Butterstile Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school, where they feel happy and safe.

At Butterstile Primary School, pupils enjoy being part of a harmonious, warm and welcoming community. They are excited by their learning and they enjoy finding out new things. Pupils look forward to socialising with their classmates in the breakfast club.

Pupils are confident that they can talk to a member of staff if they have any worries. Pupils alert staff to how they are feeling during daily 'check-ins'. They are adamant that discriminatory behaviour, such as sexism and homophobic bullying, is always challenged by staff.

Pupils are assured that, should bullying of any kind take place, staff wi...ll stop it from happening. Leaders deal with incidents of bullying swiftly and effectively.

Leaders and staff expect pupils to be well behaved.

Staff nurture pupils and expect them to achieve their best. Pupils respond positively to these expectations, which helps them to engage confidently in learning and achieve well in different areas of the curriculum.

Leaders help pupils to become well-rounded and tolerant individuals.

Pupils are encouraged to become caring, compassionate and active citizens. For example, pupils in Year 5 enjoy reading to elderly residents in a local care home. Pupils enjoy learning outdoors in the school's wooded areas.

They look forward to visits to museums and upcoming residential experiences.

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

Leaders and governors have developed a strong and supportive culture in the school. Since the previous inspection, they have overhauled the curriculum.

It is now logically ordered and carefully constructed and matches the ambition of the national curriculum.

Teachers are suitably trained to deliver the curriculum with confidence and they provide sound explanations for pupils. This helps to ensure that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well.

In most subjects, teachers have a clear picture of how well pupils are learning. Teachers use different methods to find out what pupils have committed to memory as well as where pupils' learning is less secure. However, in a small number of subjects, pupils' knowledge and skills are not as strong as they should be.

This is because, in these subjects, some teachers do not use assessment strategies to address pupils' misconceptions quickly enough.

Leaders are committed to making certain that pupils can read accurately and fluently. The novels, poems and factual books in every classroom, and the main library, contain texts written by an interesting and diverse range of authors.

Staff deliver the phonics and early reading curriculums skilfully. Children in the early years begin learning phonics when they start in the Reception Year. Children in the Nursery class enjoy story time.

Typically, pupils delight in sounding out new words and singing nursery rhymes. Staff are ambitious for those pupils who find reading difficult. The strong support that these pupils receive from staff helps them to catch up quickly with their classmates.

Pupils, and children in the early years, help to keep the school calm and purposeful. For example, despite pupils' obvious excitement during celebrations to mark the Coronation of King Charles III, they behaved well during assembly, lunchtime and playtimes. Pupils' positive attitudes to school mean that lessons are rarely hindered by disruptive behaviour.

Leaders identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND in a timely manner. Leaders work closely with parents and carers, and specialist partners, to make sure that pupils get the support that they need. Leaders support those children who need help to develop their speech, language and communication skills as soon as they enter the Nursery class.

Teachers are alert to pupils' different needs. They modify how they deliver learning carefully so that pupils with SEND successfully learn the same curriculum as their peers.

Pupils learn how to stay healthy, and to be considerate and respectful.

This starts in the early years, where children learn to cooperate with their peers, follow instructions and behave responsibly. Older pupils learn how to maintain positive and safe relationships. Pupils develop their leadership skills through acting as school council members and sports leaders.

Pupils learn about the importance of British values, including those of democracy and the rule of law. They learn about cultural and religious diversity through different areas of the curriculum. Pupils in Year 5 enjoy playing string instruments.

Across the school, pupils participate in different clubs, including football and netball clubs. However, opportunities for some pupils to develop their talents and pursue their interests are more limited.

Members of the governing body are keen to support leaders to move the school forward.

They are aware of the school's strengths and the areas that require further development.

Staff enjoy working at the school. They told inspectors that leaders are mindful of their workload and mental health.

Most parents praised leaders' work to provide a high-quality education. They are of the view that their children are looked after well and that they are thriving at Butterstile.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors ensure that comprehensive safeguarding procedures are in place and implemented rigorously by staff. Leaders make certain that staff know their responsibilities in keeping pupils safe from harm.

Staff are trained well.

If staff are worried about the safety or welfare of a pupil, they record and report their concerns promptly.

When necessary, leaders work with many specialist partners to ensure that vulnerable pupils get the support that they need quickly. Pupils learn about internet safety, and associated dangers and risks, through different aspects of the curriculum.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The opportunities that leaders provide for pupils to engage in extra-curricular activities are limited. This means that some pupils do not benefit from sufficient opportunities to develop their interests and talents in different areas of sport and music. Leaders should review these aspects of the curriculum to enhance these aspects of pupils' wider development.

• In a small number of subjects, some teachers do not use assessment strategies to address pupils' misconceptions quickly enough. This means that some pupils develop gaps in their learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers are fully equipped to check how well pupils are learning the curriculum.