St Luke and St Philips Primary sees Ofsted rating slip

Ofsted no longer gives overall judgements to state-funded schools, but St Luke and St Philips Church of England Primary School scored requires improvement in three out of five judgement areas following an inspection,

The areas of behaviour and attitudes and personal development retained their ‘good’ rating from 2019 but the quality of education, leadership and management and early years provisions all slipped to ‘requires improvement’.

Following their visit to the Hancock Street school, inspectors said: “Pupils enjoy being part of this welcoming school, which prides itself on supporting the community.

“Pupils embody the school’s vision of respecting others. They appreciate that everyone is unique and understand the importance of treating others in a way that they would like to be treated themselves.

“The school is ambitious for pupils to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

“However, several pupils have gaps in their learning that have not been addressed. This means that these pupils do not achieve as well as they should in a range of subjects.

“Furthermore, some pupils in key stage 2 do not have the knowledge that they need to be successful readers. Despite this, pupils work hard and behave well in lessons.”

Samantha O’Connell, headteacher at the school, said: “This report highlights many of our strengths.

“It speaks of our commitment and ambition for all pupils to achieve well. Inspectors observed secure teaching of phonics, behaviour across school is positive, and lessons are rarely interrupted.

“These comments are a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our staff and children.

“We pride ourselves in providing a nurturing and stimulating environment for all our pupils, which the inspectors recognised and commended.

“Whilst we celebrate these achievements, we are also focused on the areas identified for improvement.

“Supported by our Trust, Cidari, we have already begun implementing changes to address these.

“We thank our parents, carers, and the wider community for their continued support.

“Together, we continue to work towards providing the best possible education and opportunities for every child at St Luke and St Philips.”

Looking at the published performance data in 2023, inspectors noted that by the end of year 6, pupils' attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was significantly below the national average.

Whilst the pandemic, and the significant amount of time children missed was highlighted, weaknesses in the school curriculum have not been addressed.

Improvements in the teaching of maths were noted however, key stage 2 pupils still had large gaps in their vocabulary and whilst children can read many words they struggle to understand them.

The report continued: “The school has not set out the important knowledge that children in the early years should learn in some areas of learning.

“This makes it tricky for staff to know what they should prioritise when designing activities. As a result, some activities do not help build on what they already know.

“This leads to some children not being as well prepared for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum as they should be.”

Phonics teaching was identified as a particular strength of the school and it was delivered by well-trained staff, who support pupils who need extra help, particularly if English is a second language.

Inspectors also praised the effective systems in place to identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs, who benefit from well-chosen resources.

Additionally, pupil behaviour across the school was considered positive and learning was rarely interrupted, and children in early years learn cooperatively alongside one another.

They have also put in place a structure that reduces the number of pupils who were persistently absent.

The report continued: “Pupils experience a range of personal development opportunities. Pupils understand that there are many different types of families in society.

“They learn about healthy relationships and how to keep themselves safe online. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

“The local governing body and trustees understand the weaknesses in pupils’ achievement. They have worked to improve the school’s capacity to begin to improve the quality of education.

“However, turbulence in staffing since the previous inspection has limited the impact of this.”

The arrangements for safeguarding were considered to be effective.