We are all very proud to share the report of our Ofsted inspection in January. The report can be accessed at the bottom of this page. 

The inspection was an ungraded inspection which means that the inspection team could not change our existing official rating as Outstanding. Both the Inspection framework and standard descriptors have significantly changed since January 2017 with the current Ofsted Inspection Framework now having a greater focus on the whole curriculum. We are happy that they will visit us for a ‘Graded’ inspection in a year or two from now. This will give us time to continue to review and refine our broad and balanced curriculum.

The criteria the inspectors were using was the same as in a graded inspection and they gathered huge amounts of evidence, both before they came, and during the inspection days.

What did the inspection involve?

The inspection carried out extremely thorough investigations into:

• Leadership and Management (how well the school is led and managed by Senior Leaders, Subject Leaders and Governors).
• Personal Development (what do our pupils gain from their education at our school).
• Safeguarding (a thorough look at the school’s safeguarding practice and procedures)
• Behaviour and attitudes (a focus on the behaviour and attitudes of pupils in lessons, at lunchtimes and break times. As well as looking at how pupils’ needs are met and how the school deals with bullying).
• The quality of teaching and learning (how children achieve at the school and are helped to progress in their learning by teachers).
• Provision and progress of students with SEND and Pupil Premium (this involved discussions with pupils, staff and the SENDCO).
• Staff professional development and staff workload (how the school develops staff and how we look after staff wellbeing).

What did the inspection find?

• Our school has a strong community feel, and pupils and their families are at the centre of it.
• Pupils are proud to show the school values of, ‘We achieve our best, we care for others, we grow in faith.’
• Pupils show genuine care and compassion for each other and are respectful towards staff and visitors
• Children from Reception onwards love to learn in this school.
• Pupils trust that adults in the school have expectations that will help them be the best they can be.
• Children understand and follow the expectations adults have for them, the learning environment is calm and purposeful.
• Pupils behave well; low-level disruption is very rare and does not impact on learning.
• Leaders have established a rich, extended curriculum for every pupil.
• Teachers know their pupils well and plan effective activities to help pupils to remember and recall knowledge over time.
• Leaders have a sharp focus on ensuring that the curriculum is inclusive and have high ambitions for what all pupils will achieve, including pupils with SEND.
• Pupils learn about different types of religions and cultures and all aspects of diversity. As a result, pupils show a genuine respect for difference.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Leaders ensure that pupils have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe when online and in the community.
• Staff are proud to work at this school. Governance is a strength in the school.

The words community, family and inclusion run through the Ofsted Report and clearly demonstrates what we know about St Peter’s; that our strength is the ethos we share with our community of children, families, staff and governors. This can only be achieved when the whole community pulls together with a sense of purpose, direction and commitment. As one response to the parent and carer survey said: ‘This school is like a large, diverse family.’ We couldn’t have summed St Peter’s up in a better way than this.

What will we be doing between now and the next inspection?

The report explains the impact of the work that we have undertaken in our Core Curriculum areas (e.g. Reading, Phonics, Writing, Spelling, Maths, Science): ‘Where teachers are clear about the knowledge that they want pupils to learn and how they want pupils to build up this knowledge, pupils do well…pupils progress well through the intended curriculum, and published end-of-key-stage outcomes are positive. Teachers know their pupils well and plan effective activities to help pupils to remember and recall knowledge over time. Where leaders have fully thought through what knowledge pupils need to know and the best order in which to build this knowledge up, this work is highly effective’

As a school, there are areas of the curriculum where this curriculum focus work is not quite as well advanced. We shared this developmental work with the inspectors and they recognised this in the report when they noted: ‘However, in a small number of subjects, while leaders know what they want pupils to achieve, they have not fully considered the broken-down knowledge that pupils will need in order to achieve it.’ and ‘Leaders recognise this and know how they will refine these subjects’.

Over the remainder of this academic year and for the next year, we will be continuing to focus on those few subject areas where there is still work to be done on determining the sequencing of knowledge that children need. This will include:

• Investing in staff training and development in the specific curricular areas 
• Reviewing and revising our curriculum plans to ensure that subject specific knowledge in this subject area is being built on progressively.

Thank you so much for working so positively with us, and for your incredible support of our school.