St Matthew's C.E Primary School

The school demonstrates good practice in:

• A positive, stimulating and inspiring learning environment which results in happy, highly motivated and successful pupils.
• The inspirational leadership of the Headteacher whose solution focused and pragmatic response to challenges engenders a sense of hope and resilience in her team. A strong leadership team who take an active role in coaching less experienced and less effective staff to improve their practice.
• A strong curriculum offer, effectively led by the Deputy Headteacher, which is embedded in an agreed pedagogical approach to learning.
• The leadership’s generosity of spirit in providing support to colleagues in other schools whenever this is requested.
• The schools outstanding approach to the personal and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils which results in a harmonious school community.
• The high value the school places on the professional development of staff which has a significant impact on its sustainability and capacity to improve, moving securely towards being an outstanding school in all areas.
•  Its outstanding Early Years provision which is a beacon of effective practice and strong leadership.

Severn Teaching School Annual Summary Report to Governors September 2022

The Headteacher’s high aspirations for the pupils are at the heart of the school’s strategic decision making. The Headteacher leads by example and her commitment and loyalty to the pupils, families and staff is second to none. St Matthew’s is a school where pupils thrive through a positive ethos which is nurturing, inclusive, celebratory and lives up to its Christian values in being: “caring, supportive and mutually rewarding”. Every visit to St Matthew’s provides the opportunity to see pupils who are highly motivated, engaged in their learning and keen to succeed. Whether you see pupils working formally with an adult in a classroom or working independently or collaboratively in a shared corridor space, you can be sure that the pupils will give you a welcome smile and proudly share their work with you. Leaders have effective systems in place to make sure pupils are kept safe. In short, St Matthew’s is a happy school where children know good things happen.
The Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and Assistant Headteachers have worked unstintingly to ensure that, despite the on-going challenges of the pandemic, there has been a continued focus on providing targeted professional development support for all teachers at every stage in their career, including an Early Careers Teacher who is new to the teaching profession. This training has been led by both external consultants and internal leaders. It has included deploying the STSA adviser to undertake a comprehensive coaching programme to strengthen the quality of subject leadership. The newly appointed Assistant Headteacher has also been supported in accessing an externally validated senior leadership qualification. This demonstrates the outward facing nature of the school, always striving to improve the quality of leadership in order to strengthen the school’s capacity for further improvement. Staff are appreciative of the support they receive from senior leaders, including the time they are provided with to undertake subject leadership actions.

St Matthew’s staff are always willing and generous with their time in agreeing to support the needs of others. This can be seen through the school’s engagement in the STSA Leaders of Education (SLE) programme. Three of the staff in the school provide professional development support and guidance to staff in neighbouring schools. The evaluations of their work are always positive. They also warmly welcome visitors into the school who want to learn from their strong practice, particularly in Early Years.

The school have had to work hard with families to address on-going absence issues since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Deputy Headteacher, supported by the Pastoral Lead, has worked hard to get pupils back in school, including referring families to the Early help and Strengthening Families LA led programme. Home visit have been made was this has deemed to be necessary. The positive outcome of all these measures has been that attendance rose from 91% in the Spring term to 95% in the Summer term, with 99% of EAL pupils attending and 100% for Children in Care. This improvement in attendance demonstrates the senior leaders dogged determination to get pupils back into school.

The Governors take an active role in the life of the school. The Chair of Governors often attends the termly meetings led by the STSA adviser. This gives her the opportunity to seek clarification and guidance on wide ranging school improvement issues and developments. In these meetings she asks school leaders pertinent questions in her role as ‘critical friend’. As a result, through the Chair of Governors feedback reports, the Governing Body are kept fully aware of the school’s strengths and development points.

The Deputy Headteacher also currently undertakes the role of SENDCo for the school. She is highly knowledgeable and experienced in this role. She works very hard to maintain positive relationships between the school and the parents of these vulnerable pupils. Her knowledge and experience is exemplary. She swiftly acts to engage the support of a wide range of outside agencies, as and when this is needed. The STSA audit of the school’s SEND provision was highly complimentary, recognising the school’s many strengths. Also, one of the school governors used to lead the LA’s Learning Support Advisory Team. Her expertise in this field is a significant asset for the school. Due to the on-going demands of Deputy Headship the correct decision has been made to appoint a new member of staff to undertake the SENDCo role. The Headteacher is aware that this new leader will require a robust induction programme to support her transition into this role.
A LA consultant’s audit regarding the school’s provision for disadvantaged pupils judged that senior leaders had put robust and comprehensive systems and processes in place to ensure the needs of these pupils are being met well.