Coundon Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Coundon Primary School is an inclusive school that recognises and celebrates difference.

The core values of kindness, respect, responsibility and resilience shine through. Pupils enjoy the nurturing environment provided by staff. The school puts pupils' best interests at the heart of its decision-making.

Their voice is heard, and their achievements are celebrated. As a result, pupils work hard and achieve well.

When they join in the early years, children are supported to make a smooth transition into school.
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The school also welcomes pupils at different points in the school year. Whenever pupils join, the staff go the extra mile to help them to feel part of this school.

Pupils know the school's expectations of their behaviour.

They behave well. Pupils are kind and courteous to each other and to staff. Teachers deal with any rare incidents of poor behaviour very effectively.

There are many wider opportunities on offer to all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support they need to flourish. Many pupils said that they enjoy learning a musical instrument.

Others talked positively about going on residential trips to learn team-building skills, while visits to local places of interest are helping pupils to develop their understanding of their local community.

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

The school has created an early years provision that is calm and inviting. Staff clearly explain and demonstrate to children how they should behave.

As a result, children quickly learn the daily routines. High-quality resources and activities help them to build their independence.The school has reviewed and made changes to its curriculum in some subjects to make the content more engaging for pupils.

These changes have been welcomed by both staff and pupils. The full impact of some changes is yet to be realised.

The school's commitment to get all pupils reading as soon as possible is clear to see.

High ambition and the careful implementation of the school's chosen phonics curriculum mean that pupils are taught well to read. The school has considered how it supports pupils who did not secure their reading fluency in the early years. Pupils benefit from catch-up lessons in reading and as a result are rapidly improving their reading fluency.

Historic published outcomes for reading do not reflect how current pupils are prepared for public examinations.

In the last year, the school has made changes to its writing curriculum. As a result, pupils can demonstrate their writing fluency in different subjects well.

However, in key stage 1, not all pupils are given enough opportunities to practise using their phonics knowledge to write simple words and sentences. When they do write, some important errors are not being picked up and addressed by staff. This is hindering how well pupils are moving through the early writing curriculum.

Pupils can recall important information confidently across a range of subjects. For example, some pupils can talk in great detail about how scientists use computers to communicate with rover robots on the surface of Mars. Others describe how they solve problems in mathematics lessons using different methods.

However, in a few subjects, the school has not ensured that the curriculum is being delivered as intended. This means pupils do not always build their knowledge as well as they do in other subjects.

The school places great emphasis on developing the whole child.

It provides pupils with a rich personal development programme. Pupils learn about life in modern Britain as well as how to keep safe online and how to form healthy relationships. Pupils enjoy the extra-curricular clubs and trips on offer.

The school quickly and accurately identifies pupils with SEND and makes sure that they are well supported. Pupils with more complex needs have a carefully designed curriculum that focuses on the most important things they need to learn. Some of their learning happens outside the classroom in specially adapted teaching spaces.

Wherever in the school pupils with SEND are learning, they make good progress and achieve well.

Governors know the school's strengths and areas for improvement and provide the school with challenge and support in equal measure. They share leaders' inclusive vision for the school.

Staff are proud to work at this school and appreciate that leaders consider their workload and well-being. Leaders have addressed the previous areas for improvement from the last inspection, and as a result, the school's performance has been sustained.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The writing curriculum is less effectively implemented in key stage 1 because teachers are not picking up and addressing important errors. This does not help pupils to improve their writing over time and limits how well they are prepared for their next stage in education. Leaders should ensure that their writing curriculum is well taught and that any errors are addressed as they occur in each phase of the school.

• The school has not checked the implementation and impact of the curriculum in some subjects well enough. In these subjects, leaders have not ensured that the changes teachers have agreed to make are being implemented as they intend. The school should ensure that all subject leaders develop the expertise to enable them to check the quality and delivery of their subject across the school.

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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 2015.

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