Blisworth Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Blisworth Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone at Blisworth Community Primary School goes to great lengths to make this a happy and welcoming place.

Staff make sure that pupils feel safe in school and are able to talk freely about any worries they have. Pupils behave well. They say that bullying is extremely rare and staff deal with it swiftly.

Sport plays a huge part in school life. Pupils have many opportunities to take part in a range of sports and competitions. Pupils are proud of their sporting prowess.

They say that the desire to do their best in sport inspires them to try their best in every...thing.

Pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning. They especially love art and writing, and strive to produce work of a high standard.

The whole school community agreed the new school values of integrity, curiosity, courage, perseverance, collaboration and community. Older pupils explained how these values encourage them to be caring and responsible citizens of the world. They think about the environment and try to use recycled materials.

Parents hold the school in high regard. They say that their children are well cared for and achieve well. A common parental view was that they 'could not wish for a better school'.

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

Leaders have put the love of reading at the heart of their curriculum. They inspire pupils with exciting texts that provide a diverse view of the world. Pupils love hearing their teachers read to them every day.

They admire how teachers bring texts to life. Encouraged by the cosy reading lounges, pupils enjoy reading by themselves too.

Children get off to a strong start with learning to read in the early years.

The phonics programme sets out the sounds they will learn right from their first few days of school. Staff are well trained to deliver the programme. The books that pupils read are closely matched to the sounds that they know.

Pupils receive extra support if they fall behind. However, a small number of older pupils still struggle to remember and use their phonics knowledge to help them read accurately. They do not always practise regularly with appropriately matched books.

Over the past two years, leaders have revised and rewritten their whole curriculum. The new curriculum is ambitious for pupils and promotes the school's key values. Knowledgeable subject leaders have identified what pupils should learn in all subjects from the early years to Year 6.

As the curriculum is very new, it is more well established in some subjects than others. Teachers plan lessons and activities that help pupils build on what they have learned before. They check pupils' learning in lessons and address any misunderstandings they may have.

Pupils readily acquire new knowledge and make strong connections to what they learned previously. There are a few subjects where leaders have not clearly defined the detail for all topics yet. Teachers have not developed all their teaching sequences to be as effective as they should.

Leaders quickly and accurately identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They are ambitious for these pupils to learn the full curriculum. They deploy extra staff to support pupils with SEND in most lessons.

Sometimes, the curriculum is not adapted well enough to match these pupils' specific needs. This sometimes hinders their learning.

The positive relationships between staff and pupils promote a calm and purposeful environment.

In lessons, pupils listen carefully and work hard. Staff are particularly nurturing of pupils with social and emotional difficulties. They support these pupils well to engage in learning.

Children quickly settle into the routines of the reception class. They play and learn well alongside each other.

Leaders promote pupils' personal development well.

Pupils access a range of clubs and activities to stretch their talents. Leaders take extra steps to increase opportunities for disadvantaged pupils. Trips are gradually restarting following a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All pupils recently visited the local Courteenhall Estate. Pupils say that the visit helped them appreciate and want to care for their locality. Older pupils enjoyed the responsibility of supporting the younger ones during the visit.

Leaders encourage pupils to voice their views and opinions. The pupil 'curriculum committee' carries out surveys. They make suggestions of ways to improve their education.

Staff are proud to be part of this school and value the changes leaders have introduced. They appreciate the way leaders consider their well-being and workload. Teachers at the start of their career say that they are well supported.

Governors know the school well. They provide effective challenge and support to leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have stringent systems to ensure that all pupils are safe. They make all the necessary checks on adults in the school. Leaders have improved safeguarding training for staff so they are knowledgeable of the risks pupils might face.

Staff are confident to report their concerns. Leaders act promptly and work with the relevant agencies to provide any help needed. Governors make regular and robust checks on the school's safeguarding procedures.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in different situations. They are confident they know who to turn to if they need help.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not fully defined the component knowledge in some of the more recently reviewed subjects.

In these subjects, the sequence of learning is not clear. This means that pupils do not consistently build their knowledge in all subjects. Leaders need to embed the curriculum by further defining the required component knowledge and developing the sequences of learning in some foundation subjects.

• Leaders have identified pupils with SEND. Pupils with SEND receive support in lessons. However, sometimes teachers do not adapt the curriculum to ensure that all pupils learn well.

Leaders should ensure that all pupils' needs are consistently met so that they can progress well through the curriculum. ? Some older pupils have gaps in their phonics knowledge. The books that they have to read do not match the sounds that they know really well.

This does not help them to become fluent readers quickly. Leaders must ensure that these few pupils continue to receive regular practice reading carefully matched books.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2017.

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