Beaconside CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Beaconside CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, arrive at school happy and ready to learn. They are greeted each morning with a warm smile from staff. Pupils look forward to their interesting lessons, particularly when they work outside in the school grounds.

The school has high aspirations for what pupils will learn. Typically, pupils achieve well across the curriculum. They want to do their best and they work hard to live up to the school's expectations.

Pupils behave well in lessons and learn in a calm environment. They are keen to show respect for others, such as by hold...ing doors open for adults. Pupils enjoy earning tokens towards whole-school rewards when they demonstrate good manners.

Pupils benefit from an extremely broad range of trips to help bring their learning to life. For example, residential trips locally and further afield to London. These visits encourage pupils to build teamwork skills, experience outdoor activities and learn the curriculum in an exciting way.

Pupils love the variety of clubs that they are able to attend. These range from cooking to cheerleading and reflect pupils' interests well.

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

The school has prioritised the teaching of early reading.

In the Nursery class, children are surrounded by books and they quickly learn a range of songs and rhymes. Skilled staff ensure that children are ready to start learning to read from the beginning of the Reception Year. Pupils practise reading with books that are well matched to the sounds that they have learned.

The school ensures that any pupils who struggle with reading get the extra support that they need to succeed. Most pupils read fluently by the time that they start key stage 2.

The school has developed a well-thought-out curriculum.

The curriculum is ambitious and meets the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), effectively. The school has identified the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils will learn from the early years to Year 6. However, the links between learning in the early years and key stage 1 are not clearly laid out.

As a result, pupils are less able to build on their prior learning when they move into Year 1.

The school has made sure that teachers have strong subject knowledge. They choose activities which engage and interest pupils.

For example, the local environment is used well to help pupils to learn about a range of subjects. During lessons, teachers carefully check pupils' understanding. They ensure that pupils' misconceptions are addressed straight away.

However, in some subjects, the school is still developing its approaches to assessment. In these subjects, teachers do not identify and remedy gaps in pupils' knowledge effectively.

Teachers support pupils with SEND well.

The school works with a range of specialists to identify pupils' additional needs quickly and accurately. This includes those pupils who work in the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision). Teachers carefully adapt their delivery of the curriculum to help ensure that pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers.

The school has improved its approach to behaviour management so that pupils understand the importance of behaving respectfully. These changes have been successful. Pupils listen well in lessons and disruptions to learning are rare.

Children in the early years learn to be polite to each other and behave well. Pupils' positive attitudes to learning continue throughout the school.

The school has established effective strategies to improve pupils' rates of attendance.

For example, it provides helpful support for families when absence levels rise. Most pupils attend school regularly and on time.

Pupils learn about differences between people.

They learn how to keep themselves safe when they are working online. They know how to keep healthy both mentally and physically. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are encouraged to develop their talents through many sporting and musical opportunities.

Governors support and challenge the school appropriately. Staff receive the support that they need to carry out their roles effectively. Staff appreciate the consideration that the school takes towards their workload when introducing new initiatives.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not ensured that the links between the early years and the key stage 1 curriculum are clearly identified. This makes it more difficult for pupils to build on their earlier learning when they enter Year 1.

The school should ensure that the knowledge that children in the early years will learn is identified clearly so that they can build on what they know and can do when they move into key stage 1. ? In a small number of subjects, the school has not developed its approach to assessment. This means that teachers are less adept at spotting and then resolving pupils' misconceptions.

Some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge as a result. The school should ensure that teachers are suitably equipped to check pupils' learning so that they can rectify misconceptions quickly.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2016.