St Elisabeth’s Church of England Primary

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an inadequate school A legacy of weak leadership has led to a significant decline in pupils' progress and attainment in recent years.

Ineffective governance has allowed the school's deterioration to go unchallenged. Governors do not fulfil their statutory duties. They have failed to question leaders about pupils' achievement and the use of additional funding, such as the pupil premium.

There is a wide variation in the design and delivery of the curriculum. Over time, leaders have not ensured that teaching in different subjects is consistently effective, particularly in English and mathematics. Leaders do not hold staff to account well enough for the im...plementation of actions to improve pupils' progress in a range of subjects.

Staff do not equip pupils with mathematical reasoning skills. Teachers do not address pupils' misconceptions in this subject. Staff have become deskilled.

A lack of professional development in the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics means that teachers fail to meet the demands of the renewed national curriculum. The teaching of reading does not provide pupils with appropriate strategies to read accurately or to understand the texts that they are reading. This is particularly true for boys.

The quality of pupils' written work is poor, especially in key stage 2. Teachers do not address common errors well enough to prevent them from being repeated. The 2018 provisional information for pupils' outcomes at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 shows that pupils underachieve considerably.

The warning signs have been evident for some time in pupils' outcomes. Ineffective leadership in English and mathematics has been a significant factor in the school's decline. The school has the following strengths The new headteacher has started to unravel the scope and depth of the inadequacies within the school.

However, it is too soon to see the difference that leaders' actions are making. Children continue to make good progress in the early years. The leadership of this area has been consistently strong.

Leaders promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Science and history are taught well. Pupils progress well in these subjects.

Pupils' behaviour for learning is good. They are keen and attentive learners. They are kept safe and feel safe.

Information about this school

St Elisabeth's is a slightly larger than average-sized primary school that is housed in a grade 2 listed building. The school's intake has increased from 30 to 45 pupils. The increase in admissions means that Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 have an allocation of 45 pupils.

Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 remain at 30 places. The school's capacity will continue to increase for the next three years until it reaches its full capacity. The school's most recent section 48 inspection, which is an inspection of schools with a religious character, took place in March 2017.

The school has 40 part-time places in the onsite nursery. The school does not use any alternative provision. The large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.

The proportion of pupils who receive support for SEND is higher than that seen nationally. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is above that seen nationally. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is average.