Beamont Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy members of this encouraging school community.

They get on well together and make lots of friends.

Pupils benefit from the strong relationships that they forge with staff. They know that staff care about them.

Pupils also appreciate the time that staff take to get to know them well. Pupils are confident that if they reported any concerns, including about bullying, they would be dealt with properly by staff. This helps pupils to feel safe.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), respond well to leaders' high expectations of them. Pupils take great pride in collecting the praise points that the...y are awarded for their efforts. They behave well and are enthusiastic about their learning.

Across the school, pupils achieve well in a range of subjects. However, because the early years curriculum is not well structured, younger children do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils enjoy the clubs that they can attend, such as drama and football.

They talked excitedly about the sports events and performances that are on offer to everyone.

Pupils are proud to make a positive difference to their local community by raising funds for a local food bank. Older pupils enjoy carrying out the special jobs that they are given, such as play monitors and reading buddies.

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

Children in the early years are happy and confident. They mix well with each other and learn to take turns with their friends. However, leaders have not ensured that the expectations of what children in the early years should achieve are high enough.

Leaders have not decided on the important knowledge that children in the early years need to learn. This means that the activities that staff design for children sometimes lack purpose. In addition, staff lack the expertise needed to make sure that children develop their communication skills fully.

Leaders do not ensure that children learn all that they should to make a successful start when they enter Year 1.

In contrast, leaders have designed an interesting curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6 that is suitably broad and ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with SEND. Leaders have identified the important knowledge that they want pupils to learn in each subject.

They have ordered this knowledge carefully so that pupils build on their learning and know and remember more over time.

Well-trained subject leaders use their expertise to provide helpful information for teachers to deliver the curriculums effectively. Subject leaders make regular checks on how well pupils understand the important curriculum content.

Teachers present information clearly and provide opportunities for pupils to practise and remember what they have learned before. This helps pupils to access new content with confidence. Consequently, in many subjects, pupils achieve well.

In a few subjects, leaders' curriculum thinking is less clear. This means that some teachers, when they design learning, lose sight of the most important knowledge that pupils need to know.

Leaders place a high importance on teaching pupils to read.

The early reading curriculum sets out clearly what pupils will learn and when this will be taught. Staff receive the training they need to deliver the phonics programme consistently well. Pupils practise their reading regularly with books that are well matched to the sounds that they know.

Pupils who find reading more difficult receive effective support to help them to catch up. Consequently, most pupils become fluent and confident readers by the end of Year 2. Older pupils enjoy reading independently and are keen to discuss their favourite books and authors.

Leaders ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are identified early. Teachers deploy a range of strategies effectively to ensure that this group of pupils can access the same curriculum as their peers. The support that pupils with SEND receive helps them to achieve well.

Pupils are polite, well mannered and friendly. Pupils who sometimes struggle to regulate their own conduct benefit from sensitive support from well-trained staff. Pupils' positive attitudes to learning mean that teachers can deliver the curriculum without disruption.

The atmosphere in the school is calm and purposeful. Leaders have been very successful in ensuring that pupils attend school regularly.

Leaders provide a range of opportunities for pupils to expand their horizons and to foster an understanding of the world beyond their school and local community.

Through the curriculum, and in assemblies, pupils learn about people with different backgrounds, faiths and families.

Governors play an active part in the life of the school. They offer appropriate support and challenge to school leaders.

Staff, including teachers at the early stage of their careers, value the opportunities that they have for development. Staff are proud to work at the school and appreciate the approachability of leaders. Many parents and carers hold the school in high regard.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff receive regular safeguarding training so that they can stay alert to the signs which could indicate that pupils are at risk of harm. Staff have a clear understanding of how to report any concerns.

The members of the safeguarding team use their strong expertise and local knowledge to access suitable support for vulnerable pupils and their families. They demonstrate tenacity when following up and escalating their concerns if required.

Pupils receive regular guidance about how to keep themselves safe.

This includes learning about online safety and about some of the features of healthy relationships, such as consent.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders' curriculum thinking in one or two subjects is unclear. This means that teachers are not sure of the important knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught.

This hinders pupils' achievement. Leaders should ensure that they set out clearly the essential knowledge that pupils should know so that they are prepared for subsequent learning. ? The curriculum in the early years is not structured coherently.

This means that staff are unclear about what children need to learn. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum in the early years sets out the important knowledge and vocabulary that children need to know and remember in readiness for their future learning. In addition, leaders should ensure that staff in the early years are able to deliver the curriculum effectively.

Also at this postcode