Abbeywood First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Abbeywood First School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

The headteacher of this school is Zoe Gilmour.

This school is part of Central Region School's Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Guy Shears, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Orla MacSherry.

What is it like to attend this school?

Abbeywood First School is ambitious for its pupils.

The school's work to improve pupils' attendance rates is tenacious. Typically, pupils attend school regularly and on time. Pupils enjoy school.
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They achieve well, particularly in reading and mathematics.

The school sets high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Pupils know and understand the school's rules.

These are applied consistently by staff. Classrooms are calm, orderly places. Pupils settle quickly to learning tasks.

At social times, pupils enjoy spending time with friends. Pupil sports leaders are on hand to encourage games, support friendships and ensure social times run smoothly. Incidents of poor behaviour are rare.

Pupils know there are trusted adults in school who listen to, and act on, any worries or concerns pupils have. Pupils are safe.

The school's impressive 'enrichment guarantee' broadens pupils' horizons.

Be it sport, culture or the arts, there is something for everyone. Ballet and opera workshops, museum or art gallery visits and karate or self-defence clubs all fascinate pupils. Visiting cricket or football coaches and watching live sports or theatre events inspire and encourage new interests.

Pupils celebrate their achievements proudly during poetry recitals, the annual 'colour wars', dance and music concerts.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum where 'everything is possible'. The knowledge, attributes, skills and experiences pupils need for future success are sequenced clearly, starting in the early years.

Learning builds over time towards clear endpoints. Knowledgeable teachers think carefully about the best way to describe new information. This means their explanations are succinct and easy for pupils to understand.

The school's 'connect, inform, explore, apply' approach helps pupils recall and build successfully on their prior learning. Recent improvements to checks on how well pupils learn the curriculum over time provide useful information for teachers and subject leaders. However, this information is not used consistently well to plan the next steps or identify gaps in knowledge in some aspects of the curriculum.

Early reading is prioritised. Skilled staff support pupils to apply their phonics knowledge when reading books that match the sounds they learn. Pupils read and are read to regularly in school.

Pupils who fall behind in their reading are identified quickly. They receive effective support to catch up rapidly in their reading. Pupils learn to read with the fluency and accuracy expected for their age.

Children in the early years get off to a great start. Language and communication are prioritised. Children enjoy practising their early number skills when building with blocks or counting with staff.

They learn to share and take turns. Across the school, pupils persevere on tasks and use a variety of strategies to help them work independently. They work hard in lessons and want to do well.

Pupils say when they find work difficult, 'Teachers help us figure it out.' This helps pupils to learn from their mistakes. At times, staff's checks on how well pupils learn in lessons lack precision.

Errors sometimes go unchecked, or pupils are not supported to move on and deepen their learning. This hampers their readiness to learn and apply new knowledge.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified swiftly right from the start in Nursery.

The school ensures that teachers have the expertise to adapt their teaching so these pupils can learn the curriculum successfully. In addition, support from external agencies, resources or extra adult support are utilised effectively for those pupils who need it. Pupils with SEND are supported well to be successful in school.

Pupils learn about right and wrong through the clear school rules. Staff apply these rules consistently so pupils know they should keep their hands and feet to themselves, use kind words and respect equipment. The school has established an open culture so pupils know how to raise concerns when working on and offline.

Local police workshops help pupils deepen their awareness of safety when out and about. An effective focus on personal development means pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of healthy and safe relationships. They learn about different religions such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity in great depth.

They know the importance of festivals and symbols to these faiths. This helps them to respect difference. In all, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

The trust, trustees and leaders are diligent and passionate that all pupils are successful during their time at Abbeywood. The trust has provided highly effective support to the school to navigate unforeseen challenges in recent years. The right priorities are identified.

Improvements are rapid. Rightly, teachers are highly positive about the support from leaders to manage their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is variability in how teachers use assessment to plan the next steps in pupils' learning over time. At times, pupils do not achieve the aims of the school's ambitious curriculum because some teachers do not know how to use this information to identify gaps or plan for the next steps in learning. The school should ensure that assessment information is used effectively to plan the next steps so pupils learn and remember more of the school's ambitious curriculum.

• At times, there are inconsistencies in how well staff check that pupils are learning in lessons. This means that errors go unchecked or pupils are not supported to move on and extend their learning. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to make precise checks on learning, addressing any misunderstandings and helping pupils move on in their learning.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2020.

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