodrama about a missing will. They collaborate

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Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good

well, for instance, to sing question and answer songs, such as “Do you know the muffin man?” in Year 1, or to stick coloured pieces of paper neatly to form the limbs of a dragon in the reception class.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good

17. Pupils working in the information and communications suite independently, for example at lunchtime, use each other as a resource to solve problems. Pupils in Year 2 manage their own rota of “table monitors” and carry out their duties quickly and without fuss. Pupils in Year 6 explained how much they had enjoyed working with, and helping, much younger pupils in the garden, and said they would like to do this again.

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Pupils are making very good progress in Information and Communications Technology

18. There have been recent major improvements in this subject. A new suite of up-to-date computers has enabled a whole class to use computers at the same time. Teachers are making very good use of this new facility and are helping pupils to make very good progress in their learning. Pupils in Year 6, who have not had the use of this equipment for most of their school career, have nonetheless attained standards in line with those expected in the new National Curriculum. Younger pupils, for example those in Year 4, are already approaching the standards expected of Year 6 in some aspects of their work, and are on line to achieve very well by the time they leave school. For example, at the moment they can use the facilities of a word processor very quickly and efficiently, changing fonts, and using the spell-check, grammar and thesaurus to correct work and print it out to a very high standard. Teachers are starting to make some good use of pupils’

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Pupils are making very good progress in Information and Communications Technology

rapidly developing skills to support learning in other subjects. For example, pupils learned more about the work of Seurat during an art lesson by accessing a compact disk from the National Gallery. The co-operation with a local secondary school has resulted in sixth-formers regularly coming into school to help some younger pupils with their work. This is strongly supporting their progress. The secondary school reports that they can already see improvements in the skills of the pupils currently in Year 3, for example, compared to those seen in Year 3 last year.

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Pupils achieve well in art

19. Standards are good by the time pupils leave the school. Pupils show particularly good skills and understanding in painting. They have a good understanding of different techniques in painting and their uses and can relate these to constructive analysis of one another’s work, and to that of well- known artists. In a very good lesson in Year 4 during the inspection, pupils produced their own paintings based on the emotions or ideas suggested by music by Vangelis. They had earlier looked at a painting by Georgia O’Keefe, “Blue and Green Music” and showed a good understanding how a painting could reflect elements of music. The work they produced was individual, of good quality, and showed a good understanding of how an abstract style of painting could convey some meaning. They could explain how they had done the work and what images or feeling conjured up by the music had led to their particular painting. By Year 6, all pupils are producing paintings of a

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Pupils achieve well in art

high standard. The work on display of paintings of harvest shows a subtle understanding and use of colour, meticulous, patient execution of their ideas, and a very good understanding of the different effects produced by different brushwork techniques. Pupils’ high-quality writing about their own or one another’s work shows a good insight into how effects have been achieved, and a good understanding of how to analyse a painting in various ways. Their work based on an impressionist painting of Lac D’Anecy shows a very good understanding of how to use another artist’s technique without just copying it, and the results are impressively individual and effective. In a lesson observed during the inspection, they showed how quickly they could learn a new technique, when they started to use their good-quality sketches of landscape as a basis for pointillist paintings. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 13

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The school cares very effectively for its pupils

20. Procedures for monitoring and supporting the assessment of pupils’ attainment, progress and personal development are excellent. These procedures are used consistently through the school, with most of the information being recorded on a computer database. This can be used for a number of school management purposes and improving standards overall, but also for preparing reports for parents on individual pupils. These reports are detailed, include individual targets and an opportunity for parents' comments. The school now intends to issue these reports each term.

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The school cares very effectively for its pupils

21. All the teachers and support staff know the pupils well, and they have together developed a safe, supportive and caring environment for them. The procedures for ensuring all aspects of pupils’ health and safety, and promoting their general welfare, including child protection, are very good. The procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour, attendance and punctuality are good. All teachers and support staff have similar expectations of the way pupils should behave and use consistent standards throughout the school for appropriate rewards and sanctions.

