Bickerton Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Staff greet pupils warmly when they arrive at school each morning.

Pupils enjoy learning in a supportive and nurturing atmosphere where they are cared for and feel safe. They trust adults to help them if they have any worries.

Pupils behave well in lessons and when moving around the school.

They understand the school's values and work hard to live up to them. Most pupils work hard and take pride in their work. They work cooperatively to solve problems and encourage each other to do well.

Pupils enjoy exploring challenging ideas. For example, older pupils suggested possible reasons for the end of the Mayan Empire.

Pupils, including those with... special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from the recent improvements made to the curriculum.

The school is ambitious for its pupils. It has high expectations of what pupils can and should achieve. Pupils learn to be fluent and confident readers and mathematicians and have a keen interest in the subjects that they learn.

Pupils make a positive difference to the school through the responsibilities that they hold. For example, 'happy minds champions' raise money to buy equipment for pupils to use at breaktimes. Pupils enjoy the wide range of clubs on offer at the school, including sports, science and performing arts.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has taken decisive action to improve the quality of education that it provides for its pupils. The school has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum that takes account of its community. It has carefully considered what pupils, including those with SEND, should learn and when this should be taught.

Reading is prioritised by the school. From the early years, children develop a secure knowledge of letters and the sounds that they make. Teachers ensure that pupils build on their positive start in the Reception Year as they move on to key stage 1 and beyond.

If any pupils fall behind in reading, they are provided with effective support so that they catch up quickly. Pupils learn to read fluently and accurately. Across the school, pupils access a broad range of books.

They have a love for reading and are eager to recommend books for others to read.

Pupils enjoy the subjects that they learn. In many subjects, staff ensure that important knowledge is revisited frequently in lessons.

This helps pupils to remember more of what they are taught. They talk confidently about what they have learned.

The school's systems to check on how well the improved curriculums are delivered are well embedded in most subjects.

The school uses these checks to provide staff with training as required. This ensures that staff have the expertise to implement these curriculums as intended. In these subjects, pupils achieve well.

However, in a small number of subjects, this process is at an early stage of development. Where this is the case, the school does not identify sufficiently well when staff require further support to deliver these new curriculums successfully. This hinders how well some pupils learn in these subjects.

Staff use the school's assessment systems in most subjects effectively. They identify gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly. In a few subjects, where improvements to the curriculum have been more recent, the assessment strategies to check on pupils' understanding are not fully established.

This means that some gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified. Consequently, a few pupils struggle to make sense of new learning in these subjects.

The school ensures that the additional needs of pupils with SEND are identified quickly.

It works closely with parents and carers and outside agencies to provide pupils with the help that they need. The support provided to pupils with SEND enables them to access the same curriculum as their peers.

Pupils' positive behaviour contributes to the calm atmosphere in the school.

Disruptions to learning are extremely rare. Pupils are welcoming and polite. Staff provide a supportive environment for pupils to learn and play.

The school has worked closely with parents to ensure that most pupils attend school regularly and on time. Actions taken by the school to reduce absences are comprehensive and have been successful for many pupils. The number of pupils who are persistently absent has decreased significantly.

Pupils make positive contributions to the life of the school. For example, librarians keep the outside 'Story Shack' organised so that pupils can read books at breaktimes.

Pupils are taught how to stay physically and mentally healthy.

They understand the risks that they may face when working or playing online. Pupils learn about the importance of tolerance and respect. Pupils are clear that everyone is made to feel welcome in their school regardless of differences.

The school has monitored and considered staff's well-being as part of its work to improve the curriculum. Staff feel listened to and involved in decision-making about changes that may impact on their workload. They value the training that they have received to deliver the new curriculums with confidence.

Governors have a passion for the school. They provide challenge about financial decisions and check that the school's values are embedded in its work. However, governors do not pay enough attention to the impact of some aspects of the curriculum on pupils' achievement.

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 recently refined the content of some subject curriculums. In some of these subjects, the curriculums are not being implemented as leaders intend.

Consequently, some pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that teachers are supported to deliver the intended curriculum consistently well in these subjects. ? In a few subjects, the school's systems to check on pupils' learning are underdeveloped.

This means that some pupils have gaps in their knowledge that are missed. The school should ensure that assessment strategies are used effectively in these subjects to check pupils' understanding and retention of key knowledge. This information should be used to reshape learning so that any gaps in pupils' knowledge are closed.

• On occasion, the governing body has not fully assured itself of the quality of education that pupils receive. This hinders the effectiveness of governors' challenge and support to the school. The governing body should ensure that it has an accurate view of the impact of the curriculum on pupils' learning to inform its work.

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