St John's Church of England Primary Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 14 February 2023

Staff and pupils give visitors a warm welcome at St John's. There is a strong sense of pastoral care across the school, which reflects the school's Christian values. Leaders teach pupils how to be responsible, caring citizens. For example, the school provides families with a community fridge and food shelves in the school reception area. Pupils in turn donate food to a local food bank at harvest time. The school is a valued part of the local community. The school is a calm and orderly place in which to learn. Teachers make sure that pupils follow the school rules but also support pupils who need help managing their behaviour. Pupils enjoy school and are happy. Bullying does not worry them. They know that leaders will respond to any incidents of bullying and take effective action. All leaders have high aspirations for what pupils can achieve. Pupils live up to these expectations. They achieve well and are proud of their successes. Pupils value the activities staff provide for them. This includes a range of sports clubs and trips. Pupils can be sports leaders or members of the school council. They take on these roles willingly.

What the school should improve

• Some subject leaders have had limited training in how to effectively lead and develop their subject areas. This impacts how well the curriculum is delivered, especially where staff do not have the depth of subject knowledge to deliver the planned curriculum effectively. Leaders should continue to support subject leaders to enable them to successfully develop their subject curriculum and support staff with its implementation.
• Leaders have not ensured that pupils' written SEND provision plans are as effective as they could be in supporting the learning of pupils with SEND. Information about what support will look like for individual pupils is not precise enough. This means that some staff do not adapt the curriculum to precisely meet pupils' needs. Leaders need to ensure that provision plans clearly set out the specific support the pupils need to enable staff to plan and deliver effective additional support for pupils with SEND.
• Some pupils are absent from school too often. This means they miss out on key learning and find it difficult to keep up with their peers. Leaders should ensure that the strategies they use to improve attendance help all parents to understand the importance of school attendance and its impact on pupils' success at school.

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