St Paul's CofE First School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 February 2024

St Paul's CofE First School provides pupils with a good quality of education. It also teaches pupils to be kind, caring and supportive to others. The school's CARE values of community, aspiration, respect and endurance show in the ambitions that staff set for pupils. Indeed, expectations for learning are high, and are reflected in the academic standards reached. The school's values also show in the way pupils willingly take responsibility and look for ways to be helpful. During their time at St Paul's, pupils enjoy a broad and worthwhile curriculum that prepares them well for middle school. From the start in Nursery through to Year 4, pupils are supported to develop healthy attitudes to learning, and to see the link between effort and success. Pupils' behaviour is usually good and they are not worried about bullying. If any behaviour slips below expectations then staff deal with it calmly and effectively. Similarly, if anyone is upset, then pupils and staff work well together to make things better. Consequently, pupils feel safe and happy at school. Pupils have a say in shaping school life and enjoy a range of extra-curricular activities. The school's rules are fair and safety procedures work as they should.

What the school should improve

• Several subject leaders are new to their leadership posts. They are beginning to develop their new responsibilities and their oversight of different subjects is at an early stage. The school should continue to support and guide these new leaders so they develop into well-informed, evaluative subject leaders.
• The standard of pupils' writing, which declined during the pandemic, has not yet recovered as well as other subjects. This means that writing standards are not as strong as they could be. The school should continue to focus on improving the quality of pupils' writing.

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