The school is larger than average. Pupils are mainly of White British origin with a very small number from minority ethnic backgrounds. The main other language spoken is Polish. Children's attainment on entry to the Nursery is below that normally expected for their age. A significant minority of children do not attend the schools' Nursery, but attend alternative local provision instead and enter the Foundation Stage at the start of the Reception year. Pupils come from a wide range of social backgrounds and the proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is below average. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. The school is a National Support School, Food for Life Flagship School and a Design and Technology Mark Pilot School. It has the Safer Schools Award, Healthy Schools Gold Award, Investor in People, Basic Skills Quality Mark and Activemark, Key for inspection grades Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate Inspection Report: St Peter's CofE Primary School, 27 September 2007 4 of 9 Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 1 This is an outstanding school. As one parent commented, and as reflected in comments by others, 'St Peter's is an excellent school which provides a great education for the children.' From low starting points on entry to the Nursery class, and for pupils entering the school after this, pupils reach well above average standards by Year 6 and their achievement is excellent. The school is very successful in making sure that all pupils achieve as well as they can and it is rare for pupils to make less than good achievement. Leadership and management are outstanding. The headteacher and senior staff provide exceptional direction for the school's efforts to improve and all staff take an active role in planning and implementing improvements. The school has a powerful ethos of pupils enjoying their education and wanting to do as well as they can. Governors are extremely well informed, fulfil all of their responsibilities and continually seek ways to support the school in its drive to improve. They evaluate their own performance thoroughly to improve their own effectiveness. The school is extremely well positioned to make further improvements. The quality of school self-evaluation is exceptional with all staff involved in monitoring pupils' progress and looking for reasons for even the smallest level of underperformance compared with what the school expects. For example, in the end of Year 2 national tests in 2007, some boys did not do so well in writing as the school felt they should have done. Extra support has been provided and resources and teaching approaches used to catch these pupils' interest and to motivate them. Early indications are that this is successful and that pupils' progress has picked up. In mathematics, the school perceived slightly lower standards than elsewhere so it is taking extra care to make sure that work is always challenging. This, too, is having a positive result. Teaching is excellent, with challenging lessons well matched to all pupils' needs. Classroom support staff work very closely with teachers and provide very good support focused on helping pupils achieve well. Teachers do not assume that pupils have reached their limits when they reach their targets, but provide extension work and support to help them do even better. Marking gives pupils a very clear idea of how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve their work. The school is working successfully to continually improve its already first-rate curriculum to further excite and motivate pupils.The links between subjects and the way that basic skills are woven into activities help pupils see the relevance of what they learn. A very wide range of trips and visitors adds interest for pupils and enriches the curriculum. The focus on personal, social and health education to improve pupils' feelings of self-worth is having a positive impact on pupils' self-confidence. The range of extra-curricular activities is excellent. Among other things, pupils enjoy golf, drama, country dancing, animation and table tennis. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good with some significant strengths. Pupils' behaviour and attitudes are exemplary and their attendance is good. They respect and help each other. Their knowledge and understanding of their own culture and Christianity is very good but is limited about the wide range of cultures found in Britain today. Nevertheless, they have very positive attitudes to people from different backgrounds. Pupils take responsibilities seriously. For example, the commitment of the school council to represent their friends' views accurately and of the 'playground pals' to help other pupils is impressive. Pupils have very positive views of the school. Typically they say, 'We are used to high standards here', and Inspection Report: St Peter's CofE Primary School, 27 September 2007 5 of 9 'Teachers listen to you and sort out your problems.' Pupils' preparation for future life is outstanding. Care, guidance and support are excellent. The school is safe and secure with effective procedures to ensure pupils' health and safety. The personal support and care for pupils are exceptional. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. Academic guidance is outstanding. Pupils' progress is monitored accurately and teachers use the information very effectively to set targets and to give pupils guidance. Pupils know what their targets are and how they can achieve them.