Upton St James CofE Primary School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Primary
PUPILS
95
AGES
4 - 11
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Academy converter
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
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This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils National School Census Data, ONS
01803 208908

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the last School Census collected by the Department for Education. It is a visualisation of where pupils lived at the time of the annual School Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The criteria in which schools use to allocate places in the event that they are oversubscribed can and do vary between schools and over time. These criteria can include distance from the school and sometimes specific catchment areas but can also include, amongst others, priority for siblings, children of a particular faith or specific feeder schools. Living in an area where children have previously attended a school does not guarantee admission to the school in future years. Always check with the school’s own admission authority for the current admission arrangements.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(15/02/2019)
Full Report - All Reports
33%
NATIONAL AVG. 60%
% pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics



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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)
St James Road
Upton
Torquay
TQ1 4AZ
01803328286

School Description

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your unwavering dedication, promoted through your vision of ‘every child an able child’, is impressive. You are ambitious on behalf of all pupils and do not tolerate excuses or allow complacency in the school’s work. As a result, staff and pupils share a common understanding of the school’s aims and ethos. Pupils are enabled to achieve well. They are academically, socially and emotionally well prepared for the next stage in their education. You ensure that teachers have a good understanding of the needs of each pupil. Consequently, teachers implement well-planned sequences of work to improve pupils’ skills and deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Lessons are exciting. These challenge pupils to think and reason through a range of different activities. For example, during the inspection, pupils in Years 5 and 6 were hiding under their tables, imagining what it would have been like during the Blitz. Teachers provide contexts to support pupils’ emotional development and understanding. This, in turn, enables pupils to present high-quality work with meaning and intent as authors or composers. Parents also recognise the strengths of the school. In fact, 100% of parents who responded to Parent View would recommend Upton St James. Comments on the free-text survey for the inspection included, ‘My son is happy at the school and is learning something new every day’ and ‘This is a fantastic school. My child has excelled after moving here…’. Since the previous inspection you have improved the school’s tracking and monitoring systems. Your tracking of pupils is rigorous and accurate. This enables you to hold teachers closely to account and improve the quality of teaching, including to raise standards for the most able pupils. However, the phonics strategy does not yet give the best possible start for all pupils with their early reading development, especially the disadvantaged and lower-attaining pupils. Furthermore, some inconsistencies in the quality of provision in the early years prevent children from being fully stretched and challenged when applying their learning through play and independently, including the most able. You are currently trialling ideas to investigate or consider how to ensure the best approach to benefit the children. Safeguarding is effective. You are tenacious and uncompromising in keeping pupils safe. This is seen, for example, in how you challenge external agencies and hold them to account. You work effectively with others and respond quickly when pupils need it. Your diligence, together with strong safeguarding arrangements, including appropriate training, ensure that staff are also assiduous and dedicated in looking after pupils. Pupils say that they feel safe and trust school staff. They know what bullying is and report that this is very rare in the school. Through the online survey and in discussions with me, pupils said that teachers listen to them and do not accept bullying or behaviour which is derogatory to others. Pupils also know how to stay safe in different situations, including online, and how to evacuate the school safely. In addition, pupils understand how they can be proactive in helping each other. There are enthusiastic ambassadors, such as school councillors, eco-warriors and digital leaders, who contribute towards the safe and effective running of the school. Pupils understand the school ‘charter’ which sets out children’s rights but also their responsibilities towards each other. Inspection findings Due to very strong outcomes achieved by pupils in consecutive years, including in reading and mathematics, I examined the quality of writing with a focus on the most able boys. This confirmed that teachers have high expectations of all pupils. However, the proportion of boys reaching the highest standards remains a comparative weakness and, therefore, is a continuing challenge for leaders. A scrutiny of pupils’ writing showed that pupils are motivated and enjoy writing. In particular, they are keen to experiment with adventurous word choices, vocabulary and ideas to hold the reader’s attention. Boys are also experimenting in this way, building suspense and adding sophistication through different writing styles and strategies. The most able pupils also write at length for different reasons and in a range of genres, including fiction, narratives and non-fiction. However, at times, weaknesses in basic punctuation prevent pupils from being able to express their ideas fluently, which detracts from the overall effectiveness of the writing and their ability to write at greater depth. The school has a synthetic phonics programme in place. This is introduced from the start of school and continues into key stage 1. The results in the Year 1 phonics screening check show steady improvement, and in 2018 the school’s results were marginally above the national average. Leaders and teachers show an understanding of the significance of this in promoting early reading and writing. Furthermore, as a team (including governors and trust leaders), you recognise that this is an area that still needs strengthening. As such, you have set about improving phonics through a designated plan of action that corresponds with the school development plan. However, key aspects of the phonics strategy have become confused over time. This is seen in inconsistencies being taught in lessons, such as when adults mispronounce phonemes (sounds) or mix the teaching of phonemes with syllables. Consequently, pupils are not consistently acquiring the right skills and knowledge to help them with their early reading development, especially lowerachieving and disadvantaged pupils who need to catch up quickly. Furthermore, leaders and teachers do not have a strong enough understanding of the core principles of progression in phonics, or the steps for children to learn these. This further undermines some practice. For example, book boxes where pupils go to select books, have different schemes, with too much variation and a misguided sense of phonics progression. This means vulnerable pupils, including those who are behind and need to catch up, are not consistently reading the right books with the appropriate level of challenge. Teachers’ use of assessment information in phonics is too variable. For example, teachers identify which pupils need further support and provide additional or different support accordingly. However, the next steps for these pupils are not consistently well sequenced to ensure that some pupils can catch up quickly. I also evaluated the effectiveness of provision and the quality of education in the early years, particularly for girls. The learning environment is lively with an appropriate range of activities so that all children feel encouraged and supported to learn through different activities and areas. As a result, children have freedom to make their own decisions and use their independence to integrate well. Children work well together, offering help to solve problems or complete tasks. Teachers and other adults work hard to establish an environment where the children feel valued and are happy working both inside and out. Teachers’ assessments are accurate and used well to guide teaching and learning for the children. However, the range and quality of the activities provided in Reception are not consistently good enough to stretch the children when they are working independently, particularly the most able in reaching the highest standards in reading, writing and numbers. Leaders’ intentions or expectations of the different activities and areas of learning in the environment are not well enough defined or understood. This means, at times, children are not challenged as well as they could be.

Upton St James CofE Primary School Parent Reviews



unlock % Parents Recommend This School
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>64, "agree"=>29, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>71, "agree"=>21, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>71, "agree"=>21, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>64, "agree"=>29, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>79, "agree"=>14, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>50, "agree"=>29, "disagree"=>21, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>36, "agree"=>50, "disagree"=>7, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>43, "agree"=>14, "disagree"=>7, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>29} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>71, "agree"=>14, "disagree"=>7, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>57, "agree"=>36, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>50, "agree"=>43, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>7, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019
Yes No {"yes"=>86, "no"=>14} UNLOCK Figures based on 14 responses up to 06-03-2019

Responses taken from Ofsted Parent View

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