Burton Pidsea Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Burton Pidsea Primary School are valued and cared for well. Relationships are positive and nurturing. Smiles and good humour are seen throughout the school.

Pupils are happy and safe.

The school is ambitious that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), will do well. These high expectations are not being met as a result of a curriculum that requires further refinement and embedding, and as a consequence of teachers having insufficient knowledge of the subjects that they teach.

Pupils are keen to learn and to do their best.

Pupils behave well and show positive attitudes to their learning. They ar...e polite, courteous and welcoming of visitors.

Pupils say that rare instances of poor behaviour are dealt with swiftly by adults.

Pupils benefit from undertaking leadership roles such as school councillors and playground leaders. Through these roles, they make valuable contributions to the school's improvement plans.

Their views and actions impact positively on their peers. Pupils are highly inclusive and welcoming. They celebrate the differences between people.

They show high levels of respect towards each other and adults. However, pupils have limited understanding of faiths and cultures represented in modern Britain.

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

The school is committed to providing a high-quality education.

Leaders have planned a broad and ambitious curriculum. The important knowledge that they want pupils to learn has been identified and mapped in a clear sequence that runs from early years to Year 6. The mixed-age classes have been well considered to ensure that pupils' learning builds on what they have learned before.

However, the planned curriculum requires further refinement. Curriculum plans in some subjects have been implemented recently. They are not embedded.

Leaders have not evaluated the impact of the school's curriculum plans. In some subjects, teachers do not have the subject knowledge necessary to plan and teach lessons in which pupils learn the knowledge outlined in the school's curriculum.

Pupils with SEND are supported well.

The school has the same high level of ambition for these pupils. Teachers make appropriate adaptations to the curriculum to ensure that, wherever possible, pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers.

Reading is a high priority.

The school has recently introduced a well-structured phonics programme. Pupils apply their phonics knowledge well when reading books that are closely matched to their ability. Further staff training is necessary to ensure that the programme's approaches to the teaching of reading are consistently applied.

Pupils respond well to adults' high expectations of their behaviour. In lessons, pupils listen to their teachers and follow instructions. In early years, children cooperate, play together positively and share equipment.

The school has focussed heavily on improving the attendance of pupils. It works with external agencies to improve the poor attendance of some pupils. Efforts to improve attendance further are having positive results.

Children in early years are prepared well for the next stage of their education. They follow an ambitious curriculum. The curriculum is founded on a secure understanding of child development and early education.

Activities are planned and adapted to ensure that children learn well across all areas of learning. The children are confident and independent.

Through the curriculum for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) development, pupils learn how to look after themselves and lead healthy lifestyles.

They consider and discuss their goals and ambitions for the future knowledgeably. They learn about what it means to be members of the school and local community. However, they do not have sufficient knowledge of the different faiths and cultures represented in wider British society and the world.

Some staff and governors are new to the school and their leadership roles. All leaders are deeply committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for pupils. Leaders and governors share high levels of ambition.

They have identified priorities for improvement and have clear improvement plans in place. The full impact of the improvements made has not been evaluated. Staff enjoy working at the school.

Leaders are caring and considerate of staff well-being and workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff have not had access to subject-specific training for some subjects.

This prevents staff from delivering subject content to pupils as effectively as they could. The school should ensure that staff are fully trained and have the subject knowledge that they require to deliver the curriculum well. ? Curriculum development in some subjects is at an early stage.

The school has developed curriculum plans but staff have only recently begun to implement these. This means that pupils' do not know and remember the key knowledge that has been identified in these curriculum plans. The school should continue to embed the newly introduced curriculum plans so that pupils build their knowledge over time.

Pupils have limited opportunities to learn about different faiths, cultures and life in modern Britain. They are not prepared well for life beyond the school gates. The school should make sure that pupils gain a rich understanding of different faiths and cultures, and why they matter.