Cottage Grove Primary School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is at the heart of the community.

Pupils, staff, parents and carers comment on this. Diversity is celebrated and nurtured throughout the school. Everyone is welcome here and valued for what they offer to the school's diverse community.

Many pupils join the school throughout the academic year, and several speak English as an additional language. Across the school, pupils speak over 50 different languages.

There is a highly inclusive ethos and the school is determined to raise aspirations for pupils.

This ambition is being achieved through the exceptionally strong pastoral support and bespoke personal development programme that the school of...fers. There is still some work to be done, however, to embed curriculum changes so that all pupils achieve well.

Pupils benefit from the warm, purposeful environment that staff have created.

The positive relationships seen throughout the school are built on a deep understanding of each pupil's needs.

Pupils are taught how to stay safe and why this matters. The school makes sure that pupils who are learning English still understand the key safety messages.

Pupils are clear on the importance of having a trusted adult to talk to should they have any worries.

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

Relatively recent changes within the trust have resulted in effective support for the school. This oversight has helped the school to make positive changes to the curriculum.

The school knows that not all pupils are prepared for the next stage of their education and they are tackling this. However, it is too soon to see the full impact of these changes on pupils' outcomes.

The school is highly ambitious for pupils and has designed a curriculum that matches this ambition.

Subjects are well sequenced and identify what pupils need to remember. Due to the number of pupils who join at different points during the year, the school has focused on introducing retrieval tasks in every lesson. These are helping pupils to recall their prior learning.

However, in some lessons, teachers do not choose the best way of introducing new ideas. As a result, pupils sometimes have misconceptions and staff do not always notice these.

There are robust systems in place which help staff to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Staff adapt tasks so that pupils with SEND can learn successfully alongside their peers. Due to the clear understanding of these pupils' individual needs and well-matched activities, pupils with SEND achieve well.

Reading is given a high priority from Nursery onwards and the school is focused on ensuring that pupils learn to read quickly.

However, there is variability in how well phonics is taught. Some staff expertly support pupils who are at the early stages of reading, but others do not provide the same high-quality assistance. The books that these pupils read are well matched to the sounds that they have learned.

However, pupils do not always understand what the words they are reading mean. Extra support sessions and tutoring help pupils to catch up with their peers.

The school's commitment to developing a sense of belonging and involvement is well embedded.

Pupils relish the responsibilities they have to be ambassadors for the school. They talk positively about their roles as mental health ambassadors and the support they provide to their peers. The school has made positive links within the local community, for example, through the work with the local university.

This is helping to broaden pupils' horizons. The high-quality programme for personal, social, and health education supports pupils to discuss mature themes and concepts.

The school has tackled pupils' attendance robustly this year.

This sharp focus has been highly effective at increasing pupils' attendance and has reduced the numbers of pupils who are persistently absent. The school recognises that some pupils and their families need more help with this. They provide this in different ways depending on the specific needs.

Staff are well trained in how to implement the school's approach to maintaining positive behaviour. They have high expectations and are very clear on these. The routines for school life begin in Nursery.

Here, children are well supported to follow instructions, take turns and demonstrate the school values. This continues throughout the school. Sometimes, pupils need a different approach to help them meet the expectations.

The superb pastoral offer supports these pupils so they can be successful. All of this well-considered and implemented support helps pupils to develop positive attitudes and resilience.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff do not always use the most effective pedagogical approaches to support pupils' learning. This means that pupils do not always achieve as well as they could. Leaders need to ensure that staff understand and use appropriate pedagogical approaches in all lessons.

• Staff do not consistently identify misconceptions during lessons. This means that pupils' gaps are not always addressed, and pupils do not learn as deeply as they could. The school should support staff in how to robustly check pupils' understanding during lessons.

There is variability in the teaching of early reading. The weakest readers do not learn to read as quickly and fluently as they could. The school needs to ensure that all staff are well trained to teach early reading and that pupils understand what they are reading.