Beech Hill School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Leaders are passionately committed to providing an inclusive and nurturing education which raises pupils' aspirations and prepares them for the challenges of life ahead. Many pupils arrive at school in year groups other than the early years and are often new to English.

Pupils receive highly effective teaching and tailored support to meet their individual needs. Teaching is sharply focused on pupils' language acquisition. This assists pupils' social and emotional development, in addition to their understanding of English and mathematics.

Leaders highly value reading and prioritise it accordingly. The teaching of phonics is very successful... in getting pupils off to a flying start with their reading. Opportunities to read, and be read to, are frequent.

Pupils' immersion in reading experiences ignites their interest and generates a love of reading. Current pupils are making strong progress. An increasing proportion of pupils are starting to exceed the expectations for their age in English and mathematics.

Leaders use staff training and the sharing of good practice effectively. Consequently, staff feel highly valued and there is a positive culture of teamwork. Leaders have built a strong sense of community in the school.

Pupils' personal development and welfare are paramount and effective partnership is developed with parents and carers. Pupils behave exceptionally well, feel safe and are valued as individuals. They thoroughly enjoy school, which is reflected in their above-average attendance.

Children have an especially positive start to their education in the early years. They make extremely strong progress from their typically very low starting points. Leadership of provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is highly effective in meeting the needs of these individuals.

Leaders have ensured that the design of the curriculum is central to developing pupils' understanding of others and their interest in learning and the world around them. Governors do not have a secure understanding of pupils' academic achievement. This prevents them from holding leaders to account with even greater rigour.

Information about this school

Beech Hill School is much larger than the average-sized primary school. Since the last inspection, the school has sponsored a local school and is now a multi-academy trust known as the Family Learning Trust. There have been changes in the school's leadership.

Both deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers have taken up post since the last inspection and were promoted from within the school. The deputy headteachers are specialist leaders of education and support school improvement in local schools. The school is governed by the board of trustees.

The local governing body, which includes some of the trustees, takes responsibility for monitoring the school's performance, under delegated authority from the board. The vast majority of pupils are from minority ethnic groups. A very large proportion of pupils do not speak English as their first language.

Many of these pupils also have little or no English when joining the school. The number of pupils leaving and joining the school throughout the year is high. Some of these pupils have not experienced an educational setting before.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average. The school runs breakfast and after-school clubs and offers Nursery provision for two-year-olds.