Bealings School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum takes pupils beyond the boundaries of this small rural school.

Pupils enjoy the interesting questions posed by staff. The questions support pupils to link their learning together across different subjects. Pupils, including children in the early years, enjoy the stories that carefully thread through school life.

As a result, pupils have an excellent understanding of the world around them.

The school is a friendly family. Pupils chair 'gatherings' and listen carefully to the opinions of others.

Debate is encouraged and everyone is included. Pupils look at ways to improve the school or share who they want to thank, including staff. Older... 'guardians' are proud of their roles and the responsibility this entails.

They look after and play with the youngest children, for instance, or cook food for the school community. This is a place pupils can be themselves and fit in.

The small size of the school is not a barrier to wider experiences.

Positive links with other small schools mean pupils take part in a wide variety of sports and activities. Clubs and trips further enrich the curriculum. Music and art permeate school life.

Pupils talk fondly of these experiences and what they have learned.

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

There has been recent turbulence in the school's leadership. Important improvements to the curriculum are underway with key areas being changed and refined.

Working closely alongside the local authority, the school has managed these changes sensitively and effectively.

The school's design of its unique curriculum makes use of meaningful 'learning enquiries'. This enables pupils to link knowledge from different topics together.

In some cases, the questions take pupils' learning beyond the topics covered in the national curriculum. Most of the curriculum builds pupils' 'awe' and knowledge step-by-step. Effective checks on learning show teachers what pupils already know.

Teachers know how best to help pupils learn. They put in place engaging activities that support pupils to learn effectively. Children in the early years get off to a good start in their learning.

Adults support them well to build number and reading knowledge. Pupils make good progress through the curriculum and achieve well in most national tests.

The school recognised that some curriculum areas were not working as well as they could be.

New curriculum documentation, outlining key knowledge, is now in place. While staff training aligns with the new changes, some staff are still getting to grips with the improved methods of teaching. Some learning activities that staff give to pupils are not as effective as they could be.

Therefore, sometimes, pupils do not make as much progress as they do elsewhere.

Books and stories play an important part in the school curriculum. They connect well to the varied topics pupils' study.

Staff regularly read to pupils and children in the early years, so they build and develop their vocabulary. The improved approach to teaching phonics is helping pupils to develop their reading knowledge. If pupils find reading tricky, staff provide effective support that helps them to catch up.

Effective checks on learning enable staff to know pupils' needs well. Most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the same engaging curriculum as everyone else. A small number of pupils get suitable bespoke support adapted to their more complex needs.

Pupils with SEND progress well from their varied starting points.

The school provides a sense of belonging that ensures most pupils behave well. Staff rarely have to intervene to support pupils' behaviour.

Lessons move smoothly from periods of high activity to quiet times of reflection. On the playground, pupils play well in mixed-aged groups. Effective discussion and resolution deal with any rare falling out.

This is a place where pupils reflect the school's motto of 'Be!'

The school's approach to personal development is exemplary. From the offset in the early years, staff give children the tools to become confident, inquisitive learners. The school's personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) curriculum tightly link to the 'big questions' that thread through the curriculum.

The stories pupils hear teach them exceptionally well about topics such as diversity and difference. This knowledge empowers pupils. It gives them positive moral values and high regard for each other.

A strong sense of community develops through activities such as gardening, sports and raising money for charity.Despite recent changes to the curriculum, staff feel that the school considers their workload and well-being. Staff development is purposeful.

It has led to positive change quickly. Changes to governance has also been rapid. While governors' chal-lenge to the school is improving, this work is still in its infancy.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some staff have not got to grips with the improved methods to deliver the curriculum. Staff are refining their pedagogical knowledge.

Sometimes, they do not use effective learning activities, which means that pupils find it harder to build on their knowledge. The school should ensure that teachers are supported to implement the curriculum consistently well in all subjects. ? The improved curriculum monitoring by governors is still developing.

Until recently, governors did not have a secure grip on how well the curriculum was working. Governors' curriculum knowledge is growing. Governors should ensure that their monitoring supports and challenges leaders to accurately evaluate what is working well and what needs to improve.