Carr Green Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils receive a warm welcome into Carr Green Primary School each morning. Staff know pupils well.

Pupils feel safe and have a trusted adult who they can talk to. Pupils talk confidently about the school values of respect, responsibility and resilience. They are polite and courteous when talking to visitors about their school.

Since the last inspection, standards declined. The curriculum required significant improvement to ensure that it was meeting the needs of all learners. Leaders have halted this decline.

They have made important and much-needed, positive improvements. The curriculum they have put in place is ambitious and well considered. There is now an... expectation from leaders and staff that all pupils will achieve well.

The school has introduced a new behaviour policy recently. Pupils say that behaviour has improved. They understand the new behaviour systems.

They now know what is expected of them. Bullying is rare. However, the behaviour of some older pupils during lessons and at unstructured times does not always live up to the high expectations of leaders.

Leaders recognise that there is further work to do to ensure that behaviour across all year groups for all pupils continues to improve at all times of the school day.

Promoting pupils' personal development and well-being is a high priority at Carr Green. The school offers a strong personal development offer with an emphasis that everyone is unique.

Pupils enjoy additional opportunities to take on leadership responsibilities across the school. The school council speaks proudly of the work that it does, leading on aspects of charity work and fundraising.

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

Children in the early years make a really strong start to their education.

They settle quickly, enjoy their learning and form positive relationships with adults and each other. High expectations and routines are in place. Even the youngest children show an impressive level of independence.

There is a strong focus on communication and language. Adults recognise that this is a priority. Children talk confidently to visitors.

They share their ideas with each other and enjoy working on joint tasks. Children in the early years are prepared well for their learning in key stage 1.

Leaders give reading the highest priority.

They have made significant changes to the reading curriculum. As a result, pupils learn to read well. Staff use their strong subject knowledge to ensure that pupils learn sounds systematically and securely.

Regular checks made by staff ensure that any pupils at risk of falling behind are quickly identified. Pupils then receive the extra help that they need. The school ensures that the books that pupils read match the sounds they know to help improve their reading confidence.

This sharp focus on reading continues into key stage 2, where staff develop pupils' more complex reading skills and fluency. Older pupils talk positively about being 'reading ambassadors' and 'reading role models' to younger pupils in school. Staff share their love of reading with pupils through regular reading recommendation assemblies.

The school has established a well-sequenced curriculum that takes into account the mixed-age classes. It is relevant and ambitious. Pupils learn a broad and balanced range of subjects based on the national curriculum.

In subjects such as history, the exact knowledge that pupils need to learn at each stage is carefully planned out. Regular checks made by teachers and leaders ensure that pupils are learning and remembering this knowledge. Pupils refer to the use of 'Throwback Thursdays' which they say helps them to remember key learning across different subject areas.

The school uses an effective approach to swiftly identify pupils who may need further support. Leaders have carefully considered how pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) can learn successfully alongside their peers. Leaders speak knowledgably about how they adapt the curriculum, across different subjects, for pupils with SEND.

As a result, pupils with specific needs are fully included in activities and classroom routines.

The school's mathematics curriculum is well designed and sequenced. However, the delivery of the mathematics curriculum is not fully consistent across all year groups.

Pupils in some year groups do not learn as effectively in mathematics as they do in other curriculum subjects. Leaders are aware of further improvements and checks that need to be made to ensure that all pupils access the same ambitious mathematics curriculum.

Pupils enjoy a wide range of opportunities to become good citizens and engage with the wider world.

The school ensures that pupils learn about, and learn from, important national and local events. Pupils have a strong understanding of fundamental British values. They understand the importance of including everyone at their school and know that differences are to be celebrated.

Pupils understand how to live healthily and keep themselves safe online. Younger pupils talk about road safety, water safety and the rules that they need to remember when using the internet. Older pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships.

The school's leadership team has a clear and ambitious vision. It has been systematic in its approach to implementing many improvements across the school. It recognises that there is further work to do.

Governors are committed and involved with school improvement. They understand the particular challenges that leaders have faced and support them well. Staff are proud to work at Carr Green.

They feel well supported by leaders. Collectively, leaders, staff and governors have high aspirations for all pupils who attend the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The delivery of the mathematics curriculum is inconsistent in some classes. As a result, in mathematics, some pupils do not learn as effectively as they do in other subjects. The school should ensure that all teachers are well supported to implement the intended mathematics curriculum consistently and effectively.

• A small group of pupils do not display positive behaviours on occasion during lessons and at unstructured times of the day. This results in some disruption to learning in some year groups and behaviour that does not consistently meet the high expectations of leaders. The school should ensure that its behaviour policy is consistently well embedded across school and that all pupils, in all year groups, understand how to conduct themselves throughout the school day.

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