Anfield Road Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this calm and nurturing school. There is a warm welcome waiting for pupils each morning.

The large group of pupils who join the school from overseas are supported well to quickly feel included as part of the school community. Pupils are proud of their school.

Pupils conduct themselves well.

From the time that they start in the early years, children quickly learn routines and settle well to school life. They are keen to please and they meet the high standards that the school sets for their behaviour.

Pupils are starting to realise the expectations that are set for their learning in subjects across the curriculum.

Following... some very low results at the end of key stage 2 in 2023, improvements are ensuring that all pupils are currently achieving better standards in their work. However, the way in which language is promoted across the early years is too varied in its effectiveness.

Pupils benefit from a range of additional activities to develop their talents and interests, including clubs for boxing, jewellery making and football.

Older pupils take on leadership roles, such as being a school councillor or language ambassador. This develops their confidence and adds to the sense of community in the school.

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

Despite low published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2023, the school has made considerable improvements to the current curriculum.

In most subjects, key learning is clearly defined so that teachers can focus on the most important knowledge that pupils need to remember. Teachers are skilled at questioning to help pupils build on their prior learning. As a result, pupils recall key knowledge well in these subjects.

However, a small number of subjects are at an earlier stage of development than others. This is also true of the curriculum in the early years. In these areas, some gaps in pupils' understanding are not identified well enough.

This is because arrangements to check pupils' knowledge are not as effective as in other subjects.

Staff have received training in phonics to deliver a consistent and effective curriculum. Despite this, there is a lack of consistency in how well the school's curriculum develops children's early language and communication skills in the Nursery Year, including for two-year-olds.

Children with the most language needs are not able to communicate with their peers as well as they should. In the Reception Year, this is more successful as children build a secure knowledge of letters and the sounds that they make. In key stage 1, pupils apply these skills to read sentences accurately by sounding out any unfamiliar words.

There is effective support for pupils who need to catch up with the intended curriculum. There is also strong provision to support pupils who start at the school speaking little or no English.

The school has clear arrangements to identify any additional needs that pupils may have.

This includes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff ensure that there are appropriate adaptations in place to help pupils access learning well.

Pupils behave sensibly in school.

There are no disruptions to learning. Pupils are supportive of each other and learn well together. They are polite and respectful towards one another.

Although persistent absence remains high for some pupils, the school understands the reasons behind these absences, and it does all it can to make sure pupils attend school as regularly as possible. The school's imaginative new approach of 'making school unmissable' is having a direct impact on ensuring better attendance.

The new personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum is setting even higher expectations for pupils' personal development.

Pupils have a strong understanding of how to support others and how everyone should be treated equally. Pupils have opportunities to engage in interesting debates. They learn to be healthy and to understand what makes a healthy relationship.

Governors are well informed about the school. They understand how the school has taken steps in recent years to build sustainable improvements to the curriculum and to pupils' attendance. These steps are starting to bear fruit.

However, governors do not question the effectiveness of the use of the pupil premium funding well enough. They are not fully assured that this funding is having the best possible impact on disadvantaged pupils.

Staff feel well supported by the school.

They have been provided with a range of professional development as well as additional time to carry out their curriculum responsibilities. This helps to ease their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, including in the early years, the arrangements to assess pupils' knowledge are not as strong as in other subjects. This means that staff do not understand where there are gaps in pupils' learning. The school should ensure that the gaps in pupils' knowledge are assessed against the intended curriculum and addressed effectively.

• In the Nursery Year, some children in the early stages of language acquisition do not have enough opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. These children are not learning to interact well enough with one another. The school should ensure pupils are taught to use a wide vocabulary to help them communicate effectively.

• Governors have not sufficiently held the school to account for the effectiveness of the pupil premium expenditure. This means that the review of this funding is not ensuring that it is having the best possible impact on disadvantaged pupils. The school should ensure that targets for the pupil premium are specific and measurable so that governors can understand better, and enhance, the difference that this funding makes to disadvantaged pupils' attainment.