St Luke's CofE Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 21 March 2023

St Luke's is a place in which pupils are happy and safe. They learn about positive relationships through the 'St Luke's way,' the school's set of agreed values. Pupils are well cared for and are respectful to adults and each other. Younger pupils benefit from working alongside their older peers in mixed-age classes. Pupils collaborate well, including children in the early years. They listen to each other and take turns respectfully. Pupils do not benefit from a well-considered curriculum in all subjects. In some areas, pupils' learning does not build closely enough on their prior knowledge. This means they do not always achieve as well as they could. Behaviour is positive. Pupils respond well to leaders' high expectations for their conduct. This helps them to be orderly around the school. Pupils learn to consider others. As result, bullying is rare. If it does occur, adults resolve any issues. Pupils learn about important life skills, such as information regarding possible future careers. They experience exciting visits and activities which develop what they learn in class. Opportunities provide equity for all pupils. For example, a recent event inspired all pupils, irrespective of gender, to consider a career in engineering.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have not identified and sequenced precisely enough the knowledge that pupils need to learn in all areas of the curriculum. This includes some aspects of the early years. As a result, pupils do not develop a detailed understanding in all subject areas. Leaders must ensure that all curriculum plans clearly identify what knowledge is required and in which order it should be taught so that pupils learn well over time.
• There is some variation in the expertise of staff to deliver the new phonics programme consistently well. This means that readers needing the most support do not achieve fluency and accuracy quickly enough in reading. Leaders should ensure that books are consistently well matched to pupils' phonics stage and that staff have the knowledge they need to teach early reading effectively.
• Staff teaching in the early years do not have a consistently strong understanding of the curriculum. As a result, adults are not accurate enough in checking and responding to what children know in some areas of learning. Leaders should ensure that the full curriculum in early years identifies the knowledge that needs to be learned and assessed. Leaders should then ensure that all staff have the relevant expertise to help children build secure knowledge in readiness for Year 1.

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