Bishop Loveday Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Bishop Loveday are happy, polite and kind. Parents and carers agree, with one parent commenting, 'My child is happy, confident and loving school, which is all as a parent we can ask for.'

Leaders have high expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour.

Pupils play and learn together well. Leaders have developed a culture in which everyone looks out for one another. Poor behaviour, bullying and name-calling of any sort are tackled immediately.

Pupils trust the adults in school to look after them.

Pupils enjoy learning. This is because teachers make it interesting and relevant to their local area.

They also enjoy the range of acti...vities available outside the school day, including sports and music events. During this inspection, the choir were heard singing with gusto as they prepared for the Harvest Festival.

Reading is at the heart of this school.

Teachers and pupils are passionate about it. The stories and books pupils listen to cover a wide range of topics to help pupils understand British values such as tolerance and respect. The Christian ethos of the school supports children to understand that every experience is a learning experience.

One pupil told inspectors, 'Adults help us understand that it is never too late to change.'

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

All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn a broad range of subjects. Leaders have introduced a new curriculum.

Subject leaders have used their expertise to develop plans for each of the subjects pupils learn. Leaders have thought about the most important knowledge and skills pupils should learn and the order in which these should be learned in. Owing to the disruption caused by the pandemic, the plans for some subjects, such as history, science and geography, are more developed than others.

Pupils and staff have embraced the recent changes to the way in which reading is taught in school. All pupils take part in two daily reading sessions. Pupils across the school enjoy sitting back and listening to their teacher during the daily 'expert' read.

One pupil told an inspector that he did not want to miss school in case he missed the next chapter in the story! Some pupils' reading skills are developing at a slower pace. Adults spend extra time teaching them so that they can join in with the class text with everyone else.

Children in Reception are fast developing their independence.

They concentrate when learning new things and enjoy learning. They learn to link letters and sounds as soon as they start school. This continues into Years 1 and 2.

In their daily phonics lessons, teachers and support staff are quick to spot difficulties pupils might have.They put the right amount of support in place. Pupils with SEND take part in lessons with other pupils.

Adults adapt the learning tasks well to meet individual needs.

Pupils, including children in Reception, learn the right things in the right order in mathematics. The support and training teachers have received help them to carefully select the resources they use in class.

They break learning down into small steps, building on what pupils already know. This means that pupils, including those with SEND, can practise their skills and deepen their understanding.

Pupils are developing their vocabulary through learning the 500 most-used words.

These have been carefully selected and spread across the curriculum, so that pupils revisit them often. Children in Reception communicate and play alongside each other confidently. This is because adults model the use of language well.

In subjects other than English or mathematics, learning has been organised into themes. Pupils remember the key facts and information in each theme they learn. However, they have not yet learned the deeper knowledge of each subject area.

For instance, they do not know about how to look at things scientifically or how historians develop their knowledge of the past. This is because leaders have not yet helped teachers to develop their own knowledge of this.

Pupils attend school regularly.

Leaders know the pupils well. For some families, leaders have put support in place to help pupils attend school regularly. Pupils behave sensibly and move around school in an orderly way.

They are proud of their school and each other.

Leaders are proud of the additional experiences they offer. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, take part in a range of activities that support the school's curriculum.

Pupils can apply for positions of responsibility, including becoming a school councillor, play leader or house captain. Pupils have recently taken on these roles and are looking forward to getting started.

Staff trust and support one another.

Leaders have worked hard to develop a culture where it is okay to ask for help. The new head of school has worked with staff to look at ways to reduce workload. Staff have welcomed this.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Safeguarding leaders make sure that adults in school know how and whom to refer concerns to. These concerns are followed up straightaway.

Sometimes other agencies may not be quick to respond, but this doesn't stop pupils and families getting the support they need.

Leaders, including the local governing board and the trust, make sure that appropriate recruitment checks are completed before adults work in school.Pupils learn how to keep safe in their personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons.

They have a broad understanding of online safety. Some pupils struggle to recognise the risks of more sensitive issues, such as sharing images online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In non-core subjects, teachers' knowledge of subject-specific concepts is underdeveloped.

So that teachers understand the knowledge they need to teach and when, school leaders need to develop teachers' subject knowledge through a structured professional development programme. ? Pupils' understanding of how knowledge is established is shallow. To deepen pupils' understanding, subject-specific knowledge for each non-core subject needs to be better mapped from Reception to Year 6.

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