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Pupils’ writing in geography, history and religious education could be better

22. Pupils achieve standards that are in line with the national expectation in geography and history, and which meet the requirements of the agreed syllabus in religious education. Pupils’ learning is enriched very effectively by visitors, such as those who bring in toys from another era, and by visits to places of interest such as Kentwell Manor and a Jewish synagogue. Discussion with pupils shows that they have gained much enjoyment and good insights from such activities. Their progress is satisfactory overall, but too much written work is over-dependent on work sheets, particularly at Key Stage Two. When all pupils have the same worksheet, this can result in a lack of challenge to brighter pupils. Examination of work, both past and present, shows that pupils do not often write independently, or at length, in order to record what they have observed, deduced and understood. This is a missed opportunity to develop pupils’ learning and does not make best

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Pupils’ writing in geography, history and religious education could be better

use of their developing literacy skills. It also deprives them of the opportunity to clarify their ideas by writing about them in their own words.

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Challenging work for brighter pupils could be set more consistently

23. In the majority of lessons, teachers prepare suitably challenging work for all pupils in the class. Particularly in literacy and numeracy, good use is made of the structures of the national strategies to support this. However, in some lessons, all pupils are set the same work, or are set a series of tasks of increasing difficulty. While pupils who struggle with the work are given good support to enable them to make good progress, in these lessons brighter pupils spend too much time doing work which is too easy for them, before going on to the harder work. In such lessons, they do not make all the progress in learning of which they are capable. As a result, in samples of pupils’ work this year, sometimes the work of pupils of different abilities is only distinguished by the quality of the handwriting and spelling. In a lesson during the inspection, brighter pupils spent time doing a task on the 2 and 3 times tables, which they found very easy. They therefore spent part

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Challenging work for brighter pupils could be set more consistently

of the lesson “coasting“, before going onto more challenging work on harder tables which took their learning on much more effectively. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 14

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

24. In order to build on the current very good provision, the school should:-

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Improve the quality of pupils’ writing in history, geography, and religious education by a. Giving pupils more opportunities to write at greater length, and in their own words. b. Making more selective use of worksheets.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) Ensure more consistency in the level of challenge in work for brighter pupils by: a. Making sure that pupils do not spend time doing work which is too easy for them. b. Making better use of assessment to ensure that the work set helps pupils to go beyond what they already know, understand and can do. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 15

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 25 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 14

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor - 20 56 24 - - -

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 24 225 Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals N/A 14 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 1 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 3 62

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 15

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 53 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 4

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Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

% % School data 3.8 School data 0 National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5

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Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 1999 16 16 32

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 15 15 14 level 2 and above Girls 16 15 14 Total 31 30 28

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Percentage of pupils School 97(97) 94(100) 88(100) at NC level 2 or above National 82 83 87

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 16 14 14 level 2 and above Girls 15 15 12 Total 31 29 26

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 97(100) 91(100) 81(100) at NC level 2 or above National 82 86 87

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentages in brackets refer to the year 2000 results.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 1999 17 14 31

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 15 17 17 level 4 and above Girls 14 14 14 Total 29 31 31

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 94(97) 100(87) 100(97) at NC level 4 or above National 70 69 78

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 15 16 16 level 4 and above Girls 14 14 14 Total 29 30 30

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 94(97) 97(90) 97(97) St Peter’s School, St Albans - 17 at NC level 4 or above National 68 69 75

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentages in brackets refer to the year 2000. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 18

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 9 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0 Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0 Black – other 0 Black – other 0 0 Indian 2 Indian 0 0 Pakistani 0 Pakistani 0 0 Bangladeshi 11 Bangladeshi 0 0 Chinese 0 Chinese 0 0 White 171 White 0 0 Any other minority ethnic group 0 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 9.3 Financial year 1999 - 2000

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 24.19

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Average class size 32.14 £ Total income 496872 Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 494371 Total number of education support staff 5 Expenditure per pupil 1811

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total aggregate hours worked per week 77.5 Balance brought forward from previous year Balance carried forward to next year 15448

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nursery

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) Number of pupils per qualified teacher 23.5

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nursery

Total number of education support staff Total aggregate hours worked per week 48.75 St Peter’s School, St Albans - 19 Number of pupils per FTE adult 11.75 FTE means full-time equivalent. St Peter’s School, St Albans - 20

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Percentage of responses in each category

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 39 54 4 0 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 48 48 1 0 3

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 38 52 6 1 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 24 46 25 1 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 48 44 7 1 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 56 39 4 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 31 51 12 2 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 53 39 1 1 6

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 49 43 4 0 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 34 45 7 0 14

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