St Mark's CofE Primary School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Primary
PUPILS
459
AGES
3 - 11
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Academy converter
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
unlock
UNLOCK

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(14/03/2017)
Full Report - All Reports
22%
NATIONAL AVG. 60%
% pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics



Unlock The Rest Of The Data Now
We've Helped 20 Million Parents
  • See All Official School Data
  • View Catchment Area Maps
  • Access 2024 League Tables
  • Read Real Parent Reviews
  • Unlock 2024 Star Ratings
  • Easily Choose Your #1 School
£19.95
Per month

Progress Compared With All Other Schools

UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 8% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 11% of schools in England) Average (About 59% of schools in England) Above Average (About 11% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England)
Wood Terrace
Shelton
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 4LR
01782234411

School Description

Leaders have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has continued to improve because of your strong leadership and drive for excellence. All staff who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire said they were proud to be part of St Mark’s Church of England (A) Primary. They all agree that the school is well led and managed and they are well cared for and supported to be successful in meeting pupils’ needs. You successfully address the challenges the school faces, including the frequent movement of pupils in and out of the school at different times of the school year because of their particular circumstances. The needs of pupils, however complex, are understood and learning is planned assiduously so that pupils make good rates of progress from their starting points whatever needs or vulnerabilities they may have. Pupils, parents and staff commented that the school is the centre of the community. One parent stated that St Mark’s was ‘like a family because they welcome everyone and make a place for them regardless of who they are or where they came from.’ Pupils behave well in lessons, at breaktimes and around school during unstructured times. In lessons pupils work well together, supporting and challenging each other to reflect on and improve their work. For example, work in pupils’ books from Year 3 to Year 6 clearly demonstrates that pupils frequently work with their peers to evaluate and improve their writing. In the Reception classes, pupils help each other to use their well-developed phonic knowledge to spell words such as ‘yellow’ to help their classmates describe a minibeast in their writing activity. At breaktimes pupils wait patiently to take turns on play equipment and help each other on and off apparatus. During my visit, I noted that pupils were consistently courteous and wellmannered to each other and adults. Pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare are a strength of the school because of the high priority that leaders place on this aspect of the school’s work. Pupils contribute well to the life of the school through roles such as the school council. For example, the school council recently suggested zoning the playground so that pupils could use the space safely to engage in a range of purposeful play activities. You have ensured that the areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been fully addressed. There is a systematic approach to developing the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to help pupils become fluent writers. This approach effectively blends the use of phonics skills to develop more formal spelling with grammar and punctuation strategies that are enabling pupils to write for a wide range of purposes with increasing complexity. There is clear progression in writing from pupils’ starting points across all year groups and for all groups of pupils, including those newly arrived from overseas. Almost all year groups and groups of pupils are making good rates of progress from their starting points. However, while you have begun to develop reasoning and logic connected with problem-solving in mathematics, these aspects of mathematics are still in the early stages of development. Although governance is strong, governors are not always provided with clear-cut information that would help them to monitor school improvement. Safeguarding is effective. You have ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding across all aspects of the school’s work. You have ensured that safeguarding procedures are fit for purpose, and that records are detailed and of a high quality. The school is a safe environment for pupils because pupil welfare is at the forefront of all the school does. You have ensured that training for all staff is regular and appropriate for the needs of the school and its context. You have tailored training to ensure that staff have knowledge and understanding of risks, such as domestic violence and radicalisation, and what they should do if they have concerns. You, your governors and staff have a good understanding of the specific safeguarding concerns that relate to the context of the school and are alert to issues including the risks of children going missing from education. Designated safeguarding leads ensure that, where a response or action is required from outside agencies, they vigorously challenge them to act in the best interests of the pupils. Inspection findings Pupil mobility is high and, as a result, the make-up of the school population is rapidly changing. The school has welcomed refugees and asylum seekers from a wide range of countries, the majority of whom have little if any spoken English. Additionally, the school also caters for a significant number of more local pupils whose circumstances have led to them changing schools frequently. The school commits significant resources to support the needs of all pupils who have recently joined the school. This includes having effective systems to assess the needs of newly arrived pupils and appropriate support to enable pupils to settle quickly and begin to acquire language skills, such as in the non-threatening and supportive environment known as the ‘Sunbeam’ group. However, after making a good start many pupils move on before the school’s efforts can come to fruition and the good progress they make during their time in this school is not always fully reflected in end-of-key-stage data. For example, less than half of the current Year 6 have completed the whole of their key stage 2 in the school. Pupils’ progress is checked rigorously so that leaders can analyse where staff are having the most impact and where further improvements can be made. The school can demonstrate good rates of progress for almost all current pupils from their starting points across reading, writing and mathematics. You and your leaders keep a close watch on the progress all groups of pupils make and you intervene quickly to ensure that pupils receive timely support so they stay on track or catch up swiftly. Staff respond quickly to rectify misconceptions and, as a result, pupils make good progress within lessons and over time. You use interventions flexibly to ensure that the right level, duration and type of support is available to meet the different needs of pupils’ circumstances. You have ample evidence in school to demonstrate clearly how well the stable population in the school makes good progress in reading. You and your leadership team have implemented effective strategies to intervene and support all pupils, through both whole-school approaches to reading and additional interventions from an extensive range of resources. You are keenly aware of the need to ensure that all pupils’ outcomes are strong across all areas of the curriculum and that reading is the key to pupils accessing the broad and balanced curriculum that you have developed. This is especially true for pupils with low and middle prior attainment. Pupils entitled to the pupil premium make good progress in reading and writing from their starting points. The focus on developing early reading skills, including phonics, is a strength of the school. Pupils demonstrate how they not only use their phonics skills effectively in reading to sound out unknown words but also to support the spelling of words in their writing. Recent improvements in mathematics provision, including the introduction of a new scheme of work, are contributing to improving pupils’ fluency in mathematics. This is because teaching is more effectively and systematically building on pupil’s prior learning in number. However, pupils’ ability to apply and reason logically in mathematics is underdeveloped and as a result pupils are not developing sufficient depth in their learning. This is slowing the progress for some pupils, especially those groups of pupils with lower and middle prior attainment.

St Mark's CofE Primary School Parent Reviews



Your rating:
Review guidelines
  • Do explain who you are and your relationship to the school e.g. ‘I am a parent…’
  • Do back up your opinion with examples or clear reasons but, remember, it’s your opinion not fact.
  • Don’t use bad or aggressive language.
  • Don't go in to detail about specific staff or pupils. Individual complaints should be directed to the school.
  • Do go to the relevant authority is you have concerns about a serious issue such as bullying, drug abuse or bad management.
Read the full review guidelines and where to find help if you have serious concerns about a school.
We respect your privacy and never share your email address with the reviewed school or any third parties. Please see our T&Cs and Privacy Policy for details of how we treat registered emails with TLC.


News, Photos and Open Days from St Mark's CofE Primary School

We are waiting for this school to upload information. Represent this school?
Register your details to add open days, photos and news.

Do you represent
St Mark's CofE Primary School?

Register to add photos, news and download your Certificate of Excellence 2023/24

*Official school administrator email addresses

(eg [email protected]). Details will be verified.

Questions? Email [email protected]

We're here to help your school to add information for parents.

Thank you for registering your details

A member of the School Guide team will verify your details within 2 working days and provide further detailed instructions for setting up your School Noticeboard.

For any questions please email [email protected]

St Mark's CofE Primary School Catchment Area Map

This school is an academy and does not conform to the general school admission criteria set down by the Local Education Authority.