St John's CofE Primary School, Cliviger

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 January 2023

Pupils at St John's C of E Primary School are delightful. They make friends easily because they care about each other. Each day they live out the school's Christian values by being kind and helpful towards each other. At breaktimes, they play happily with their friends from different year groups. Pupils enjoy being part of this close-knit, family-oriented and nurturing school. All pupils receive a warm welcome. Pupils are proud of their school. They arrive each day eager to learn. They are confident in talking about what they have learned across the curriculum. 'Welly Wednesdays' and fun-filled 'Family Fridays' are highlights of their week. Pupils strive to live up to the high expectations that staff have of them academically, socially and emotionally. They are polite, hard-working and behave well. Pupils know that staff reward and celebrate good behaviour. They achieve well across a range of subjects. Pupils appreciate being able to talk to staff if anything bothers them. They know that staff will do their best to help them. They know what bullying is and why it is wrong. Leaders act quickly to resolve any problems that arise. This helps pupils to feel safe in school. Pupils enjoy a varied range of opportunities beyond the academic curriculum to broaden their experiences. Older pupils contribute to decision-making in the school through their roles as school councillors and play leaders. Parents and carers have very positive views of the school. A typical comment was, 'This is a brilliant school.'

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not identified in enough detail the precise knowledge that they want pupils to acquire. As a result, some teachers are not clear enough about the most important knowledge that they should teach and check. Consequently, there are gaps in some pupils' knowledge over time. Leaders should make sure that in all subjects teachers are aware of the essential knowledge that pupils should acquire and when they should acquire it.
• At times, teachers do not check well enough that pupils fully understand what they have taught them. This prevents some pupils from building their knowledge securely on what they already know. Leaders should ensure that all teachers identify pupils' next steps in learning effectively.

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