Ambleside CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this small school with a big heart. The school's values of, for example, friendship and forgiveness underpin the positive relationships that pupils have with each other. Pupils are happy.

They feel cared for and safe.

The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils achieve well in most subjects. However, pupils have gaps in their knowledge in some subjects. This means that their achievement is uneven overall.

Pupils behave well in lessons and at playtimes. They are thoughtful and well mannered. Pupils delight in the array of rewards t...hat they receive for behaving well and working hard.

Pupils excel in their various roles and responsibilities. These include acting as school councillors, litter pickers and library monitors. Pupils make a tangible contribution to school life through these roles.

Pupils value the opportunities on offer beyond the academic curriculum. They take part in outdoor activities that help them to learn more about the natural world. For example, pupils enjoy learning in the school woodland area.

This helps them to develop resilience and teamworking skills. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about making campfires and camping in the school grounds.

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

The school has recently taken decisive action to review and revise its curriculum.

In most subjects, the school has thought carefully about the important knowledge that it wants pupils to learn over time so that they know more and remember more. Staff have benefited from curriculum training in recent times. Overall, they choose appropriate resources, activities and questions to help pupils learn.

However, a number of the school's changes to the curriculum are very new. Some changes are too recent to have had an impact on pupils' achievement.

In a few subjects, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge as a result of weaknesses in the previous curriculum.

The school has not put strategies in place to help staff to check what these pupils remember from previous learning. Some pupils, including pupils with SEND, experience learning that does not build on what they know or address the gaps in knowledge that they have. This means that over time, in some subjects, pupils' learning is insecure.

Children in the early years benefit from a well-thought-out curriculum. For the most part, the curriculum identifies the key knowledge that children in the Nursery and Reception classes should learn and the order in which content should be taught. Staff in the early years deliver the curriculum effectively.

They use their in-depth knowledge of how children develop to design learning activities suited to children's needs and interests. Typically, children are well prepared for key stage 1.

The school has prioritised the teaching of reading from the early years to Year 6.

Pupils relish reading the range of books that are available from the well-stocked libraries. They enjoy listening to adults enthusiastically read carefully chosen books to them at story times. Overall, children in the Reception class and pupils in key stage 1 gain a secure knowledge of phonics.

That said, a small number of staff are still developing their expertise in how to deliver the early reading and phonics curriculum. On occasion, the phonics curriculum is not delivered as intended. This holds back some pupils in becoming fluent readers as quickly as they should.

The school has recently devised approaches for checking and evaluating the delivery of the curriculum. However, this work is in its infancy, and there remains some variability in how well the curriculum is implemented. On occasion, the curriculum is not delivered as intended, and pupils' learning is hindered.

Pupils with SEND are fully included in the life of the school. There are effective systems in place to identify pupils' additional needs. The school ensures that pupils with SEND receive the support that they need to access the same curriculum as their peers.

Pupils behave sensibly in lessons. Low-level disruption is rare. Pupils recognise that rules are there to help them to learn and to keep them safe.

Most pupils, including children in the early years, have positive attitudes to learning. Pupils are keen to learn, and they work well together. Most pupils attend school regularly.

The school provides a wide range of opportunities to extend pupils' learning beyond their immediate environment. The school organises a range of trips and visiting speakers to help pupils to better understand the wider world. There are many opportunities for pupils to learn how to stay safe and to protect their well-being.

Pupils learn about the differences between people, including different families and religions. Pupils benefit from opportunities to develop their talents and interests through clubs such as photography and singing.

Members of the board of trustees and of the local governing body are beginning to improve their oversight of the school's work.

They have more accurate information about the curriculum and how well pupils achieve than previously. However, some of these improvements to governance are at an early stage. Trustees and governors offer an insufficient level of challenge to support the school to improve the quality of education.

Many changes have taken place since the previous inspection. However, the school pays close regard to the impact of these changes on staff's workload and well-being. The school considers how best to implement new initiatives without overburdening staff.

Most staff feel valued and supported in their roles.

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, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge due to weaknesses in the previous curriculum.

This makes it difficult for them to make connections when they learn new content. The school should ensure that teachers are suitably equipped to use assessment strategies with confidence and accuracy, ensuring that gaps in pupils' learning are identified and tackled quickly. ? In some subjects, the school is not effective at evaluating the delivery and impact of the curriculum.

This means that some weaknesses are not identified and acted on in a timely manner. In turn, this hinders pupils' achievement in these subjects. The school should ensure that it gathers and evaluates monitoring information effectively so that it can quickly address any shortcomings in the implementation of subject curriculums.

• A small number of staff do not deliver the school's phonics programme well enough. This hinders how well some pupils learn to read. The school should ensure that all staff are trained to deliver the programme effectively so that pupils learn to read confidently and fluently.

• Those responsible for governance do not have a sufficient depth of understanding of the quality of education that pupils receive. Over time, they have not challenged the school sufficiently well about pupils' learning. Trustees and governors should ensure that they gain a clear oversight of the effectiveness of the quality of education and hold the school to account for its actions to bring about improvement.

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