All Saints Maldon Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

All Saints Maldon Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love attending school. The school is a happy and safe place for pupils to make friends and be themselves.

Pupils respect how some people are different from them. They support each other through 'mental health champions' and kindness on the playground. Bullying is exceptionally rare.

If any problems arise, staff quickly resolve them through mediation and support and stop them from happening again.

Pupils expect each other to behave well. They enjoy the positive rewards for doing the right thing.

It is not ofte...n that poor behaviour disrupts lessons. Pupils quickly correct their behaviour and follow adults' instructions. Pupils, and children in early years, behave well.

Pupils are interested by the school's curriculum. 'Hooks' draw pupils into the learning. Pupils say that 'learning is fun'.

They talk with excitement about their lessons and the trips that link to the topics they are studying.

A wide range of experiences compliment the school's curriculum and allow 'every child to shine'. Pupils embrace opportunities like being part of the many musical clubs, raising money for charity, and intergenerational work such as the 'Maldon Up' project.

Older pupils are excellent role models for young children. The school's personal, social, health, economic (PSHE) programme and values curriculum effectively support pupils to be happy, confident learners.

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

The school's 'shine' curriculum is well designed.

The topic-based approach starts in Reception. Each topic links clearly to the full range of national curriculum subjects. Curriculum leaders have considered carefully the order in which key knowledge should be taught.

In each topic, and for each subject, detailed plans show teachers what to teach and when. Curriculum plans help teachers check what pupils know and can do. Teachers spot quickly if a pupil is falling behind or has an error in their understanding.

Teachers put help in place to support pupils to catch up.

Teachers have good subject knowledge. They make lessons engaging and memorable.

As a result, pupils build their knowledge of each subject over time. For instance, in art, pupils build secure art knowledge so that by the time they are in Year 6 they produce high quality pieces of work. In mathematics, children learn number facts well in Reception and go on to become confident mathematicians.

Pupils achieve well.

Teachers make effective changes to lessons to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Clear support plans outline strategies to meet pupils' needs.

Teachers use this information effectively so that all pupils with SEND access an ambitious curriculum and learn as well as their friends.

Reading is fundamental to the school's curriculum. Each topic is enriched with books from a variety of interesting authors and genres.

Children and pupils enjoy reading and being read to. The school has recently changed its approach to teaching pupils to read. The new scheme starts early in Reception where children explore books with staff and quickly learn their letters and sounds.

Books that help pupils to read are closely matched to pupils' reading knowledge. Staff normally support the weakest readers well. A small minority of staff are not fully au fait with the new scheme and do not support pupils' reading quite as well as the great majority of staff.

The school's 'life skills' and PSHE programme appropriately supports and underpins leaders' drive to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. Careful thought has gone into planning systematically how the school's '12 values' are embedded through the curriculum and through wider experiences. Consequently, pupils are confident, independent learners who have a good understanding about important topics such as how to keep healthy or how to be a good friend.

Staff use a fair and consistent approach to dealing with pupils' behaviour if it falls short of leaders' high expectations. A highly positive approach ensures that pupils are rewarded and celebrated for doing the right thing. Effective pastoral support and care is in place for pupils who need it.

As a result, the school is calm and purposeful.

Leaders expect the very best from staff as well as pupils. A range of training opportunities and support help staff in their roles.

Any changes to the school are purposeful and designed to not negatively affect staff workload. Governors monitor closely the work of leaders to ensure that staff wellbeing is maintained. Parents and staff are overwhelmingly positive about how the school is led.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff, across the school, know how to spot if a pupil is at risk of harm. Staff use the clear system to report concerns to the safeguarding team.

Concerns are followed up quickly and referred appropriately to external agencies. Leaders ensure that pupils and their families get the right help at the right time.

As a result of high-quality teaching, pupils know clearly about risks to themselves and how to keep safe from harm.

They trust adults in the school to look after them.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's chosen phonics scheme is new to staff and pupils. A small number of staff are still learning its processes and how to implement the phonics scheme consistently well.

Some pupils are not getting consistent support with their phonics knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that all staff have the right knowledge and training so that the scheme is always well used.

Background

When we have judged good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged school to be good in November 2012.

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