Charles Saer Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, are happy at Charles Saer School. Everyone is welcome in this caring and inclusive school. Pupils have very good relationships with adults.

This is because they know that adults care for them and keep them safe.

Leaders expect pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve well. However, pupils do not achieve as well as they should in some subjects.

This is because leaders have not considered clearly enough what they want pupils to learn in every subject. They have recently made improvements in some subjects. However, pupils have not benefited fully from them.
...r/>Leaders have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. The school is orderly and pupils are very polite. They enjoy putting their names on the Wow Board when they have done something they are proud of.

They are confident that leaders and staff will listen to their concerns. Leaders deal with any incidents of bullying well.Pupils appreciate the many opportunities they have to develop their interests and talents.

They enjoy after-school clubs, such as taekwondo, sewing, archery and art. Older pupils enjoy the annual trip to Paris.

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

Leaders are ambitious about what pupils can achieve.

However, they have not realised that vision in full. Pupils, including those with SEND, do not learn all that they should in every subject.

Leaders have made some improvements to the curriculum.

For example, in mathematics and geography they have identified exactly what pupils should learn. They have organised knowledge in a logical order and new learning successfully builds on what pupils already know and can do. In these subjects, teachers present information clearly and check what pupils know and understand.

In other subjects, the curriculum is not well designed and lacks clarity. Leaders have not given teachers enough guidance on exactly what pupils should learn and in what order. As a result, the activities that staff prepare for pupils sometimes lack purpose.

Leaders do not ensure that teachers' checks on learning give them enough information to know if pupils have missing or insecure knowledge. In these subjects, pupils do not achieve well.

Leaders have prioritised reading after disappointing published results in 2022.

Children's phonics lessons begin as soon as they start school. Pupils read books that match the sounds that they are learning. This means that they are reading with increasing accuracy and confidence in the early years.

However, in key stage 1, teachers do not identify or help pupils who are falling behind in phonics quickly enough. In key stage 2, the reading curriculum does not build systematically on pupils' previous learning. Teaching does not give pupils sufficient opportunity to practise comprehension skills and develop fluency.

Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 do not achieve as well as they should in reading.

Curriculum improvements in the early years are beginning to bear fruit. Leaders have constructed a curriculum that is ambitious and well sequenced.

Teachers give children interesting and engaging activities. They develop their knowledge and vocabulary across the curriculum. Children in early years acquire the skills and knowledge that they need and are well prepared for Year 1.

Leaders make sure they identify pupils with SEND as early as possible. They work with staff and specialist providers to make some adaptations to the curriculum and teaching so that these pupils can learn alongside their classmates.

Pupils are polite and well mannered.

They move around the school in a calm and orderly way. Children in the early years quickly learn what staff expect of them and follow rules and routines sensibly. When a small number of pupils demonstrate challenging behaviour, leaders make sure that staff give them the help that they need so that they do not disrupt learning.

Leaders have thought carefully about how to provide for pupils' personal development. Pupils, including those with SEND, enjoy access to a wide range of high-quality clubs, activities and experiences. Leaders consistently promote their well-being.

The curriculum allows them to learn about relationships, healthy living and the wider world. Older pupils readily take on a range of leadership roles, including those of school councillors and play leaders.

Leaders, including governors, know that recent results have been disappointing and that improvements are necessary.

They are clear about what the school does well and what needs to improve. They support staff well in managing their workload and well-being. Staff are proud to work at Charles Saer.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are diligent in their approach to safeguarding. Staff receive regular training and know how to spot if a pupil is at risk and what to do about any concerns they may have.

Relationships with families are strong. Leaders and pastoral staff work with a range of agencies to support families and help them get the assistance that they need.Families are appreciative of the work of the school.

Leaders ensure that pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online and when they are out in the community.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders' curriculum designs remain underdeveloped and/or incomplete. Leaders have not thought carefully enough about exactly what they want pupils to learn.

Nor have they placed sufficient emphasis on how to select the most appropriate activities for pupils. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they should. Leaders should continue to develop the curriculum in every subject so that pupils can know more and remember more.

• Leaders do not make sure that teachers' checks on learning give them enough information to identify missing or insecure knowledge. As a result, teachers cannot address pupils' misunderstandings or gaps in knowledge quickly enough. Leaders should ensure that teachers can check precisely what pupils know and understand so that they learn more effectively over time.

• Teachers are too slow to identify and help those pupils in key stage 1 who are falling behind in phonics. As a result, some pupils are not ready for the curriculum in key stage 2 because they do not read as confidently or fluently as they should. Leaders should make sure that teachers quickly identify and help pupils who are not keeping up with the phonics programme so that underdeveloped reading skills do not hinder their readiness for learning in key stage 2.

• In key stage 2, the design of the reading curriculum does not allow teachers to build on pupils' previous learning. In addition, teaching does not give pupils enough opportunity to practise comprehension and develop fluency. Leaders should review the content and implementation of the reading curriculum to ensure that pupils in key stage 2 learn to read with appropriate fluency and increasingly good comprehension.