Backworth Park Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school.

Classrooms are calm and behaviour is good. Pupils report that there is no bullying of any kind. They have complete confidence in adults to solve any problems if necessary.

Pupils have a mature understanding that everyone is different. They know that respect and tolerance are crucial to good relationships. Leaders have ensured that pupils have opportunities to take on responsibilities.

Pupils enjoy being members of the 'Board of Backworth'. Older pupils support younger pupils during playtimes.

Leaders are ambitious for their pupils.

Leaders have carefully considered each subject and then created a vibrant, well-...structured curriculum. Pupils are keen to learn and work hard because lessons are interesting and relevant.

Teachers in the early years provide a welcoming environment for children.

New children settle in well. They make friends quickly and learn to take turns and share resources. They love the stories and rhymes they hear.

Children are thrilled and excited to join in with and remember whole stories.

Parents and carers recognise the significant improvements made in recent years. One parent wrote: 'The school has created a wonderful, welcoming environment where children can learn and develop.'

This reflects the views of many other parents.

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

A love of reading permeates the whole school. Leaders ensure that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader.

In the early years provision, children love to hear and repeat songs, stories and rhymes. This helps them to develop speaking and listening skills and develop their vocabulary. Children start to learn phonics as soon as they begin Reception.

All staff who teach phonics are well trained. Staff carry out daily checks to identify children who are struggling to keep up. Additional help is quickly given.

The books pupils read match the sounds they are learning. Most children are well on the way to reading by the end of Year 1.

Children in the early years get off to a good start.

They learn good routines and settle well in a warm and caring setting. Children are excited by the imaginative activities that staff provide. Staff use activities to improve the communication of children.

For example, during the inspection, children were enthusiastically trying to see inside a pumpkin. Staff used the activity to teach children new vocabulary and how to use hand tools. Showing significant determination, children eventually opened the pumpkin.

They were astonished and in awe at their findings. Staff then had conversations with the children about what seeds are and then moved on to tell pumpkin stories and sing songs.

Leaders have not thought carefully enough about how to use the outdoor area in early years.

Learning is less purposeful than indoors because activities are not as well matched to the intended curriculum.Leaders have developed an ambitious, carefully sequenced curriculum. Teachers teach knowledge in a carefully considered order.

Staff check that pupils know and remember what they have been taught. Staff ensure that pupils' learning builds securely on what they already know and can do.

Leaders have provided high-quality training in mathematics and science to teachers.

In mathematics, pupils practise new techniques daily. Teachers ensure that pupils think hard and solve problems. In science, teachers use a wealth of scientific knowledge and vocabulary to teach pupils.

However, leaders have not included enough opportunities for pupils to apply their knowledge. Pupils carry out very few practical experiments. They are not able to consider evidence they might collect and use this to answer scientific enquiry questions.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders have designed a programme of support to help pupils close any gaps in their learning. Consequently, pupils are catching up quickly and working well within the curriculum for their new year groups.Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) enables pupils to learn confidently alongside their peers.

Learning activities are well matched to pupils' needs. Staff expertly judge when to allow a pupil to work independently and develop resilience, and when to intervene.

Pupils' attitudes to learning are good.

They work hard and attend school regularly. Their good behaviour is underpinned by the school's values of respect, resilience and responsibility.

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong because it includes a wide range of experiences that leaders have planned for pupils.

These range from visits to local heritage sites to playing in the school rock band.

Governors are determined to see all pupils achieve well. They provide very strong support and appropriate challenge for the headteacher and leadership team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff are well trained. They know how and when to report concerns about a child's welfare.

Leaders work closely with external agencies to keep vulnerable pupils safe. They are relentless in pursuing help for the most vulnerable pupils.

Leaders complete appropriate recruitment checks on the suitability of adults who work in the school.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe when using social media. They know how to form good friendships. They are very confident that if they had any concerns or worries, then teachers would be there to help.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not thought carefully enough about all the activities in which children participate in the early years outdoor area. The outdoor provision is not matched to the intended curriculum. Pupils' experiences outside are limited.

There is little rich learning or purposeful play. Leaders should ensure that staff know how to plan suitable activities outside that fully match the intended curriculum. Staff should be trained on how to resource these activities so that rich and purposeful learning continues when children move outside.

• Leaders have not thought carefully enough about how pupils will acquire the disciplinary knowledge they need in all subjects. In science, for example, pupils do not carry out practical experiments. They are not able to apply the substantive knowledge they have learned.

Pupils do not know how to reason about how to carry out an experiment in science. Leaders should ensure that opportunities for pupils to apply their knowledge are built into the curriculum in all subjects, especially science. Leaders need to train teachers on how to implement this successfully so that pupils build up disciplinary knowledge over time.

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