Chaloner Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring school. There are warm interactions between pupils and staff.

Pupils said that their teachers 'make lessons fun'. This means that pupils are happy, feel safe and enjoy coming to school.

The school strives to meet the challenges of serving its community head on.

Supporting both pupils' academic and emotional needs is a focus of the school's work. There are high expectations for pupils. As a result, by the time they leave the school, most pupils are ready for the next stage of their education.

However, the expectations are not yet realised for some children.

Assemblies help pupils to talk about positive behaviour traits. Aroun...d the school, pupils are calm and show respect for each other.

In free time, pupils behave well together. They enjoy the range of play opportunities provided by the school's 'OPAL' programme, such as constructing assault courses and making mud pies. Play leaders take a proactive role in supporting pupils.

The school provides a range of extra-curricular enrichment activities for pupils. Pupils appreciate the opportunity to take an active role in the school. They enjoy the different leadership roles available.

Class ambassadors and prefects wear their special jumpers and badges with pride.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has improved the curriculum. In some subjects, the school has identified the knowledge it wants children to know and the order this content should be taught in.

For example, in mathematics, the school has introduced stronger approaches to develop pupils' recall skills. Pupils benefit from the school's daily 'Inside Out and Upside Down' programme, which helps to improve their speed and accuracy in mathematics. Where these stronger approaches have been introduced, the school's work is effective and having a positive impact.

Pupils achieve well. The school adapts its approaches to supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means that pupils receive useful support, which helps them access the full curriculum.

The school recognises that there is now further work to do to identify sufficient knowledge across all curriculum areas. In some subjects, the school has not identified important knowledge as clearly as it has in others.

Pupils are positive about reading.

The school has prioritised building pupils' love of reading. Pupils enjoy choosing books from a growing library and hearing their teachers read to them regularly. Younger pupils have daily phonics lessons.

Staff are trained to deliver these sessions. Staff also use ongoing assessment to identify pupils who require additional support. Regular catch-up activities help to address some gaps in pupils' knowledge.

In some lessons, pupils benefit from opportunities to practise and repeat sounds, as well as build new words. However, these opportunities are not consistent across lessons. At times, staff do not pick up on misconceptions quickly.

In the early years, the tasks given to children to help them to embed their learning are not matched to their needs. These inconsistencies are impacting on children's progress through the early years curriculum.

Children in the early years play happily together.

Staff model positive interactions to promote language. However, the early years curriculum is not implemented well. The school has not considered carefully enough children's different needs across the early years.

The school does not take into account what children can already do or their next steps well enough. This means that the resources and activities given to children are not typically suitable. Children engage in play and activities that can be too difficult or too easy.

As a result, too many children leave the early years not ready for the next stage of their education.

Attendance is a priority for the school. The school works closely with families to improve the attendance of individual pupils.

The school balances support and challenge for these families well. This means that attendance continues to improve and more pupils attend regularly.

The school has established a comprehensive programme for personal development.

This includes a well-thought-out personal, social, health and economic education curriculum. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including online. Pupils also take part in a range of additional activities to support their emotional well-being, including yoga.

A wide range of extra-curricular clubs and wider opportunities are on offer to all pupils. Pupils enjoy being active in the local community and are proud to be members of the school choir.

The Chaloner 'Core Values' help to promote some important messages about how pupils should work well together.

Pupils know these values well. Pupils have a less well-developed understanding of some aspects of life in modern Britain, including different families. They can identify the names of different religions, but do not yet have a secure knowledge about them.

Governors are committed to the school. New governors bring expertise and experience to strengthen the work of the board. Staff feel well supported to manage their workload.

Most parents are positive about the school's work, too, and appreciate the communication they 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 the phonics curriculum is implemented consistently.

At times, some pupils do not securely gain the necessary skills they need to read well. The school should ensure that staff deliver the curriculum for phonics effectively so that pupils gain the knowledge and skills they need to read. ? In the early years foundation stage, at times, staff do not give enough consideration to the children's individual needs when designing activities or selecting resources.

This means children engage with activities and resources that do not help them to learn more. As a result, children are not as ready for the next stage of their education at the end of the early years as they could be. The school should ensure that staff implement the curriculum for the early years to build on the developmental needs of individual children well.

• Pupils' understanding about life in modern Britain is not broad enough. Some pupils have a limited understanding about different faiths and the fundamental British values. The school should ensure that pupils gain a suitably broad understanding about life in modern Britain, including a wide range of different faiths and religions.