Chandos Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Since the previous inspection, significant changes in staff, including leaders, have resulted in pupils receiving an education of variable quality. This has hampered pupils' achievement. The new principal has provided much-needed ambition, direction and stability, for example, in early reading and mathematics.

However, the wider curriculum does not yet support pupils to build their knowledge well enough across all subjects.

Pupils typically enjoy attending Chandos. Staff know them well and sort out any problems that they might have.

Families benefit from the extensive care and support programmes in place for pupils. Many say that pupils' well-being is at the ...heart of the school.

This is an inclusive school.

Many pupils join or leave the school at different points in their school career. All pupils joining the school are welcomed and supported. Pupils feel safe in school.

They talk confidently about how to stay safe online and about ways that they can make healthy choices.

There is a range of enrichment opportunities for pupils. As well as a variety of curriculum-linked visits, pupils are encouraged to participate in clubs.

They represent the school and take part in local and national competitions. There are leadership roles for pupils. For example, they can apply to be school ambassadors.

Pupils value these opportunities.

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

The school has recently taken decisive action to review and revise its curriculum. However, some curriculum subjects, for example modern foreign languages, are not yet taught.

This means that children and pupils do not gain the knowledge they need to achieve well across the full curriculum.

The school has prioritised reading to ensure that pupils can access the wider curriculum. Pupils get off to a prompt start in learning to read as they enter the school.

Teachers regularly check what pupils understand. Staff use this information to quickly identify pupils who are not keeping up with the school's reading programme. When needed, these pupils access additional sessions that are appropriately designed to help them to catch up.

This is helping to prepare pupils for the next stage of their learning.

The school has improved systems to identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, in the past, pupils with SEND have not routinely been identified.

As a result, support has not been put in place quickly enough. This is having an impact on how well these pupils achieve in school.

Expectations for attendance have been raised in recent months.

The school responds quickly when any pupil's attendance is below where it needs to be. It has improved attendance significantly this academic year through various strategies, including enhanced support for parents and carers.

Staff, parents and pupils have mixed views about behaviour at the school.

Staff informed inspectors that recent changes around how behaviour is managed were not communicated to them as effectively as they could have been. This has led to confusion among some staff around how the new policy is implemented. Additionally, a number of pupils and parents were unsure about how leaders deal with incidents of poor behaviour.

This has led to them feeling that incidents are not always addressed fully. The school is focusing on getting this right. However, it is taking time for everyone to feel more confident about the actions being taken and their impact on improving behaviour.

Children in the early years benefit from a well-thought-out curriculum, which staff deliver effectively. Staff use their in-depth knowledge of the children's development to design learning activities suited to the pupils' interests. The classroom environment, both indoors and outside, is well organised and engaging.

Children learn the routines and expectations well. They happily play and learn together. They persevere with tasks and show sustained concentration.

As a result, they become curious and independent learners.

Pupils benefit from well-structured opportunities in the wider curriculum. For example, they have a growing range of leadership opportunities.

They develop their character through a range of experiences. Pupils learn to accept everyone as an individual regardless of difference. However, the school's work on linking the programme of study to fundamental British values is still being embedded.

As the school understands its community well, it involves parents and the local community in the life of the school. All pupils can attend a variety of clubs. They enjoy the different trips and enrichment opportunities on offer.

The school has been through an unsettled period of leadership since the previous inspection. There have been many changes to staff. This has had an impact on staff and hindered the school's drive to improve.

Leaders have a clear oversight of the school's work. They have accurate information about the curriculum and how well pupils achieve.

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 fully embedded its ambition to ensure that all pupils benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum. As a result, pupils do not consistently receive their full curriculum entitlement. The school should ensure that all pupils follow a suitable broad and ambitious curriculum so that they are well prepared for their next stage of education.

• The new systems for the support of pupils with SEND are not consistently embedded. As a result, the school has not evaluated their effectiveness or ensured there is consistency of practice. The school should ensure that the SEND systems in place are evaluated and consistently applied so that all pupils with SEND achieve well.

• The school's new approach to managing pupils' behaviour is not fully understood by staff and pupils. This means that there are inconsistencies in expectations around behaviour and how pupil behaviour is managed. Leaders need to ensure that the new behaviour policy is consistently understood and implemented.

Following a period of turbulence, rapid change has resulted in many staff not feeling fully consulted regarding improvements. This means that expectations and changes are not consistently understood or implemented. The school should ensure that communication and engagement are improved so that all stakeholders feel better supported and informed.