Betley CofE VC Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this welcoming and happy school. The school wants the very best for everyone and pupils are at the heart of all it does. Staff have high expectations of all pupils, and pupils respond well to these.

Pupils from Nursery to Year 6 enjoy an exciting and engaging curriculum. Pupils love to read. They develop and achieve well during their time in school.

Pupils have very positive attitudes to school. They behave well. They arrive at school punctually, with confidence, and are eager to learn.

The curriculum helps all pupils to develop personally. Pupils are proud of their achievements. They told inspectors, 'This is a school where we are all ...a family and care for each other.'

Pupils fully understand and respect each other's differences. They make friends because they enjoy learning together. They play respectfully and happily with their peers on the playground and work well together in lessons.

Pupils feel safe in school because all staff swiftly address any worries or concerns they may have. Pupils enjoy the range of responsibilities and rewards they receive. These include being on the school council and being ambassadors across the school.

Pupils engage in and enjoy a wide range of curriculum enrichment activities, including visitors to school, residential trips and a range of clubs.

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

The school ensures that staff are well trained to teach the early reading programme and to deliver the reading curriculum. Staff use regular checks on pupils' phonics knowledge effectively to understand the knowledge they have gained.

They support pupils who need extra help with their reading to enable them to keep up with their peers. As a result, more pupils are progressing well with their reading. Pupils read with increasing confidence, accuracy and fluency.

Teachers take many opportunities to develop pupils' love of books and to enhance their communication and language skills. Pupils are keen readers. One pupil stated, 'Reading takes us to a world of fantasies and dreams.'



The school has established a wide and ambitious curriculum. Pupils enjoy their learning and have opportunities to revisit and reinforce concepts and skills in lessons. In mathematics, for example, teachers use modelling and resources well to help all pupils make good gains in their skills and knowledge.

However, pupils do not yet have sufficient opportunities to develop, practise and apply their grammar, punctuation and spelling skills in a range of subjects. As a result, pupils do not develop the knowledge, determination and fluency they need to become more confident and skilled readers and writers by the end of Year 6.

In lessons, teachers revisit prior learning and introduce new learning well.

Pupils benefit from working together and sharing ideas. They are proud to share their work across the curriculum. However, expectations for the teaching of handwriting and the presentation of work are not high enough, and inconsistencies in teaching mean that the quality of work is often variable.

Staff identify and support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. Staff have high expectations of all pupils. Pupils with SEND access the curriculum alongside their peers.

Staff use their very secure knowledge of pupils to adapt the curriculum where necessary for pupils.

The quality of education in early years enables all pupils to make gains in their learning. Children get off to a good start in Nursery and progress well in Reception.

The curriculum in early years is carefully designed, enabling pupils to be well prepared for Year 1. Children show curiosity and independence in their learning. Opportunities that help children to develop their communication and language skills are prioritised.

The school has high expectations for behaviour and attitudes. This begins as soon as pupils start school. Pupils understand the behaviour systems, have respect for each other and respond well to the rewards they receive from staff.

The school works tirelessly to ensure pupils attend school regularly.

Provision for pupils' personal development is strong. It is well embedded across the curriculum.

For example, pupils learn how to stay safe, be healthy and show respect for each other. The school has positive relationships with parents and carers. Parents are positive about the school and value the support, care and guidance given to their children.

The school is led and managed well. Governors know the school and are committed to their roles. They are aware of what the school does well and what it needs to do to improve.

They have high ambitions for all pupils and make checks on many aspects of school life. Leaders are mindful of the workload and well-being of staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not ensured that pupils have sufficient opportunities to learn, practise and apply their knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar in their reading and writing activities in all subjects. This hampers pupils' development of their literacy skills. The school should ensure that there are high-quality opportunities for pupils to practise these aspects of reading and writing across the curriculum to enable them to become more confident and capable readers and writers.

• The school has not ensured that teachers' expectations of pupils' recorded work are consistently high, and there are weaknesses in the teaching of handwriting and presentation. Consequently, the quality of pupils' work is often variable. The school should ensure that the teaching of handwriting and presentation is implemented consistently well and that all teachers have high expectations for handwriting and presentation.

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