St Andrew's CofE Primary and Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 July 2023

Pupils say that they 'love' coming to this school. They describe it as 'supportive' and 'unique'. Pupils have a strong understanding of moral and social issues. They understand the importance of treating everyone equally, showing kindness and respect. Pupils embrace the school's Christian and British values in their interactions with one another and with staff. Relationships are warm and trusting. Pupils behave consistently well. They say that bullying has no place in their school. Moreover, pupils' attitudes towards learning and life in modern Britain are exceptionally positive. They value opportunities to take responsibility, including the roles of well-being ambassadors and 'business kids'. School events such as the 'special person day' are highly memorable. Pupils respond well to the school's high expectations. Classrooms are busy and purposeful. Most pupils achieve well, particularly in the early years and by the end of key stage 2. However, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should in reading at key stage 1. Parents and carers are supportive of the school. One captured the sentiments of the overwhelming majority when they wrote, 'The school has a lovely ethos, and all the children are supported and encouraged to be the best that they can be, both academically and personally.'

What the school should improve

• Leaders have recently begun to introduce new subject-specific pedagogy to help build pupils' confidence in automatically recalling important knowledge. This is at an early stage of development. Some pupils struggle to accurately recall facts quickly. This slows the rate of progress some pupils make in their learning. Leaders should support teachers to develop the subject-specific knowledge and skills needed to enable pupils to recall knowledge with greater automaticity.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading at key stage 1 has improved over the past year. However, too many pupils still do not reach the expected standard in the phonics screening check by the end of Year 1. This hinders how well these pupils can access the rest of the school's curriculum. Leaders, including governors, should ensure that they evaluate the new strategies recently put into place so that they know precisely which approaches have the strongest impact, particularly for the most vulnerable pupils.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)