St Pauls CofE VA Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 January 2026

Pupils arrive at school in the morning with a smile on their face, keen to start learning. Pupils often join the school at various points throughout the school year. Many come from different countries and speak different languages. Some are only at the school for a short period of time before returning to their home country. The kind, caring culture means pupils are soon made to feel like they belong as part of the welcoming community the school strives to be. This diverse community comes together as one incredibly quickly and this enables pupils to feel happy, settled and valued members of the St Paul’s family. Pupils understand the important values that leaders want them to know. They display these values in the way they conduct themselves throughout the school day. Pupils listen well during lessons to staff and to each other. They work hard in their lessons and want to achieve well. Pupils who face barriers to their learning are supported effectively. This is because leaders accurately identify pupils' needs and help staff to understand how to meet them. While pupils achieve well in many subjects, they do not leave school as well prepared in writing as they could be. Pupils value the many opportunities leaders provide for them outside of lessons. Whether playing chess, or learning Latin during clubs, the wider offer helps to open pupils’ eyes to new and exciting talents and interests. Pupils are highly positive about the school. They are especially proud of sharing the differences they have. This helps to build the respectful ethos that exists here. Bullying is incredibly rare and swiftly dealt with should it happen. Pupils know that their peers will listen closely and show them respect as they share their own beliefs and views.

What the school should improve

• Leaders need to ensure that teaching supports pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, to apply their knowledge of different vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar, punctuation and spelling more consistently into their written work. • Leaders need to ensure they provide staff in the early years with the ongoing support and guidance they need to fully maximise opportunities to deepen children’s language and vocabulary. • Leaders, including governors, need to ensure their monitoring of newly introduced initiatives provides them with the information they need to identify where to adapt the planned professional development programme for staff.

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