Bay Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a friendly and welcoming school. Pupils feel safe here. They know that staff will help them with any problems.

Pupils appreciate the safe spaces in school such as the 'Endeavour nurture room'. Pupils are encouraged to talk about how they feel. This helps them to manage their emotions and to concentrate well in lessons.

The school is determined that all pupils will achieve well here. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school's curriculum is designed to help all pupils to remember the knowledge they need in order to be successful learners.

Children are keen to learn, from their early start in Reception th...rough to Year 6. They find learning interesting and exciting and most pupils concentrate well in lessons.

There are many opportunities provided by the school to nurture and develop pupils' interests.

These include a range of clubs and educational visits. Older pupils visited the Houses of Parliament in London to help them to understand more about democracy.

From their starting point in Reception, children are taught how to behave.

From the youngest members of the school upwards, pupils listen to instructions and follow routines that help them focus on learning. Older pupils are polite. They hold doors open for each other.

Pupils treat adults with respect.

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

The school has made changes to its curriculum in recent years. The important knowledge that pupils must learn from Reception to Year 6 is clearly sequenced.

For example, in physical education (PE), Year 6 pupils revise throwing a volleyball from Year 5 PE lessons. Pupils then build on this knowledge in a lesson about netball. There is a clear focus on pupils gaining the vocabulary that they need to be able to succeed.

This starts in Reception. Through activities such as painting, staff help children to learn the names of different feelings and then match them to colours.

Some older pupils have gaps in their subject knowledge because of the disruption caused by the pandemic.

These gaps were evident in the weak outcomes achieved by pupils in Year 6 in 2022. However, pupils are now benefitting from the improvements being made to teaching and to the curriculum. The most important blocks of knowledge that pupils need to learn are prioritised and revisited regularly in lessons.

This is helping pupils to catch up and prepare themselves for new learning. For example, in mathematics, pupils in Year 3 revise counting in steps of 10 and 100. This prepares them for more complex mathematical problems in Years 4 to 6.

Assessment is used effectively to check pupils' knowledge and understanding.

The school is determined that every pupil will learn to read well. Most pupils love reading.

This includes pupils with SEND. When children start school in Reception, they are helped to recognise the letter sounds in words through rhymes and songs.This prepares children well for phonics lessons.

The school ensures that the programme for teaching phonics is expertly taught. Pupils regularly practise reading books that are well matched to the sounds with which they are familiar. This means that most pupils become fluent readers.

Regular assessment identifies any pupils who are falling behind in phonics lessons. These pupils are well supported to catch up. Despite this additional support, a few older pupils struggle to read and understand age-appropriate texts.

These pupils have gaps in their phonic and word reading knowledge that have not been fully addressed.

The school works with external professionals, accessing support and advice for pupils with SEND. Most pupils with SEND have 'pupil passports' containing targets and advice on how to support their individual needs.

However, the information in these documents is unclear. Some pupil passports lack the precise detail that staff need to help them make appropriate changes to support pupils' needs well.

The school ensures that pupils learn about careers.

Pupils are linked with a local university and they attend weekly 'aspiration assemblies'. Visitors such as the police, volunteers from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and published authors come into school to talk to pupils about their roles. This is helping older pupils to make connections between future jobs and the subjects that they study.

Pupils learn about leadership skills in their roles as pupil ambassadors, sports crew and reading champions. For example, the sports crew are responsible for helping to organise competitions between house teams. Pupils enjoy helping the local charity.

They donate food at harvest time and collect toys for Christmas. This is helping pupils to develop into good citizens.

Most pupils understand the importance of attending school.

They enjoy the rewards they can achieve to celebrate high attendance. The school continues to work to support families to ensure that all pupils attend school. However, some children do not attend school often enough.

Governors know the school well. They visit the school often, providing support and challenge for leaders. Governors ensure that pupils benefit from the decisions that leaders make.

The majority of staff feel that the school takes positive action to manage their workload. They are proud to work in this school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some older pupils have gaps in the sounds they can identify and read. This means that they struggle to read age-appropriate texts. The school should ensure that targeted support is given to pupils so they learn to read with confidence and familiarity.

• The targets and support detailed in personalised support plans for some pupils with SEND are not precise enough. This means that some staff are unable to meet the needs of all pupils effectively. The school should ensure that pupils' targets are precise and that staff understand how to implement appropriate support strategies that meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

• Some pupils do not attend school often enough. They miss important learning opportunities and do not acquire the knowledge that they need to be well prepared for the next steps in their education. The school should continue to work with the families of these pupils to improve attendance.