St Cyprian's Greek Orthodox Primary Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 June 2024

Pupils enjoy attending this diverse school. They are taught to respect differences no matter what identity people have. The school has high expectations of what pupils learn. They benefit from the school's ethos of care and aspiration “to be the best I can be”. However, pupils do not achieve as well as they should across the curriculum. The school has experienced a period of disruption in recent years with several changes of leadership. This affected the quality of education for pupils. Published outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of 2023 were low. However, the school is now more settled. Leaders have identified the priorities for the school and are clear about the next steps required. Children learn well in Nursery and Reception classes. There are clear improvements in mathematics and early reading. Working relationships between staff and pupils are warm and positive. Typically, lessons proceed without disruption. Most pupils interact positively with adults and with each other at playtimes. However, some pupils do not feel listened to when they raise concerns about bullying. A small number of pupils use derogatory language. This is not tackled consistently well by all staff.

What the school should improve

• The school does not provide pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum consistently. This is because the new curriculum is not embedded and some subjects are infrequently taught, particularly at key stage 2. As a result, pupils are not building up knowledge in a range of subjects and are not prepared for the next stage of their education. The school should strengthen its systems for checking that the curriculum is being delivered across all subjects and in all year groups as intended.
• In several subjects, the curriculum is not being implemented in such a way as to ensure that pupils know more and remember more over time and embed learning in their long-term memory. As a result, pupils do not build up a solid body of knowledge in all subjects and cannot therefore integrate new learning into larger ideas. The school must ensure that pupils are taught in such a way as to ensure that they remember what they learn over time.
• Whilst aspects of pupils' wider development are strong, pupils do not study PSHE as regularly as they should. This means that they do not develop their understanding of key content securely. The school should ensure that the ambitious PSHE programme that is in place is implemented consistently and systematically across all year groups.
• While safeguarding is effective, inspectors found some minor weaknesses in the school's safeguarding procedures. The school should sharpen oversight of safeguarding and ensure that all staff systematically and consistently report and record all safeguarding issues and that any follow-up actions are clearly signposted. The school should also ensure that all staff receive an appropriate level of training in using the online system consistently for recording concerns.

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