Alwoodley Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

A warm, caring and nurturing staff team welcome pupils, parents and visitors to Alwoodley. There are high expectations for all, including the school leaders themselves, the staff and pupils. As a result, pupils display consistently exemplary behaviour in lessons and at playtime.

Pupils love the recently introduced outdoor play and learning activities at lunchtime. Pupils recognise that the stimulating and engaging equipment improves their cooperation and communication skills.

Pupils have impressively positive attitudes to their learning from the early years to Year 6.

Nursery children follow the school's routines. They know how to be kind to each other, to sh...are and to care for resources. This lays the foundations for the exceptional behaviour and attitudes across the rest of the school.

The school has created a customised personal development offer for pupils based on evidence gathered from its school surveys. For example, the school's 'habits of mind' programme develops character traits, such as resilience, perseverance and self-belief. Supplementing this are activities assigned to each year group, intrinsically linked to developing pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural appreciation.

Pupils' knowledge and understanding of fundamental British values, equality and diversity are outstanding. They recall assemblies inspired by books that explore themes such as racism. One pupil said, 'No matter where you come from, you are always special and everyone is welcome.'



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

The school's value of 'learning together, growing stronger' underpins its curriculum. There are also three golden threads: cognitive education, a love of reading and personal development. The school references these consistently in lessons.

Following a change in leadership, the school has reviewed some aspects of its curriculum. Staff receive high-quality, focused professional development to enable them to understand the curriculum rationale. Subject leaders are knowledgeable and have the expertise to ensure that their subjects continue to rapidly improve.

The school has prioritised ensuring all subjects are well planned and sequenced. Some subjects, such as geography, are ambitious, with an established curriculum structure, while others, such as history and art and design, are being refined. The school recognises that the next action is to develop how it checks pupils' learning in some developing subjects.

The school has prioritised early reading. The school has a dedicated story time each day for all classes. Adults select books from the 'diet of reading' curriculum created by the school.

These are books that feature a range of genres, authors and topics.The school began using a new phonics programme in April 2023, with the Reception cohort. This academic year, it is being used across the whole school.

Some pupils, who are not keeping up with the programme, have phonics lessons in a small group, coupled with additional catch-up sessions. As a result, pupils use their phonics knowledge well to read unfamiliar words.

Mathematics books are well presented and show a clear, age-appropriate progression of skills.

Adults identify gaps and misconceptions in pupils' mathematical knowledge swiftly. They address these through their daily mathematics warm-up. Pupils are clear about how previous learning is helping them with their current lessons.

This contributed to the positive mathematics outcomes in 2023 at the end of key stage 2, which are higher than the national average.

The school recognises, and has addressed, the changing needs of the school's population. This includes an increased number of pupils with significant special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Where possible, pupils access the same curriculum as their peers, with support or adaptations. This enables pupils to make progress across all subjects. The school has developed a small play-based provision tailored to meet individual learning needs, primarily for those who require support for social, emotional and mental health.

The positive impact of this provision on pupils' engagement, confidence and willingness to interact is evident.

The design and implementation of the curriculum in early years are exceptional. There is a consistent approach to when and why practitioners intervene in children's play to enrich their learning.

The indoor and outdoor learning environments support and enhance the curriculum, with a wide range of opportunities for children to apply the skills they have been taught. Consequently, children are deeply engaged and show sustained concentration.

There is a whole-school approach to teaching pupils about healthy relationships and consent.

This is progressive from Nursery to Year 6. The school holds annual parent workshops to share information about the content of these sessions. Pupils value the opportunity to share in confidence any worries via the 'I wish my teacher knew' box.

Pupils take on a variety of roles, in which they contribute positively to the life of the school. For example, the communications (comms) ambassadors check the suggestion boxes that promote pupil voice. They use this information to shape further school improvement.

Leaders at all levels share the school's highly ambitious vision for excellence. The school's governors are knowledgeable. They recognise that the decisive actions of school leaders ensure that the curriculum continues to evolve and improve.

They are proud of the school's inclusivity. Consequently, pupils thrive at Alwoodley.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The system for checking pupils' progress and understanding across some subjects needs further development. This means the school does not have specific information in some subjects on pupils' progress. The school should ensure the procedures are fit for purpose and consistently applied.

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