St Luke and St Philips Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 October 2024

Pupils enjoy being part of this welcoming school, which prides itself on supporting the community. Pupils embody the school's vision of respecting others. They appreciate that everyone is unique and understand the importance of treating others in a way that they would like to be treated themselves. This helps pupils to feel happy at school. The school is ambitious for pupils to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, a number of pupils have gaps in their learning that have not been addressed. This means that these pupils do not achieve as well as they should in a range of subjects. Furthermore, some pupils in key stage 2 do not have the knowledge that they need to be successful readers. Despite this, pupils work hard and behave well in lessons. Pupils value the different trips that they experience. These include visits to outdoor adventure centres, the library and orchestral performances. The school ensures that many pupils access the range of clubs that it offers. These vary from family Zumba, martial arts, through to American football. Charitable activities, such as fund raising for a local hospice, help pupils to develop their understanding of empathy.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, teachers do not check how well pupils have remembered and understood what they have been previously taught. Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge that have not been identified. These gaps hinder their ability to make sense of new learning and they do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that teachers are well equipped to check that pupils' knowledge is secure before introducing new topics and concepts.
• The school has not identified the key knowledge that children in the early years should learn in some areas of the curriculum. As a result, a number of children have gaps in their knowledge and are not sufficiently prepared for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum. The school should ensure that they finalise their curriculum thinking so that it is clear what children in the early years should learn and when this knowledge should be taught.
• In a small number of subjects, some teachers do not have the knowledge that they need to teach the intended curriculum effectively. Some of the learning activities that pupils complete do not enable them to learn the important knowledge as well as they should. The school should make sure that teachers have the subject knowledge that they need to effectively deliver the curriculum, so that pupils achieve well.
• Some pupils in key stage 2 have gaps in their understanding of important vocabulary. These pupils struggle to comprehend the important information in the texts that they read. As a result, they are not as well prepared for the next stage of education as they should be. The school should ensure that there is increased emphasis on identifying and addressing the gaps in knowledge that limit pupils' reading comprehension.

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