Callowell Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

There have been changes and challenges during recent times for leaders and governors to manage.

Leaders' lack of focus on the quality of education means that they have failed to identify the weaknesses that exist.

Despite this, staff feel valued and trusted. They enjoy working at the school.

Pupils talk enthusiastically about taking part in the wide variety of clubs and activities. They appreciate the 'tree of values', which they say helps to celebrate pupils' successes. Most parents and carers who gave a view say that staff help to create a friendly, caring atmosphere.

Most pupils feel happy in school. They are confident that their teachers will hel...p them with any friendship or bullying issues. However, some pupils and parents say that there are some pupils who behave unkindly to others.

Weaknesses in leadership have led to some pupils receiving an inadequate quality of education. There are inconsistencies across the school which leaders have not identified or acted on. The help that disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive is not organised well.

Expectations are not high enough for these pupils. Some pupils do not have the support and guidance they need to learn the curriculum successfully.

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

The school is not improving and moving forward as it could.

Since the last inspection, some aspects of curriculum implementation have declined, particularly in early years and for pupils with SEND. Leaders' plans for improving the school do not pinpoint exactly what the important priorities are or in what order to tackle them. Senior leaders do not check how well the agreed curriculum is implemented for all groups of pupils.

They do not identify important weaknesses and therefore improvements are not made.

The school has recently introduced a new phonics scheme that provides a structured approach. However, leaders have not checked carefully enough that that this is helping pupils to learn phonics successfully.

Staff do not identify pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, who fall behind in learning to read quickly enough. These pupils are not given the time they need to practise to become fluent readers. As a result, pupils who struggle to read lose confidence and fall further behind.

To add to this, staff do not ensure that pupils are able to read the work they provide in subjects such as history or science. Therefore, some pupils are not able to learn the curriculum in a range of subjects as well as they could. At times, this leads to these pupils becoming disinterested and disengaged in their lessons.

Children experience a strong start in the pre-school. Staff support them well to settle into routines and develop their language. However, this does not continue as children move into Reception.

Here, the curriculum is unorganised, and assessment is not used well to ensure that children achieve as they should. Weaknesses in assessment continue across the school. At times, work is not matched well to what pupils are able to achieve.

Too often, staff do not notice or act on pupils' misconceptions. As a result, pupils continue to make the same mistakes and do not make the progress they could.

Most subject leaders are new to their leadership role.

All have recently designed an ambitious curriculum. These leaders have adapted the sequences of learning due to changes in the class structure and the introduction of some mixed-age classes. Leaders are still refining these changes in some subjects, such as science.

As a result, pupils are not yet learning as well as they could in these subjects.

Subject leaders have started checking how well children learn the curriculum but there is a lack of clarity about what the expectations are. The quality of individualised support for pupils with SEND varies.

It is not precise enough or reviewed carefully enough for some. As a result, pupils do not have the extra resources or guidance they need to understand new learning.

A set of values, 'respect, kindness, trust and honesty', underpins the curriculum and aims to support pupils to become increasingly confident, caring and creative.

Pupils describe these values and explain how they help them to be kind to each other. Pupils are less clear about the different types of bullying and when friendship issues are or are not bullying.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have the training they need to ensure that they are confident to identify and report safeguarding concerns. Governors attend safeguarding training and are aware of their responsibilities to check safeguarding arrangements. Safeguarding leaders ensure that pupils who are at risk are identified and receive the help they need from a range of support agencies.

Suitable checks are made when recruiting new staff.

Pupils are aware of safeguarding risks and where to get help. The school's curriculum helps them to learn about how to keep safe while online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders, including governors, have not accurately identified the weaknesses in the school. Therefore, these weaknesses are not included in their priorities. As a result, the necessary improvements are not being addressed.

Leaders must ensure that they have an accurate, honest evaluation of the school's strengths and weaknesses. ? Senior leaders have identified a wide range of priorities and actions to work on. However, it is not clear exactly how or when these actions will happen or be checked.

This makes it difficult for governors to provide robust challenge to leaders. Governors and senior leaders must ensure that they are clear and precise about how and when weaknesses are tackled. ? Leaders do not monitor how well the intended curriculum is implemented for all groups of pupils across the school, including in the early years.

As a result, there are inconsistent expectations, including how assessment is used. Leaders, including subject leaders, must ensure that they check that the curriculum is implemented effectively. ? Individual support for pupils with SEND is not precise enough or reviewed well enough.

As a result, necessary adaptations to the curriculum and additional resources needed are sometimes missed. Leaders need to ensure that pupils with SEND have the extra support they need to achieve well. ? Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, who fall behind when learning to read are not helped to catch up quickly.

Too little is done to ensure that these pupils have sufficient practice to help them use their phonic knowledge to read. There must be a determined effort to ensure that pupils who fall behind are prioritised so that they become fluent readers. ? Despite a strong start in the pre-school, children in Reception are not as prepared as they should be for learning in Year 1.

The curriculum is not organised, implemented or assessed well enough. Leaders need to ensure that children acquire the knowledge they need to prepare them well for their next steps in key stage 1. ? Some pupils and parents are concerned about the behaviour of a few pupils.

Although leaders are taking action to support these pupils, leaders must improve communication with parents about behaviour concerns when they occur. In addition, leaders need to ensure that pupils are helped to differentiate between friendship and bullying concerns. ? Leaders and those responsible for governance may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection.