St Helens Primary School received a graded inspection by Ofsted in October, with excellent results.
The school is recognised as ‘Good’ in all areas, with an ‘Outstanding’ grade personal development.
Head teacher Mr Wake said he was delighted with the result that reflected the team effort from the whole school community.
He stressed the importance of the staff, pupils, parents, governors and the St Helens community in general for their continued efforts who are all extremely proud of these statements.
Highlights
Highlights from the report included:
- Pupils are polite and cheerful in their greetings to staff.
- Parents appreciate the nurturing atmosphere and how families also feel part of the school.
- Strong relationships exist between pupils of all ages.
- Weekly reading groups help to strengthen these bonds.
- Pupils behave well and live up to the school’s high expectations.
- There are clear processes to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
- The attention given to pupils’ personal development and wider opportunities is impressive.
- The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular clubs, including skateboarding, computing and seasonal sports.
- Pupils learn how to discuss current issues and moral dilemmas in a highly respectful way.
- Teachers’ skilful use of ‘floor books’ in personal, social and health education means that pupils’ responses are collated and referred to in future learning.
- Pupils learn to read well. This begins with a phonics-based approach as soon as children start school in Reception.
- As pupils progress through the school, those who need additional help with their reading receive it.
- Teachers use a range of methods to help pupils remember what they have learned.
Where improvements can be made
The inspector found that sometimes, assessment is not used as well as it could be to identify gaps in pupils’ learning. Consequently, future teaching does not address these gaps in knowledge precisely enough.
The school should ensure that teachers identify pupils’ misconceptions with precision and consistently secure pupils’ knowledge and understanding over time.
Curriculum tasks do not always have a clear enough focus on the intended learning. This means that some pupils do not participate fully or benefit from the chosen activity.
Leaders should ensure that teaching activities allow all pupils to access the learning and benefit from the intended curriculum.
You can read the entire report (and previous ones) on the Ofsted website.
