Blackwell First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend this warm, caring and nurturing school eagerly. They are keen to learn, and the excellent behaviour of all pupils means they can do so without interruption.

They behave exceptionally well in lessons, when moving around the immaculately kept buildings and at playtimes. The school has developed an atmosphere where all pupils show a huge level of respect for each other. This is modelled for them by the committed, kind and dedicated staff.

Pupils say they feel safe in school. This is because the school has ensured this important aspect is a high priority. From the very beginning, pupils settle very quickly in an environment where everyone is included and val...ued.

Pupils talk about the importance of being kind and supporting others if they feel lonely or have nobody to play with. The 'friendship bench' helps them to do this well.

The school has high expectations that all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve highly and work to the best of their ability.

This high ambition is realised particularly well in reading, writing and mathematics. This begins in the early years where children get off to an excellent start in a highly stimulating setting.

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

The school prioritises early reading.

Staff are expert teachers of phonics. The school ensures that everyone who delivers the phonics programme is well trained. This ensures that the phonics sessions are of a high quality.

The consistency of approach supports pupils to apply strategies they have been taught to reading new books and to decoding unknown words. Books that match pupils' phonics ability also support this. The vast majority of pupils are able to cope with the pace of the programme.

Pupils who need extra support are identified quickly. Skilful teaching to address pupils' individual gaps in learning is effective in helping these pupils keep up with their peers.

Pupils also achieve very well in writing and mathematics.

They take great pride in their work, and books are presented to a very high standard. In mathematics, careful consideration has been given to what pupils will learn and when. Prior learning is revisited regularly.

This allows pupils to remember important facts and calculations that enable them to answer more complex mathematical problems. The support for pupils with SEND in these subjects is of a very high quality. The school dog, Hetty, and the guinea pigs, Gordon and Fluff, complement the offer for these pupils and all pupils.

However, the school does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to learn some subjects in sufficient depth. In these subjects, the sophisticated approach to curriculum design evidenced in other subject areas is not of the same quality. This includes how well key knowledge has been identified and how pupils revisit this to check for understanding.

The school provides an exceptional personal development offer for pupils. They learn that it is never acceptable to treat people differently because of how they look, what they believe or difficulties they might face. The school has a very secure understanding of the pupils' personal context.

It uses this to plan opportunities for pupils to learn about the wider world beyond the school gate. Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment opportunities, including sewing, art, recorder, sports and film clubs. The school also teaches pupils how to be safe in their community and when online.

Pupils apply for jobs in school, based on recognising which skills they have to carry out these jobs well. They receive 'Blackwell pounds' that they can use to spend how they wish. Responsibilities such as running the school tuck shop further prepare pupils for life when they are older.

Pupils learn to develop independence in a variety of ways. This begins in the stunning early years environment where pupils can easily access the many resources in the class and learn to put them away independently. The level of concentration children demonstrate towards their learning is impressive.

It prepares them very well for their next stage of education.

The school is held in extremely high regard in the community. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the education, care and offer their children receive.

Leaders place a high priority on continued staff training and staff well-being. All staff in school are highly appreciative of this. It is praiseworthy.

Governors are extremely dedicated and highly passionate about the work of the school. However, while pupils are taught all national curriculum subjects, governors have not ensured that pupils study the whole curriculum in sufficient depth to enable them to have a secure and deep understanding of the key knowledge within the subjects.

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 does not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to learn some subjects in the wider curriculum in enough depth. This means that pupils do not develop their knowledge and skills in some of the foundation subjects well enough. The school should ensure that pupils have opportunities to learn all areas of the curriculum in sufficient detail.

• In a few subjects, the school has not identified the key knowledge and skills to be taught and when. In these subjects, pupils do not build on their learning over time. The school should ensure that the knowledge and skills pupils should learn and the sequence in which they are taught them are clearly identified to enable pupils' progression of learning in these subjects.