Ashley Down Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Ashley Down Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They trust and respect staff, having confidence that adults will help them if they are experiencing difficulties. Pupils feel safe at school.

The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Pupils are enthusiastic about learning. They love reading and enjoy the range of subjects that they learn.

Pupils achieve well.

Pupils develop their sense of personal responsibility. They understand what it means to be ready to learn and why it matters that they are.

Pup...ils feel respected. They know they all have a contribution to make and that their thoughts and opinions matter.

The school environment is vibrant.

The rich diversity of the local area and community are visible across the school. Different faiths, cultures and backgrounds are celebrated. Pupils appreciate the common ground that people share.

This helps pupils to feel welcome and included.

Pupils thrive at the school, both socially and academically. Staff are welcoming and approachable to pupils and their families.

One parent commented on the 'sense of joy when you enter the school'. This view is shared by many parents and carers, pupils and staff.

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

The curriculum is ambitious and broad, reflecting the high aspirations that the school has for all pupils.

Learning is well sequenced, enabling pupils to build on what they already know. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. The work that pupils complete is of a high quality.

Pupils remember what they have learned and can link this to new knowledge.

Staff have strong subject knowledge across all aspects of the curriculum. They explain new knowledge clearly and check what pupils already know.

The work they give to pupils is well matched to the ambitious curriculum. Pupils have time to practise new learning and to apply it in different contexts. However, sometimes pupils' misconceptions are not identified swiftly enough.

This means they continue to make the same mistakes or do not understand new learning fully.

Pupils of all ages love reading. Staff deliver the phonics programme effectively.

As a result, pupils read with fluency, confidence and enthusiasm. The school understands the different barriers to reading that some pupils who speak English as an additional language and those with SEND have. Consequently, pupils who do not read well enough get the help they need to catch up.

Pupils, including the very youngest, concentrate well. They work hard and are resilient. This enables them to learn well.

Pupils are taught to manage their own emotions and how to cope when they face challenges. Pupils who struggle to manage their behaviour get the support they need. This contributes to a harmonious atmosphere where pupils are keen to support one another.

Pupils learn how to stay safe and healthy. For example, they understand how a balanced diet contributes to good health. They learn how to maintain positive mental health, including specific techniques to help them to feel good.

Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. They know what it means be a good friend and how to repair a relationship if there has been a falling-out.

The school prepares pupils well for their next steps.

Pupils develop their sense of responsibility and contribute to the wider life of the school and community. Pupils are knowledgeable about education after primary school. They have met with people from different careers.

This helps them consider what is possible for them in the future.

Staff have the expertise they need to perform their roles to a high standard. They are well trained to ensure that they provide highly effective support for pupils with SEND so that they can learn the same curriculum as their peers.

Leaders protect staff from excessive workload. This enables staff to focus on what will have the most impact on pupils' learning and wider development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

• Pupils' misconceptions are not always identified promptly or consistently. When this is the case, pupils continue to make errors in their work or to have an incomplete understanding of what they have learned. The school should ensure that staff are supported to identify and address pupils' misconceptions to support pupils to achieve well.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

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

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in January 2019.

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