Coulsdon CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to belong to this welcoming community. They show kindness to each other, valuing different characteristics, choices and faiths.

Relationships between adults and pupils are respectful. Pupils behave well in classrooms and around the school. They know they can talk to staff if they have any worries, and they trust adults to help them.

This ensures that pupils feel safe and are kept safe at school.

Over time, the curriculum has not equipped pupils with the knowledge they need to achieve well and be well-prepared for the next stage of their education. Changes have been made to improve the curriculum, but these are recent and have not impacted ful...ly.

Staff encourage pupils to try their best. Pupils work hard and enjoy talking about activities that have sparked their interest.

The school nurtures pupils' confidence and resilience.

Pupils enjoy looking after the environment, including maintaining the school pond. They learn about finance and budgeting, taking part in an enterprise project. Enrichment activities provide pupils with opportunities to explore new experiences.

Pupils enjoy representing their school in sporting and music events. Members of the school council are proud of the impact they have on the school community. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school's support for their children.

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

There have been several changes to leadership and governance. Leaders have been swift in evaluating the school's strengths and weaknesses. They recognise that the curriculum has not sufficiently supported pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

Over time, pupils have not been as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they should. This is reflected in historic published outcomes, in which pupils do not achieve highly. Leaders are ambitious for pupils.

They are making several changes to the curriculum, especially in English and mathematics, and, more recently, in other subjects. Many of these changes are recent or planned for the future so are not embedded securely.

Governors understand their roles and support leaders' work.

Systems to enable leaders and governors to evaluate this work are underdeveloped. This means there is not a sufficiently robust understanding of the impact recent changes are having. As a result, some of the variability in curriculum implementation has not been identified and used to inform future priorities.

Leaders have created an environment where staff feel well supported and excited about the direction the school is taking. Staff value the school community and the help they receive from each other.

In some subjects, important content has been identified and well sequenced.

This helps pupils to embed knowledge before tackling new ideas. For example, in mathematics, children in early years learn to count in different steps. Older pupils use this knowledge when adding and multiplying to find the perimeter and area of regular and compound shapes.

Similarly, in science, pupils learn about the different food groups. This supports them to understand what constitutes a healthy diet.

In other subjects, and areas of learning in early years, the curriculum is less well designed.

Important aspects of subject content are not fully considered, and the small steps of learning pupils need to secure have not been identified. This means that teaching and assessment in these subjects is not sufficiently focused on what pupils need. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge and struggle to understand more complex ideas.

Teachers generally have secure subject knowledge and present information clearly. Pupils are given opportunities to revise and build on their prior learning. Pupils with SEND are accurately identified and typically receive skilled support.

Teachers make appropriate adaptations to tasks and use resources appropriately to meet different needs.

Historically, pupils have not secured strong outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check. Leaders are rightly prioritising improving pupils' reading.

External specialists help staff acquire the necessary expertise to implement the agreed phonics programme. Pupils practise reading books that are well matched to the sounds they know. This is helping those at the early stages of reading to read with increased fluency.

Any pupils falling behind are quickly identified and supported to catch up. A positive culture of reading develops throughout the school. For example, class 'reading ambassadors' support younger pupils with reading.

Pupils enjoy their frequent visits to the local library.

The development of pupils' vocabulary is prioritised, including in early years, where staff develop children's communication through the different areas of learning. Across the school, there are inconsistencies in how effectively this is done.

Sometimes, staff do not use vocabulary with precision. In these instances, pupils' own language use is less accurate.

The school has recognised there is work to be done to improve older pupils' reading and writing.

Leaders have designed a more focused curriculum in this area and have provided additional training for staff. However, this work is not sufficiently focused on addressing the existing gaps in pupils' knowledge. For example, some pupils do not read with sufficient fluency to access age-appropriate texts, while others are less confident in spelling and handwriting.

As a result, older pupils struggle to write at length in different subjects and their written work is of varying quality.

Pupils attend regularly. Leaders know families well and provide effective support when required.

Behaviour is positive and pupils focus well on their learning. Playtimes are happy, and pupils enjoy organising activities. A wealth of opportunities are provided to enhance pupils' personal development.

For example, pupils are well supported to develop as conscientious local and global citizens who understand and respect different beliefs and values. Pupils enjoy outings that enrich the curriculum.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, and in aspects of early years, the existing curriculum is not sufficiently designed or consistently implemented. As a result, pupils have not secured the cumulative knowledge and vocabulary they need to achieve well, including in national assessments. The school needs to ensure that the revised curriculum is fully implemented so that pupils deepen their understanding in different subjects over time.

• The provision for developing older pupils' language is not embedded or sufficiently focused on addressing gaps in their knowledge and understanding. As a result, some pupils do not read with sufficient fluency, while others are less confident in spelling and handwriting. This impacts on the quality of written work in different subjects.

The school should fully implement their plans to improve this aspect of their work. This includes ensuring that assessment is used well to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge. ? Systems to check and evaluate the impact of recent curriculum changes in some subjects are underdeveloped.

This means the school does not have a sufficiently robust understanding of the impact of recent work in these areas. As a result, some of the variability in curriculum implementation is not consistently identified and used to inform future priorities. The school needs to make sure the implementation of the curriculum is checked, and that this information is used to further inform school improvement work.

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