Acres Hill Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school and happy to attend.

Pupils say, rightly, that their school is an inclusive place to be. The majority of pupils hold the 'Acres attributes' of care, collaboration, creativity, resilience, respect and reflection in high regard. Pupils like the stickers they get from adults when they demonstrate these values in their work and behaviour.

However, on occasion, the behaviour of some pupils in lessons is not well managed. This can disrupt the learning of others.

The school is an important part of the local community.

Building positive relationships with parents and carers is a high priority for the school. Events, such as f...amily breakfasts and the community fair, help to bring parents into the school. Pupils enjoy the wide range of experiences the school offers them.

Visits to venues such as galleries and cinemas help to give pupils a wider view of the world beyond their local community.

The school is developing the curriculum to ensure that the quality of education that pupils receive improves. The school has high expectations for all pupils' achievement, but these are not currently realised at the end of key stage 2.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has made considerable changes to the curriculum. In some subjects, it has carefully identified the skills and knowledge that pupils should learn. However, in some subjects this work it is not complete.

Where this is the case, it hinders staff from setting learning activities that emphasise the essential knowledge and skills pupils should remember, and pupils' understanding does not deepen over time.

Reading is a high priority for the school. The phonics programme starts in the early years.

Parents are regularly involved in reading stories to the Reception children. Guest readers share books regularly, and this helps to foster children's interests in texts from an early age. The number of pupils who can read with fluency by the end of key stage 1 is increasing.

Pupils who struggle with their reading get the extra help they need to catch up. However, this work has not had time to have an impact on published outcomes in reading for older pupils.

Leaders have created a curriculum that provides plentiful opportunities to develop children's speech and language skills.

They are mindful that many children arrive with gaps in these areas. The early years curriculum sets high expectations for what children can achieve. Leaders make regular checks on children's learning so that they can support them to stay on track.

High-quality interactions with adults help children to develop their speech and language effectively. In Reception, children learn as they play together in a well-resourced classroom. Adults encourage children's curiosity and learning through the questions they ask them.

Outside, adults support children to practise their phonics and help them write letters on large chalkboards. Children are increasingly well prepared for key stage 1.

Pupils with the highest levels of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported exceptionally well in the integrated resource, known as 'The Pride'.

Activities and resources are carefully chosen to create a purposeful learning environment. For other pupils with SEND in the school, the support they receive is inconsistent. Curriculum adaptations do not consistently match with what these pupils need to learn next.

As a result, the work that some pupils with SEND complete can be too easy or too hard. The progress that these pupils make through the curriculum is inconsistent across different subjects.

Pupils are enthusiastic about the school's behaviour system.

They value the time that staff take to talk with them about their problems. Pupils know this helps to resolve arguments. However, this behaviour system is not implemented consistently during lesson time.

The school's high expectations of pupils' behaviour are not universally applied. As a result, pupils' learning is too often interrupted by low-level disruption during lessons.

The school ensures that pupils benefit from a wide range of broader curriculum experiences.

Staff provide pupils with the opportunities to raise money for their democratically chosen charities. The school council representatives are proud of the contribution they make to their school. Pupils understand the importance of equality and respecting diversity.

Pupils know that discriminating on grounds of race or religious beliefs is wrong. For instance, through their studies during Black History Month, pupils learned about historically significant figures, such as Rosa Parks. Older pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships.

The school has managed the high number of staff changes sensitively. The majority of staff are happy to work at this school. They report that leaders consider their workload and well-being.

Staff are consulted on curriculum changes before they are made. This helps different views and workload implications to be considered.

Those with responsibility for governance know the school well and check the impact of leaders' work.

The trust has an accurate view of the school's performance and is fully committed to improving the quality of education that the school provides for its pupils. The trust is providing additional, targeted support for the school to help bring about the necessary changes.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the key knowledge that pupils should learn is not clearly identified. As a result, learning activities do not focus on important knowledge, leading to gaps in pupils' understanding. The school should ensure that the curriculum identifies and addresses the key knowledge and skills pupils should learn across all subjects so that they remember more of what they have been taught.

• The curriculum adaptations for some pupils with SEND do not consistently match what these pupils need to learn next. This means that the tasks some pupils complete can be too difficult or too easy. The school should ensure that the curriculum adaptations and adjustments that they make help pupils with SEND to make better progress through the curriculum.

• The school's high expectations and approach to managing pupils' behaviour are inconsistently applied. This results in learning being disrupted for some pupils during lessons. The school should ensure that all staff are supported to implement its approach to managing pupils' behaviour consistently well so that low-level disruption in classes is reduced.