Cadishead Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils in Years 1 to 6 do not receive the quality of education that they deserve.

This means they do not achieve well. The school's focus has been on managing behaviour at the expense of ensuring that pupils can thrive academically. This has overshadowed and hindered too many other aspects of the school's development.

Pupils said that behaviour has improved recently. Most pupils behave well. They told inspectors that they feel safe and happy in school.

Pupils trust staff. They know that staff will look after them and listen to their worries. Staff act quickly to stop harmful behaviours.

Pupils are polite and enjoy strong friendships with their peers.... They are keen to learn. Children in the early years settle quickly into school.

Recent improvements to the curriculum mean that they are learning more than in the past. Even so, they are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be.

Pupils warmly welcome visitors to their school.

They understand that it is important to show respect. Pupils value the differences between themselves and others, or alternative opinions.

Pupils benefit from a range of experiences to complement their learning.

They have opportunities to develop their talents and interests. Some pupils take pride in the special responsibilities that they carry out. These include acting as school and sports councillors.

Pupils enjoy asking the sports council to arrange clubs of their choice.

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

Leaders and governors lack the capacity to tackle the shortcomings at this school. Over time, due to the considerable focus on behaviour, the school has not taken the action needed to improve the quality of education that pupils receive.

This has declined since the previous inspection. As a result, pupils do not have the chance to flourish academically. Governors have not asked enough questions to ensure that the school maintains an equal focus on pupils' academic success as well as their emotional well-being.

The school has not set out an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils. Too little thought has been given to what pupils need to learn and when this content should be taught. This prevents pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieving well across many subjects.

The published data for 2023 showed Year 6 pupils were ill-prepared for the next stage of their education.

Without curriculum guidance, staff are unable to design activities that enable pupils to build their learning over time. Pupils are not helped to connect new learning to previous knowledge.

As a result, pupils complete work that does not help them to build their knowledge as they move between topics and year groups. They do not gain a secure knowledge base. Additionally, teachers' checks on what pupils have understood or need to know next are ineffective.

Many pupils have wide gaps in their learning as a result.

In the early years, including in the Nursery class, the school has begun to address curriculum weaknesses. It has given more thought to what it intends children to learn and when this should happen in some areas of learning.

Consequently, children in the early years now benefit from a curriculum that meets their learning needs more effectively than it did in the past. However, the school has not made sure that the curriculum is implemented consistently well across all areas of learning. This limits the readiness of some children to meet the demands of the key stage 1 curriculum.

Staff in the early years do not ensure that children gain the fundamental knowledge to write. This is a barrier to their learning in the early years and as they move into key stage 1. From this point on, the gaps in knowledge widen.

Pupils do not gain the basic skills in writing that they need to be successful across the curriculum. This compounds their weak achievement further.

The school does not check what is being taught or how well pupils are learning.

This means that the school is not aware of, nor able to rectify, weaknesses in the quality of education that pupils receive.

In contrast to the weaknesses in many subject areas, the school has been more successful in ensuring clarity in the mathematics curriculum and introducing a clear and coherent programme for early reading. Leaders have ensured that staff are well trained to deliver this programme consistently well.

Children in the Reception class learn to match sounds to letters in daily lessons. The school keeps regular checks on the progress that pupils make in developing their phonics knowledge. It arranges rapid additional support for some pupils who are not keeping pace with the phonics programme.

However, some pupils who need support to catch up with their peers do not receive timely or effective help. In several cases, this affects pupils' confidence and hinders their fluency in reading. Despite the improvements to early reading, older pupils who have not benefited from this approach continue to have gaps in their reading knowledge.

This hinders their access to the wider curriculum.

Teachers are suitably trained to identify pupils with additional needs. Leaders work closely with external partners to ensure that the needs of pupils with more complex SEND are assessed and met in a timely manner.

However, like their classmates, pupils with SEND do not have access to a high-quality education. Consequently, they do not achieve well.

The school has made improving pupils' behaviour a high priority.

It has reviewed its approach to managing behaviour. Pupils and staff now understand and follow the whole school strategy. They recognise the importance of the school's three rules of being ready, respectful and safe.

Mostly, pupils behave well. They are well mannered and respectful. While there is some low-level disruption in lessons it does not typically hinder pupils' learning.

The school has begun to take appropriate action to tackle pupils' poor attendance. The attendance of many pupils has improved as a result. However, the school's actions have not been swift and robust enough to improve the attendance of some groups of pupils.

Too many of these pupils continue to be regularly absent from school, which further impedes their achievement.

Pupils understand that other people may have faiths, cultures or family structures that are different to their own. Pupils learn about relationships and friendships and how to consider the views of others.

They know how to keep themselves safe online and in the community.

The school considers the workload and well-being of staff in the decisions that it makes. Staff appreciate the time given by the school for them to complete any additional work.

As a result, many of the staff feel valued and enjoy working at the school.

Many of the parents and carers who shared their views with inspectors were positive about the school. They said that they value the nurture and support that their children receive.

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 has not ensured that pupils in Years 1 to 6, including those with SEND, benefit from a well-designed curriculum. Pupils experience a disjointed and uneven learning journey between topics and year groups.

This accounts for their poor achievement in many subjects. The school must clarify its curriculum thinking as a matter of urgency. It should design a curriculum that enables pupils to achieve well.

• The school does not make sure that pupils, especially older pupils and those who need to catch up, gain a secure grasp of the fundamental writing and reading knowledge that they need to access other subjects and succeed. This means that pupils are not well prepared for the next stage in education. The school must ensure that the curriculum enables pupils to become fluent readers and writers, so that they are ready for their future learning.

• Children in the early years are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. This is because the newly revised curriculum is not implemented well enough across different areas of learning. This is especially true in early writing.

The school must ensure that staff are well equipped to deliver the curriculum, so that children have a secure foundation on which to build. The school does not check what is being taught and how well pupils are learning. This means that weaknesses in teaching are not addressed.

This contributes to pupils' poor achievement. The school must ensure that it improves the quality and effectiveness of subject leadership, so that the curriculum enables pupils to be successful. ? The assessment strategies that teachers use to check pupils' learning in most subjects are ineffective.

As a result, teachers are unsure about what pupils know and remember. This means that the school does not address gaps in pupils' learning. The school must make sure that, alongside its work to improve the curriculum, it pays equal attention to how pupils' learning will be assessed.

In addition, the school must ensure that staff are trained to check pupils' learning and adapt their teaching, so that pupils gain fluency and accuracy in their knowledge and understanding. ? Too many pupils are persistently absent from school. Their learning is frequently disrupted as a result.

Leaders should work with parents and other agencies to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly, so that they achieve well. ? Governors and leaders do not demonstrate the capacity required to improve the quality of education for pupils. They have presided over considerable weaknesses for a length of time.

They have not addressed the significant weaknesses at the school or the negative impact that this has on the achievement of pupils. Governors should take urgent action to ensure that they improve their oversight of the school, so that they can hold leaders to account for their actions and the pace of improvement.The school may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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