St John’s & St Peter’s CofE Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St John's and St Peter's Church of England Academy continues to be a good school.

The head of this school is Nilam Hullait.

This school is part of the All Saints Multi Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sarah Smith.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy and caring school.

Everyone is welcome and all pupils and staff are valued. Parents are fulsome in their praise of the school. As one parent put it, 'The school feels like one big happy family, and I am proud to be part of it.'



Expectations of pupils' behav...iour are high. Children learn the routines and expectations as soon as they join the Reception class. The youngest children demonstrate excellent attitudes to learning.

They work and play together happily. This sets the tone for behaviour and conduct as they move through the school. Pupils who suffer from anxiety or anger issues are quickly calmed down through spending time with Lucca, the school's therapy dog.

The school works closely with parents. It provides high-quality pastoral support to pupils and their families where needed. The school has formed close community and church links.

It hosts 'The Big Breakfast' on a Saturday morning where community members are invited into school and served a free breakfast and pupils enjoy sports and craft activities.

Staff have a detailed knowledge of every pupil. This helps them identify and intervene swiftly in situations which place pupils at risk of harm.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The trust and school leaders have successfully steered the school through a difficult period since the previous inspection. They have established a happy and harmonious school where pupils thrive.

The curriculum is ambitious and progressive.

It sets out precisely the knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils need to learn. The school has recently adopted new schemes in a few subjects. Because of this switch, older pupils sometimes do not have all the prior knowledge they should in these subjects.

The school has worked tirelessly to overcome the many challenges it faces in meeting pupils' needs. Challenges include high levels of mobility and deprivation and significant numbers of pupils with complex needs. Most children join the early years with very low starting points due to a lack of pre-school experience.

The school's published data for 2023 shows that the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics in Year 2 was below the national average. However, a significant number of these pupils joined the school during Year 1 or Year 2. They were therefore unable to benefit fully from the school's well-designed curriculum.

Currently, these pupils are making strong progress and catching up due to the high-quality support they receive.

Reading is justifiably the school's number one priority. The school has invested heavily in high-quality books for the whole school.

The reading curriculum is rigorous and well-taught. Children in Reception Year get off to a strong start in learning to read. Staff have the knowledge and skills needed to teach early reading, including phonics, effectively.

Pupils practise and apply their phonic knowledge when reading books that closely match the sounds they learn. Pupils who fall behind are well supported. They read daily in school and most catch up quickly.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are swiftly assessed, and their learning and care needs are accurately identified and met. Pupils get the support they need to be successful in school because staff care deeply about them and want the best for them. Pupils with the most complex needs receive a bespoke programme and high levels of support.

The school is highly effective in including these pupils in lessons wherever possible.

Opportunities such as school councillors, faith team leaders and house captains enable pupils to take on responsibilities at school and develop leadership skills. The school offers a range of activities to develop pupils' interests and contribute to their personal development.

For example, educational visits to farms, galleries and theatres bring learning to life.

Pupils learn about faiths and cultures which are different to their own. This helps them appreciate and collaborate well with the diverse community within the school.

However, pupils have a limited knowledge and understanding of fundamental British values, despite the school teaching pupils about these. On occasion, this leads to pupils not demonstrating the respect and tolerance for others that the school expects.

The school is considerate of staff workload and well-being.

Staff appreciate reductions to their workload and the high-quality support and feedback they receive from leaders.

The trust and local academy board provide a good balance of support and challenge for the school. They are well informed.

They invest their time and talents readily to ensure pupils at the school get the best start in life.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• A small number of subjects are at an early stage of implementation due to recent curriculum changes.

It is too early to detect the impact of the new content introduced or where gaps exist in pupils' knowledge due to the change of programme used. The school should ensure that, in continuing to implement the new curriculum, current learning builds securely on what pupils already know and can do. ? Pupils' knowledge of fundamental British values is at an early stage of development.

As a result, pupils lack an understanding of how these values contribute to their future lives. The school should ensure that pupils are taught about the importance of these values so that they are well-prepared for life in modern Britain.Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2018.