Barlby Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have made the school a focal point of the community. This has been further strengthened with the move to a new building.

Governors and staff provide valuable support for pupils and their families. One pupil said, 'It is like a big family, not really just a school. We all learn to be the best we can be together.'



Pupils feel safe. They say this is because teachers look after them. They know who to talk to if they have concerns or worries, including about bullying.

They know they will be listened to.

Most of the time, pupils behave very well. The school environment is calm and or-dered.

On the few occasions when pupils are n...ot fully engaged in their learning, it is because lesson activities are not suited to their needs or interests. Clubs will restart in January, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the completion of the school grounds. The choir sings at local events, including the Music Hub concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to achieve and be ready for the next stage of their learning. Older pupils appreciate how teachers are preparing them for a move to secondary school next year. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported, including those in 'The Orchard'.

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

The mathematics curriculum is well ordered and well established. Teachers use a published scheme of work as a starting point but adapt the sequence of lessons to ensure pupils' learning is secure before they move on. In Nursery and Reception, children practise counting and use real objects to secure their number knowledge, ready for Year 1.

Leaders have identified that, since the national lockdown, some older pupils are not able to recall key number facts. This leads to difficulties with cal-culation and reasoning activities. Leaders are successfully addressing this to ensure that these gaps in learning are reduced.

Teaching pupils to read well is one of leaders' key priorities. Pupils engage well with their daily phonics lessons, which are taught well. Those who fall behind are identi-fied and appropriate support is put in place to close the gaps.

The school has exten-sively researched a new phonics programme. Leaders recognise that the books cur-rently used to teach reading do not always link as well as they could to the sounds that pupils know. Leaders have advanced plans in place to buy new resources for teaching phonics and provide further staff training.

The wider curriculum is in development. Subject leaders have identified the key knowledge that they want pupils to learn in history, geography, art and religious ed-ucation. In these subjects, learning is well sequenced, and this allows teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively.

As a result, pupils remember important knowledge and make good progress in these subjects. This is not yet the case in science, com-puting and music. More work is needed on curriculum planning in these subjects to ensure that they are taught in sufficient depth and that pupils learn these subjects' knowledge well.

Pupils with SEND are well supported. Specialist teachers' knowledge and expertise is shared with other staff. Parents are also offered help, guidance and support with their children.

Communication and language delay has been identified as key priori-ties for pupils with SEND. As a result, daily speech and language interventions in early years have been provided. Key adaptations and adult support ensure that pu-pils with SEND are able to access the curriculum as well as any other pupil.

Behaviour in lessons is usually good. Occasionally, low-level disruption happens where teacher subject knowledge or curriculum planning is not as strong. Usually, though, pupils are ambitious in their learning and willing to try, even when learning is difficult.

Leaders have prioritised funding to provide extended day provision for those who need it. This ensures pupils and families get the support they need and that pupils are safe. The offer is also made available to three other local primary schools.

Leaders have made this decision to extend the community offer, to enable pupils to develop friendships beyond their school. This, in turn, is supporting transition to sec-ondary school.

Leaders, including governors, have a good understanding of the schools' strengths and areas for development.

They and their staff have served the community well in the face of recent challenges. While some school development has been slowed due to the COVID-19 restrictions, actions for improvement are now moving rapidly.

Teachers speak highly of the professional development offered.

They are overwhelmingly positive about school leaders, and about the consideration given to their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and staff know their responsibilities well.

They keep detailed records of any concerns, and ensure trends and patterns are identified. Leaders use this information and close working relationships with outside agencies to ensure the right support is put in place.

Leaders ensure that teaching about safety is thorough, but also adapted to reflect the needs of families and the local context.

This ensures that pupils are knowledgea-ble and prepared for issues they may face in and out of school, including knife crime. Pupils can talk confidently about how to stay safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders give high priority to teaching reading, including through a new phonics programme.

New books have been ordered to support this work. Until they are in place, leaders must ensure that books currently used to teach reading are matched, as far as possible, to the sounds pupils know. Curriculum plans in history, geography, art and religious education are well sequenced and taught effectively.

This is not yet the case in computing, science and music. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. Leaders need to ensure that all curriculum subjects are well planned in a way that sets out the key knowledge to be taught, in a logical order.