St Matthias Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 June 2024

Pupils are welcoming, polite and respectful at St Matthias Church of England Primary School. Each day they try hard to live the school's ethos of 'aspire, achieve, believe.' Staff care, they do their best to make sure pupils achieve well, particularly in mathematics. There is a strong safeguarding culture across the school. Pupils are safe here. The school rules 'ready, safe, respectful' are consistently applied by all staff. Pupils know what is expected of them. They listen and engage well in lessons. At social times they are kind to one another. Older pupils support and encourage younger pupils to take part in games and make new friends. Pupils say that occasionally they fall out. They resolve minor disputes among themselves. On rare occasions when behaviour falls short of the school's expectations, restorative conversations help pupils to think about the impact of their behaviour on others. Older pupils look forward to spending time with their friends and learning new skills at the yearly outdoor residential. Pupils enjoy opportunities to deepen their knowledge in subjects such as history, geography and science through visits to museums, fieldwork trips or visiting workshops in school. Clubs such as football, choir and cricket help pupils to widen their interests.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, teachers do not always use assessment well enough to check pupils' prior learning. This means that, in some cases, pupils cannot demonstrate and recall previous learning when needed. The school should ensure that teachers are clear on the specific prior learning pupils need to know and remember so that essential learning is embedded into their long-term memory across all subjects.
• There is an inconsistent approach to the teaching of fine motor skills and handwriting in the early years. This results in variability in expectations and inconsistency, which impacts a few pupils as they move through the school. The school should set out clearly how early writing is taught so that pupils learn to write effectively from the start and build handwriting fluency effectively as they move through the school.
• Despite the school's work, a few pupils do not attend school often enough. This means they miss out on important learning. The school should continue to work with parents and external partners to overcome any barriers to good attendance and instil the importance of regular school attendance.

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