Atwood Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are settled, happy and safe here. They enjoy school and rarely miss a day. From the early years, adults focus on getting to know the children and their needs, including any special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

This allows the school to provide well-placed support and care to pupils.

Leaders have high expectations for pupils' outcomes. Recently, the school has developed the curriculum further.

This work has had a positive impact on pupils' knowledge and confidence, particularly in mathematics, reading and science.

From the early years, there is a strong focus on encouraging pupils' kindness, independence and responsibility. Pup...ils consistently demonstrate these qualities.

Their behaviour is excellent. On the playground, pupils readily include others in their games and play. They show a great deal of respect for the differences that exist among them.

Exceptional wider opportunities capture pupils' interest, develop their talents and extend their learning. Clubs, including chess, dodgeball, cookery and magic are popular. Residential stays in Year 4, 5 and 6 provide special experiences of outdoor adventure, including toasting marshmallows, camping, rock climbing and kayaking.

Pupils take up responsibility as members of the eco-council, well-being committee and school council.

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

The school has recently identified even more ambitious end points for pupils to reach in their learning than was previously the case. The school has carefully sequenced the order in which pupils should learn the knowledge required to meet these aims.

The school provides strong support and training to teachers. A focus on reading, mathematics and science has been particularly fruitful. Here, leaders check that teaching focuses precisely on what pupils need to know to get better at these subjects.

As a result, pupils recall important concepts with ease, which helps them to make sense of new learning. For instance, pupils in Year 3 science recalled learning about the lifecycle of frogs in the Reception Year which helped them to understand human and animal lifecycles. In mathematics, older pupils relied on secure knowledge of their multiplication tables to solve problems involving proper and improper fractions.

Leaders have made reading a strong priority. Pupils enjoy a range of high-quality texts and leaders have recently improved this selection to include more poetry and literature that represents people from a wide range of backgrounds. Leaders ensure that all pupils benefit from high-quality phonics provision.

All staff receive comprehensive training to help them to teach reading successfully. Leaders within the school and the trust monitor delivery of the phonics scheme regularly and provide training to fine tune approaches. As a result, staff have strong phonics subject expertise.

They model sounds with precision. Pupils read books that help them to practise the sounds they are learning. Weaker readers are provided with effective support which carefully addresses specific gaps in their knowledge.

As a result, the teaching of reading is a strength and pupils read with confidence and fluency.

In other curriculum subjects, clear and coherent curriculum plans are typically in place. However, much of this revised subject content is newly introduced and sometimes teaching is not as routinely focused on delivering the new curriculum content.

On occasion, tasks, explanations and learning do not build upon what pupils already know about a topic and result in gaps in pupils' learning which are not addressed. Consequently, sometimes pupils find it difficult to recall prior knowledge or use it to understand new ideas.

Pupils with SEND benefit from a range of thoughtful and well-devised support, including extensive speech and language provision and emotional support, where needed.

Adaptations to teaching and resources enable pupils with SEND to access the same learning as their peers. Where curriculum thinking is more recent, teaching is less closely focused on the most important knowledge that pupils with SEND should remember.

Pupils are focused, motivated and work undisturbed.

Staff and pupils are proud of the school's friendly culture. From the early years onwards, the school is focused on ensuring that pupils understand their own emotions and how their behaviour affects others. Pupils are extremely considerate of one another.

They routinely help their peers with classwork. On the rare occasions that a pupil may say something unkind, others are quick to remind them that this is not in the spirit of their school. Leaders check pupils' attendance rates closely, offering effective support where needed to encourage regular attendance.

Pupils are taught how to stay safe and healthy, including within relationships and when online. Encouragement of mutual respect and tolerance for all people runs through all the school's work. Pupils reflect maturely on their extensive learning about different faiths, cultures and traditions.

They visit places of worship, including a local church, temple and gurdwara.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some areas of the foundation curriculum have been recently revised to include more ambitious aims and ensure that concepts are more carefully sequenced over time.

This work is new and sometimes teaching does not focus precisely on the aims of the revised curriculum. As a result, pupils' knowledge develops less securely. The school should follow through with its work to ensure that pupils learn all that it intends and that pupils can recall this knowledge and use it to make sense of new learning.

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