Baston CE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Baston CE Primary School and know that the school helps them to do their best. They enjoy their lessons and most pupils work hard. The school has high expectations and this helps pupils to achieve well.

A love of reading is promoted and pupils talk positively about their school library bus. Pupils like to select books to read for pleasure and enjoy talking about the rich variety of texts they learn from in the classroom.

Pupils enjoy opportunities to become digital leaders and sports ambassadors.

They are beginning to consider ways that they can use their own ideas to make changes in the school. Pupils enjoy their experiences of res...idential trips and other experiences, such as visiting the local farm. They like to help others in the community, for example, when serving lunch at the church.

Most pupils feel happy and safe and this is reflected in their high levels of attendance. Most pupils know that they can share their worries and concerns with adults, who are kind and caring. However, a small number of pupils experience unkindness.

They feel that the school does not deal with the rare incidents of bullying quickly enough.

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

The school has recently reviewed the curriculum so that the knowledge that pupils will learn is ordered in a way that helps them to know and remember it more easily. As a result, the curriculum in the wider subjects is more ambitious and coherent.

This is helping pupils to learn a broad range of knowledge. However, there are some gaps in the knowledge that pupils should already know and be able to recall from their previous learning. Sometimes, the checks that the school make to identify these gaps is not rigorous enough.

This means that teachers move on to new learning before pupils are ready. Sometimes, this causes some pupils to develop misconceptions.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge.

They present information clearly to pupils so that they know the steps they need to take in lessons to help them to achieve well. A wide range of well-considered resources help pupils to make connections in their work and deepen their understanding. For example, pupils in geography enjoy using online maps to help them to locate human and physical features around the world.

Ongoing guidance and recent phonics training for staff has provided greater consistency in the teaching of early reading. Pupils are confident readers. They learn their sounds and tricky words very well and have regular opportunities to practise reading the sounds they need to embed.

Pupils develop their fluency skills, which enables them to focus their attention on what the text means. The school makes better use of assessment to identify pupils who are falling behind in their reading. Staff prioritise opportunities for pupils to catch up quickly if they need additional support.

The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. The school has made recent changes to make sure that staff are equipped to identify quickly the academic and pastoral needs of pupils with SEND. Adults work closely with pupils to help them to access their learning in the classroom.

Resources are adapted appropriately for pupils to help them to achieve well.

Children in the early years enjoy investigating in the well-resourced environment. Adults skilfully help them to develop their thinking through careful questioning and through demonstrations.

Pupils are ready for their next stage of learning at the end of the foundation stage.

Overall, the school's provision for pupils' personal development is effective. Pupils learn about important themes and topics such as personal safety, community and local and global citizenship.

This is helping them to develop an appreciation of life in modern Britain. Pupils learn about different religions, festivals and cultures. However, their understanding of the protected characteristics is not as strong.

Sometimes, a small number of pupils are not respectful to each other. This leads to some incidents of bullying, which linger for too long.

Staff are proud to work at the school.

It is considerate of their workload and well-being. Governors are knowledgeable and fulfil their statutory duties well. They work closely with the school to understand the strengths and areas for development.

The school works closely with the local community and parents and carers to form effective partnerships.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, staff's checks to identify gaps in pupils' previous knowledge in some wider subjects is not leading to specific actions to resolve the issues.

As a result, some pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school should make sure that staff are equipped to use assessment procedures consistently so that pupils learn well in all subjects. ? The school's provision for teaching about protected characteristics and bullying lacks consistency across the school.

Consequently, a few pupils do not treat others with respect and others experience bullying. The school should ensure that all pupils understand the importance of treating others with respect and kindness. Also, that staff are well equipped to teach pupils about protected characteristics and deal with any bullying effectively.