Beormund Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Beormund Primary School gives pupils the confidence and skills to overcome the challenges that they face every day.

To say that pupils get an excellent education is an understatement. Their achievements in the subjects that they are taught are particularly strong, especially given that they have often previously found attending school a challenging experience. However, it is the way that the school helps pupils to be successful in the round that makes the difference.

The school sees pupils' academic and personal learning as two sides of the same coin. One leads to the other. Pupils learn well because they are taught how to manage their emotions.

They behave w...ell because they are motivated by an aspirational and broad curriculum. This prepares pupils most effectively for secondary school.

Pupils enjoy school and feel that it is helping them to manage their emotions and learn with confidence.

They talked perceptively about how they can now control their behaviour and know what to do when things get difficult for them. Pupils appreciate that staff will always treat them fairly and that they can turn to an adult if they have a problem. They trust staff to sort out any instances of bullying, although they said these are rare.

This is one of the reasons why they feel safe and have such positive attitudes about school.

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

One of the features that makes this school exceptional is the way every little detail of the school's work builds seamlessly, one upon another, to facilitate success in pupils' learning and wider development. This is what ensures that all pupils have the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed in the future.

One of the reasons for this is that everything works in a deliberate and purposeful way. The 'shillings' scheme, for example, works on many different levels. It provides opportunities for pupils to self-regulate, for staff to check learning and for the school to test out the impact of its work.

It contributes to pupils' motivation and their regular attendance. The scheme is both unique and exceptional.

All adults uphold and reinforce the school's high expectations and aspirations.

They do so consistently so that pupils get the same messages, regardless of who is working with them. Staff are highly skilled in pre-empting pupils' anxieties and helping them refocus. As a result, disruption to lessons is minimal and pupils increasingly understand the consequences of their actions.

The seamless integration of the social and emotional aspects of the curriculum with the academic is one of the keys to Beormund's success. A great deal of work goes into understanding and meeting pupils' emotional needs. Staff training is strong.

They know their pupils inside out and this helps to target support to where it is needed most. The school works closely with the local authority and other external agencies. It uses their advice to help maintain the school's calm atmosphere as well as support pupils' personal, social and emotional development most effectively.

The school has worked successfully to develop its curriculum, especially for subjects like history, geography, art and design and technology. The range of subjects is broad. The curriculum for each subject is organised as a sequence of small steps designed to give pupils the fundamental knowledge and skills that build their learning bit by bit.

For example, in history, important ideas such as democracy and empire are threaded through the different topics that pupils study. The wide range of relevant visits and outings to places of interest, including residential visits, broaden pupils' experience of the wider world. Together, these features help to deepen pupils' knowledge and understanding as they move through the school.

Reading is another key focus that is helping pupils to achieve their potential. The phonics scheme is having a positive impact on pupils' reading skills. Those who have missed school and need to catch up are skilfully supported to develop and use their phonics knowledge to read unfamiliar words successfully.

Teachers refer to the phonics scheme in other subjects, reinforcing and embedding learning. Together with the push to develop pupils' reading for pleasure, the school's work is helping to ensure that pupils read with increasing fluency and understanding.

Two additional features define Beormund's excellence.

Parents and carers are involved closely with their children's education and praise the school highly for the way it keeps them informed. The high level of trust they place in the school is well founded. They value how their children are kept safe.

Also, staff well-being and welfare are high on the school's agenda and supported by the effective governing body. Staff were positive about the school's mutually supportive culture.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.