Barley Close Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Since the previous inspection, the school has prioritised the development of the curriculum.

It is determined that all pupils will be successful. However, the curriculum developments are at an early stage. The curriculum does not yet support pupils to build their knowledge well over time.

Pupils enjoy school. They feel safe. They know that adults are there to help them if they have any worries.

Relationships between adults and pupils are positive. This begins in Reception Year, where routines are well established and adults have high expectations. The early years curriculum meets the needs of the children well.

However, some older pupils struggle to ...concentrate when the curriculum is not ambitious enough.

The school is working hard to improve attendance. However, the high rate of absence is not reducing quickly.

Pupils miss out on important learning too often.

The school's work to promote pupils' personal development is a strength. Pupils enjoy listening to the inspirational athletes from their community.

Pupils learn about economic and financial management through the 'bumble bees of honeywood' project. This helps to prepare them for the future. Pupils enjoy the wide range of clubs which the school offers, including football and yoga.

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

The curriculum is broad and ambitious. However, the curriculum developments are at an early stage. The school does not have an accurate understanding of the impact the curriculum has on pupils' learning.

Despite the fact that there are plans in place to rectify this, it prevents the school from fully understanding what is working well and addressing any shortcomings that may exist.

Reading is a priority for the school. From the moment children start in Reception Year, they learn to read.

The strong focus on communication and language is an integral component of the early years curriculum. This supports children's oracy skills and develops their use of ambitious vocabulary across all areas of learning. Adults are appropriately trained to teach phonics effectively.

They quickly identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind. Pupils receive the support they need to catch up. Beyond phonics, there is a structured reading curriculum in place.

This supports older pupils to understand concepts such as inference and retrieval. Adults read books to pupils from a wide range of authors. This makes daily 'book talk' an enjoyable experience for pupils.

The curriculum is not yet well sequenced to support all pupils to build their knowledge well. In mathematics, pupils are not secure with the basic number facts such as timetables and number bonds. This inhibits their ability to tackle more-complex problems because they lack fluency in the basic foundations.

Some subjects are further developed than others. For example, in science, the school has designed a curriculum that precisely identifies what pupils need to learn and remember. The strong focus on developing scientific vocabulary and opportunities to revisit previous learning helps pupils to build knowledge.

However, this is still in the early stages of development.

The school has prioritised the support it provides for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Adults understand pupils' needs well.

However, these pupils experience the same weaknesses in the curriculum as other pupils.

Most pupils are polite and well mannered. However, some pupils lose focus in lessons and become disengaged because the curriculum is not sufficiently well sequenced and gaps in their knowledge are not addressed.

Some pupils say they find it hard to concentrate on their learning at times.

Attendance of pupils across the school is low. The school has worked hard to improve attendance for some individuals.

However, the information the school holds about pupils' attendance is not analysed well. This hampers the school's ability to spot patterns and tackle absence effectively.

The personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum supports pupils to understand the importance of how to be a responsible citizen.

Pupils know that a democratic process is a fair approach to selecting leaders. They experience this first hand through the appointment of class 'learning detectives'. The school promotes healthy living through the PSHE curriculum.

Pupils can explain the dangers of smoking and alcohol. They learn how to swim and how to safely cross the road. Pupils talk confidently about how to keep themselves safe online.

The 'start small, dream big' project provides opportunities for pupils to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workshops at university. All of this widens pupils' horizons and prepares them well, as they look to their adult life.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the curriculum is not well designed and sequenced. This means that pupils do not build a secure schema of important knowledge and they have gaps in their understanding. The school needs to design a well-structured curriculum, so that pupils build on what they know, and then check what pupils remember.

• The processes for analysing and monitoring attendance are not rigorous enough. Too often, pupils miss out on important learning. The school should ensure there is a systematic approach to resolving attendance issues and make sure that pupils catch up on missed learning.

The school does not yet understand the impact the curriculum has on pupils' learning. As a result, it does not have an accurate understanding of what pupils know and remember or any gaps they have. The school needs to ensure that all aspects of its work are evaluated effectively so that pupils build knowledge well over time.

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