St Luke's CofE (Aided) Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 27 June 2023

This is a friendly school in which pupils support one another and establish trusting relationships with staff. Leaders have emphasised the importance of the school's vision to 'let your light shine, live life to the full, respect and care for all, create a happy and safe world for everyone'. Pupils know the vision and demonstrate the values that it promotes. Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Pupils behave well. They feel safe. Pupils know the golden expectations, which include being kind, wearing a smile and working hard. Pupils enjoy earning rewards for their 'tree teams'. Staff recognise when pupils produce particularly good work or demonstrate confidence and resilience. Pupils nominate one another for the 'pupil of the term' award. Leaders ensure that there are wider opportunities available. Older pupils take part in a residential visit to Gulliver's Valley. Children in the early years visit Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Pupils develop their leadership skills. They perform roles as class librarians and diversity champions. Pupils can be members of the eco-committee. Some pupils take part in sporting clubs, including football and cricket. Some parents and carers say they would appreciate more opportunities for their children to take part in clubs.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not ensured that curriculums clearly outline the relationship between knowledge and skills. As a result, teachers do not always ensure that lessons focus on the most important knowledge and skills that pupils should learn. This can lead to pupils not having as secure a grasp as they could of the knowledge and skills they are developing. Leaders should ensure that in all subjects, the curriculum enables pupils to consistently develop a secure understanding of the knowledge they are learning and the skills they are acquiring.
• In some subjects, there are not yet precise assessment systems in place to check pupils' ongoing understanding of what they are learning. In these subjects, teachers cannot always identify precise gaps and misconceptions and help pupils resolve these fully. Leaders should ensure that the necessary checks are in place that enable teachers in all subjects to identify and help resolve any gaps in pupils' understanding.
• Leaders at all levels do not yet review the effectiveness of their work to improve further all aspects of the school's provision. For example, leaders do not review how well their strategies to improve attendance are working. Not all subject leaders have a precise-enough understanding of the impact of the implementation of the curriculum in their subject. As a consequence, leaders are not always able to identify priorities and areas in which the school should develop further. Leaders, including governors, should ensure that they have a precise understanding of all aspects of the provision so that they can quickly identify what needs to improve further, and then act promptly to bring about this improvement.

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