Chatsworth Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Chatsworth Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

This school is community focused. For instance, food for the recent harvest supper was prepared and grown by the pupils on the school grounds.

In addition, the school provides a food bank, toddler group, coffee mornings and go-green projects that bring the whole community together. The much-loved school dog, Ozzie, greets pupils in the morning and 'hears readers'. This is another example of how pupils are made to feel welcome in the school.

This nurturing approach is recognised and valued by the pupils and their parent...s and carers.

The school has faced some significant challenges with changes of leadership and many staff leaving the school since the last inspection. This has disrupted learning for some pupils and affected staff morale.

However, new leadership has evaluated effectively the quality of education that the school provides and identified clear priorities for development. This strategic approach has meant the school has taken great strides in the last year. Staff feel empowered to move the school forward and feel equipped to do so.

The school is now a happy one, where pupils enjoy their learning and are safe.

Conduct around the school is calm and respectful. Pupils are polite and courteous.

There is little disruption in class. Children in the early years develop good social skills.

The school has done much work to ensure that pupils learn well and are supported effectively.

For example, the curriculum has undergone a thorough review. The school has high expectations for the achievement of all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), who are identified swiftly. Typically, pupils achieve in line with these high expectations.

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

The school provides an ambitious curriculum, which is carefully designed to build on pupils' previous learning and deepen their understanding over time. Teachers have secure subject knowledge and present information clearly. Wherever possible, teachers provide trips and enriching activities that help make learning memorable for pupils.

The school uses the local area particularly well, including its own grounds, where each year group spends time exploring an outdoor curriculum.

Most of the time, pupils can recall their learning well and produce high-quality work. At times, they can apply skills learned to other subjects.

For example, they can use their mathematical knowledge to support their understanding of data in science or geography. However, this application of skills and knowledge across the curriculum is inconsistent. For example, pupils' literacy skills are not readily remembered, and teachers do not routinely discuss vocabulary or encourage the application of grammatical knowledge outside of English lessons.

This hampers pupils' ability to communicate effectively in writing.

Teachers have thorough information about the needs of pupils with SEND. They make adaptions effectively so that pupils with SEND are supported to learn the curriculum alongside their peers.

The school has high aspirations for all pupils, and staff know their pupils well. However, teachers do not routinely check that pupils have understood important concepts before moving on to new content. Likewise, they does not support pupils to reflect routinely on their learning or act on feedback from teachers.

This means that some pupils, including pupils with SEND, develop gaps in their knowledge that teachers are unaware of.

The school promotes a love of reading. The phonics programme is set out logically to build knowledge gradually and securely.

Staff deliver the programme well and pupils practise reading with books that match the sounds taught in class. The school identifies pupils who need additional support and provides them with appropriate help so that they learn to read fluently. Older pupils proudly wear badges to show they have completed reading through the 'reading canon' of books for that year.

Texts chosen for use in class are varied and ambitious, reflecting a range of writers and genres.

The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Pupils are focused on their learning in class and are respectful towards each other.

Pupils are typically confident and well mannered. Children in the early years learn to regulate their emotions and play with each other cooperatively. The school prepares pupils for their next stages effectively.

For example, in Reception, children build up their concentration and communication skills so that that they can listen to and learn from each other. This considered approach continues through the school so that pupils are supported to become resilient and independent.

Most pupils attend school well.

The school has increased the capacity of the attendance and well-being team. The team works closely with families to address difficulties that may reduce attendance. Plans are being embedded effectively into school practice and are driving improvement.

The school skilfully develops pupils' character and strongly promotes 'moral virtue' and responsibility. Pupils wear badges they have earned for exhibiting the values of the school with great pride. They can explain how they demonstrated these values and have a keen understanding of what they are, including perseverance and compassion.

Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. They learn how to stay healthy and keep themselves safe, including online. The school takes pupils on purposeful trips, for instance to a range of different places of worship.

The range of clubs available to pupils is expanding. Pupils can apply for positions of leadership, including on the school council. Leaders are developing more opportunities for pupils to voice their views.

Leaders and staff are working together effectively to drive a culture of ambition. Governors and leaders are dedicated to further improvement and are committed to the school. Staff feel seen and heard.

They hold leaders in high regard.

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 does not use formative assessment strategies routinely well to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge.

As a result, some pupils, including some pupils with SEND, are not well supported to understand the important knowledge they need to be ready for more complex ideas that come later in the curriculum. The school should ensure that teachers routinely check that pupils' learning is secure before moving on to new content. ? Sometimes, teachers do not draw out the transferable skills and concepts that can be applied across the curriculum, including pupils' literacy skills.

Pupils' work in the wider curriculum is hampered as they are not routinely encouraged to apply their phonics learning or unpick vocabulary. This hinders their ability to communicate effectively in writing. The school should ensure that teachers encourage pupils to apply their existing knowledge and skills across subjects to draw out the full intended learning.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2019.

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