St Mark's CofE Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 15 February 2023

Pupils are happy at St Mark's Church of England Primary School. Governors' and leaders' values permeate through the school and are reflected in the positive attitudes of pupils. Pupils are polite, friendly and welcoming. They understand the importance of treating each other fairly and with kindness. Staff have warm and supportive relationships with pupils. Pupils know that adults in school will help them to resolve any concerns that they may have. Leaders deal with bullying quickly and stop it from happening again. This helps pupils to feel safe. Leaders have high expectations of pupils' learning and behaviour. These expectations are clearly understood by staff and pupils. Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and around school. They enjoy their learning and are enthused by the activities and experiences that their teachers provide. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. Pupils value the opportunity to celebrate each other's positive actions. Pupils recognise values such as friendship, forgiveness and endurance in each other and nominate other pupils for an award. They explain how other pupils have demonstrated one of the values in practice and this is then celebrated by the school community. This helps pupils to build self-esteem and also helps them to become compassionate and empathetic members of society.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not broken down the important knowledge that pupils should acquire into smaller steps of learning. This means that teachers are not clear about the essential knowledge to teach and when to teach it. Leaders should identify the small blocks of knowledge that teachers must teach, and the order that they should teach it in, so that pupils can build knowledge in a logical way, over time.
• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not fully developed strategies to check that the intended curriculums help pupils to know more and remember more over time. This means that teachers do not know how well pupils are remembering their learning and whether pupils need further support. Leaders should ensure that staff are well equipped to check that pupils are learning the intended curriculum.

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