High Peak school has ‘high expectations for pupils’ academic success’, says Ofsted

Kettleshulme St James CofE (VA) Primary School, is a place where pupils ‘value being part of this welcoming school community’.

Claire Cropper, lead inspector, said: “The school has successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified during the previous inspection. It now has a well-defined curriculum in place which outlines the key knowledge that pupils are expected to learn in all subjects.”

However it was noted that in some subjects, the curriculum is still very new.

Ms Cropper said: “Teachers are developing their familiarity with its content.

“They do not deliver the curriculum in these areas with the same confidence that they do in reading and mathematics.

“This impacts on how clearly teachers present new information, or how effectively they support pupils to build on what they have learned before.”

Teachers regularly check pupils’ understanding in reading and mathematics.

The report noted they notice and address any misconceptions or gaps in pupils’ knowledge in these subjects adeptly.

However, Ms Cropper said this is not as consistent in some other subjects.

“Occasionally, pupils become confused as a result. When this happens, some lose focus and become less receptive to learning.”

The Macclesfield Road school maintains positive attitudes to school.

Ms Cropper said: “However, there are times when adults do not follow the school’s behaviour policy as well as they could. When this occurs, the rate at which some pupils learn slows.”

The report noted reading is at the heart of the school’s curriculum and staff are well trained and deliver the reading curriculum and phonics programme consistently well.

Looking at how children with special educational needs and or disabilities progress Ms Cropper said: “The school provides effective support for teachers to identify and address any particular difficulty that pupils may experience, such as SEND.

“As a result, staff support pupils with SEND effectively. These pupils achieve well.”

The support for pupils’ personal development was praised as a ‘strength of the school’.

Staff benefit from the unswerving support that they receive from both the school and the governing body to ensure that their workload is manageable.

A statement from headteacher Mrs Bellshaw said: “We’re delighted Kettleshulme St James retained its good standard as result of the Ofsted inspection.

“It was heartening that during their relatively short visit the inspection team saw so many of the things that we are proud of.

“We are proud of who we are, our ambition for the school and what has been achieved.

“Over the past four years amongst other things, pupil numbers have nearly doubled and many more staff have been recruited to maintain a strong staff to pupil ratio.

“We have overseen an improvement in school finances allowing increased investment in resources for the children and the development of an ambitious, engaging skills-based curriculum including Adventure Days and Forest School.

“Safeguarding measures at school have been prioritised; only a few years ago there was no secure perimeter fencing or security gates and most recently we opened The Stream, sensory learning space to complement our learning nooks, The Greenhouse and The Nest.”

To celebrate the good Ofsted report the school treated the children to milkshakes and biscuits.