Bembridge Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils want to be at this school.

They attend regularly because they are keen to learn. They enjoy the subjects they are taught and the plentiful opportunities that feed their thirst for knowledge. Adults are intent on preparing pupils successfully for the future, encouraging them and expecting them to work hard.

Adults make great use of the local environment to bring pupils' learning to life, such as through visits to the beach and lifeboat station. Consequently, pupils learn well across a broad range of subjects.

Pupils' care and respect for each other are clear.

In lessons, pupils of all ages work hard and conduct themselves very well. Starting in... the early years, they listen intently and approach their work diligently. This means that no learning time is wasted.

Around the school, pupils interact warmly with each other and the adults that look after them. As a result, pupils are happy and feel safe.

Pupils contribute positively to the life of the school, helping to shape their own community.

Some recently helped to re-write the anti-bullying policy, ensuring that pupils' voices are heard. This gives pupils confidence that any bullying issues will be addressed promptly and successfully.

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

Senior leaders know their school very well.

They are proud of its many strengths and know what could be even better. Their proactive work with other schools and the local authority helps them to make ongoing and relevant improvements. Governors support this work, using their knowledge and expertise to keep a check on standards in the school.

Staff share leaders' commitment to providing pupils with high levels of care and education. They appreciate how senior leaders invest in staff development in a way that takes workload into account.

Leaders have high aspirations for pupils' learning.

Staff work together to plan a curriculum that both prepares pupils for the future and inspires them to learn. Plans build appropriately on pupils' knowledge, skills and understanding across a broad range of subjects. For some subjects, progression from early years to Year 6 is more deliberately and precisely developed than for others.

The taught curriculum is enhanced by a rich variety of experiences that help make learning relevant to real life. Sometimes, this work does not connect as closely as it could to pupils' planned learning in different subjects.

When children arrive in the early years, staff get to know them quickly.

Adults use curriculum plans to identify learning activities that meet children's varied needs. A focus on communication and personal, social and emotional development helps children get off to a flying start with their education. Early reading and mathematics are taught well.

As pupils move through the school, their learning experience is similarly positive. Work in lessons builds on what pupils already know and can do, particularly during key stage 1. This enables them to develop relevant knowledge across a range of subjects.

Pupils learn to read fluently, because phonics is taught successfully. At times, especially during lower key stage 2, pupils' work does not reflect teachers' high ambitions for them. Some of the most able pupils do not think deeply enough or connect their learning from different subjects.

Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the whole curriculum. The special educational needs coordinator uses her expertise well. This ensures that pupils receive helpful support, starting in the classroom.

Where appropriate, extra help from beyond the school provides for pupils' specific additional needs. This enables pupils who have SEND to begin to catch up with their peers.

Alongside the taught curriculum, staff promote pupils' wider development successfully.

Leaders understand the importance of introducing pupils to faiths and cultures beyond their own. They make good use of opportunities for pupils to learn about these. Pupils are highly respectful and thoughtful towards each other and the adults who care for them.

Pupils rise to the responsibilities adults entrust to them. This enables them to contribute positively to their own learning community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils are looked after well by the adults who care for them. Suitable policies and rigorous training ensure that staff and governors keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. Pupils receive a wealth of information that helps them learn how to keep themselves safe in an age-appropriate way.

Leaders monitor safeguarding arrangements closely, to check they remain fit for purpose.

Staff act promptly on any concerns that may arise, using a simple but effective system to capture relevant information. When appropriate, support from beyond the school is accessed in a timely way.

This helps pupils to be and feel safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

In some subject areas, the impact of leaders' work on the quality of pupils' education is less well developed than in others. Senior leaders should ensure that current work to develop subject leadership leads to the quality of education being consistently strong across the school, as it already is in most years and subjects.

. While pupils experience a rich and engaging curriculum, enrichment activities do not always relate closely to the rest of pupils' learning. Leaders should ensure that enrichment activities link deliberately to the planned curriculum, so that opportunities for pupils to think more deeply and build their learning cohesively are maximised.

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