St John’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Ipswich

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher and other leaders, including governors, have established a safe, caring, happy and purposeful school community in which all feel valued.

Pupils enjoy learning, exploring ideas and expressing their creativity. Pupils behave exceptionally well. Relationships are positive.

Pupils are resilient, curious and keen to improve their work. These attitudes towards their learning have a powerful impact on their progress. Pupils attend well and rarely miss a day of school.

They are punctual and arrive at lessons eager to engage and get to work. The school promotes pupils' personal development very well. Many take on positions... of responsibility and develop leadership skills.

Pupils are encouraged to think deeply, to discuss and to debate. They develop confidence, maturity and respect for others. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is provided for exceptionally well.

Pupils develop a sophisticated understanding of the wider world as a result. Parents and carers, pupils and staff are overwhelmingly supportive of the work of the school. The early years provision is very well led.

Children make rapid progress, and their achievement is consistently high. They make a very strong start to key stage 1. Teachers plan activities that enable pupils to make at least good progress in most subject areas.

They make particularly rapid progress and achieve very high standards in reading, writing, French and religious studies by the end of key stage 2. Provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is well led. Pupils make strong progress socially and academically as a result.

Pupils typically make very strong progress in mathematics by the end of key stage 2, and their attainment is high. Some teachers do not ensure that pupils apply their mathematics skills to solving real-world problems often enough. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in subjects other than English and mathematics is too variable.

Pupils do not always develop their subject-specific skills well. Leaders do not check pupils' progress in these subjects carefully enough.

Information about this school

This school is a slightly smaller than most primary schools.

The proportion of children and pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils funded through the pupil premium is well below the national average. The percentage of children and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well below the national average, as is the proportion of pupils who have education, health and care plans.