Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils enjoy attending school.

Everyone is welcome. The school prioritises pupils' mental well-being effectively. Pupils pay close attention during assembly and value the sense of unity as 'one big school family'.

Older pupils become great debaters. They enjoy thinking about how their actions can make a difference in the world. There are many opportunities to work with the local community and beyond, such as performing poems at the Remembrance service and raising money for various charities.

Pupils take pride in representing the school at sporting events. Dedicated staff offer a variety of clubs, such as woodworking or running. Older pupils develop leade...rship skills by taking on additional roles like eco-leaders and school councillors.

Staff and children in the early years build strong relationships. Here, the curriculum meets children's needs very well. They get off to a great start in Reception.

Elsewhere, while many pupils learn the basic knowledge year on year with a degree of proficiency, some pupils underachieve because teaching is not ambitious enough for what pupils could learn.

While most pupils pay attention in class, some struggle to concentrate when the expectations of them are not high enough. This slows some pupils' learning.

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

Leaders and governors have thorough plans in place to address many of the remaining weaknesses in the school. The impact of these plans is already beginning to show. The reworking of the curriculums in history and geography is having a positive impact.

Pupils are learning much more in these subjects. Nonetheless, the school is still in the process of designing some other subject curriculums so that they include the exact knowledge that pupils need to know and remember each term, such as in English, art, and design and technology.

The curriculum in the early years is successful.

In Reception, children learn to extend their speaking to full sentences. They learn to read, form letters and write words and sentences very well. In key stage 1, pupils continue to build their reading knowledge steadily.

However, a minority of pupils have gaps in their phonics knowledge. In English, pupils do not secure the most complex subject content over time because it is given too little weighting in the curriculum. When this happens, pupils fall behind in their writing development.

This creates difficulties for pupils later on.

The school has a range of systems in place to assess what pupils know and remember. Staff keep track of the progress pupils make over time.

However, teaching does not routinely address pupils' gaps in knowledge or misconceptions sufficiently well. When pupils get stuck in mathematics, they do not always receive help swiftly, which hinders the learning of some pupils.The school provides caring support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

However, teaching for these pupils is not always precise enough to ensure that they learn well across the curriculum. Governors ensure that the school reviews pupils' education, health and care plans on time. However, some other pupils' targets are not up to date.

At times, these pupils do not get the help and support they need across sequences of work.

Incidents of poor behaviour in class are lessening markedly because of the new approaches being put into place. Nonetheless, there remain occasions when pupils finish their work early and go off task.

The curriculum teaches pupils about being a good citizen and not to discriminate. Pupils learn how to make decisions about personal safety in a range of situations, including online. Pupils learn how to be a good friend.

Most pupils get along well. However, the school does not have sufficient oversight of behaviour incidents at social times. Some go unreported.

This means it takes too long to resolve issues. There are effective systems in place to challenge poor attendance. As a result, there is very little persistent absence.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some subject curriculums do not include the necessary knowledge pupils need to learn next. Pupils do not learn the depth of knowledge they should.

The school must ensure that curriculum goals are ambitious in every subject and that pupils gain the depth of knowledge they need. ? There are weaknesses in the implementation of the English curriculum. Teaching does not build on prior learning sufficiently well.

Some pupils underachieve. The school must ensure it implements an English curriculum that supports all pupils to learn English consistently well. ? Teaching does not always build the strong subject knowledge that is required for pupils to learn well.

Some pupils have gaps in knowledge, or their misconceptions go unaddressed. The school must ensure that staff use all the information they have to plan and deliver sequences of work that meet pupils' needs well, including for pupils with SEND. ? There is not enough oversight of the implementation of the curriculum and school-wide policies.

Some agreed expectations are not implemented consistently. Staff can be slow to recognise when pupils need help and support in lessons or at social times when there are fallings out. Governors must ensure that the school implements school policies consistently well so that pupils' learning time is maximised and their experiences of social times are consistently strong.