Becket Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Becket Primary School are polite and welcoming. They describe their school as 'a happy place where learning is fun'.

Pupils understand how the school values help them to be respectful and honest.

Despite this, the quality of education that pupils receive is not yet good. In some subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they could.

The implementation of the curriculum does not enable them to know more and remember more over time.

The school has clear systems in place to manage pupils' behaviour. However, these are not always used effectively.

Some staff do not address low level disruption quickly enough. As a result, learning is int...errupted because some pupils struggle to engage with their learning or maintain their focus.

Pupils feel safe.

Relationships are positive across the school. Pupils talk confidently about how the 'worry boxes' enable them to share concerns. They trust adults to listen and help them to resolve any friendship issues that may arise.

Pupils enjoy taking part in residential visits. They are eager to take on a range of responsibilities which develop them as leaders. Pupils value becoming house captains and play leaders.

They say these roles help others and make the school a better place.

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

The school is ambitious for all pupils and wants them to do well. However, this vision is yet to be fully realised.

The implementation of the curriculum does not yet enable pupils to remember the most important knowledge or make connections in their learning across all subjects.

The school promotes a love of reading. Pupils enjoy listening to, and reading, a range of texts, such as 'Varjak Paw'.

Children learn to read as soon as they start school. In the Nursery, staff develop children's language skills effectively. Children in the Reception Year learn and remember new sounds well.

If pupils fall behind, they receive the support they need to help them to catch up quickly. However, some books are not matched well enough to the letters and sounds that some pupils are learning. Consequently, pupils find these books too hard to read.

This inhibits some pupils building their fluency.

With the support of the trust, the school has ensured that the curriculum makes clear what pupils need to know and when they need to know it. In mathematics for example, the curriculum is designed well.

As they move through the school, pupils build their mathematical understanding effectively. Children in the Nursery recognise and use numbers confidently when counting. Older pupils use their understanding of terms such 'product' to solve more complex multiplication problems.

In some other subjects, the implementation of the curriculum is less effective. Some teachers do not routinely check well enough what pupils know before moving on to new learning. As a result, some pupils are not clear about what is expected of them.

They do not build their knowledge over time. While plans are in place to address this, it is too early to see the impact. In art, for example, pupils find it difficult to remember key vocabulary, such as sculpture.

In history, some pupils struggle to order events from different periods of time, such as the Egyptians. This hampers the progress pupils make through the curriculum.

The school accurately identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Individual support plans are precise and routinely reviewed. However, some staff do not adapt learning well enough. This prevents some pupils from getting the right help and slows the progress they make through the curriculum.

Children in the early years develop positive attitudes to learning. They listen carefully and follow the routines that are in place. Pupils move around the school calmly.

They play well together during social times.

The school has clear processes in place to monitor pupils' attendance and to follow up absence robustly. The attendance of some individual pupils whose attendance is low is improving because of this.

Despite this, reducing the rate of persistent absence remains a priority for the school.

The well-planned curriculum for personal development enables pupils to develop their understanding of concepts such as democracy and tolerance. Pupils confidently share their knowledge of faiths and cultures.

They talk about different relationships with maturity.

Trustees and local governors fulfil their statutory duties. The support and challenge they offer to the school is bringing about some improvements, particularly with the design of the curriculum.

Staff value the team spirit that exists and the opportunities to develop professionally. Most parents speak positively about the care that staff show to pupils. However, some feel that they do not receive enough information about the progress that their children make or that the school considers their concerns carefully enough.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils are not provided with books that match closely enough to the sounds that they are learning. Consequently, they find their books too hard to read.

This holds them back in becoming fluent readers. The trust needs to ensure that the books that pupils read match well the sounds they are learning. ? In some subjects, teachers do not adapt learning or check well enough what pupils know and remember.

Subsequent learning does not take into account pupils' prior knowledge. As a result, some pupils do not build their knowledge well over time. The trust needs to ensure that teachers check what pupils know and remember across all subjects and that learning is suitably adapted so that all groups of pupils progress through the curriculum well.

• Expectations of behaviour are not high enough. Some pupils do not show positive attitudes to their learning and disrupt others. The trust needs to ensure that staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour by consistently applying the recently introduced behaviour policy.