Crowlands Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Crowlands Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at this warm and welcoming school. They show high levels of respect for every member of their school community, including visitors.

Pupils know how to be good friends to each other. They appreciate the care and support they receive from adults. Pupils know there are trusted adults who will help them if they have any concerns.

All staff have very high expectations of pupils' behaviour and achievement, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Pupils live up to these high expectations by working hard and listening carefully. P...upils love to learn and engage fully with their learning and each other.

Pupils' behaviour in class and around the school is typically calm and sensible.

Inclusion is at the heart of all the school does. Pupils often join the school midway through the academic year.

Where extra help is needed, this is quickly identified. Teachers make sure that pupils get the right support. As a result, they achieve well.

Pupils have opportunities to contribute to the life of the school. They can become school councillors, librarians and digital leaders. Pupils appreciate the clubs that the school offers to them, including multi-sports, cookery and karate.

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

Leaders have planned an ambitious curriculum that builds well on pupils' starting points. They have thought carefully about what they want pupils to learn from the time they start in Nursery right through until they leave at the end of Year 6. The curriculum sets out the vocabulary, knowledge and skills that pupils should learn.

Leaders continually review and evaluate the curriculum. Subject leaders are experienced and knowledgeable. They support teachers well.

As a result, teachers have strong subject knowledge. They are clear about how new learning builds upon previous learning.Teachers plan activities that engage pupils in their learning.

They carefully check what pupils, including those with SEND, already know before introducing new learning. For example, in art and design, older pupils were able to use their knowledge of colour mixing with paint and pastels to express emotions with increasing depth. However, in a few subjects, sometimes pupils struggle to remember important knowledge because staff do not give them sufficient opportunities to revisit and embed their prior learning.

Learning to read is given high priority at this school. Adults are clear about how children become confident and accurate readers. As soon as children start in the early years, adults share stories, songs and rhymes which help develop a love of reading.

Staff have the right training to deliver the phonics programme with accuracy and consistency. Pupils who require extra help with learning to read are supported well to catch up quickly. Staff make sure that the books pupils read are closely matched to the sounds that they know.

Leaders have put careful thought into providing access to a range of high-quality and diverse texts across the curriculum to support pupils' understanding of the wider world.

Older pupils enjoy reading. They know why learning how to read is important.

They love having stories read to them and enjoy selecting books that they can read for pleasure from the 'library bus'.

Staff understand and consistently use the school's behaviour policy. Low-level disruption is rare.

The school manages attendance well, for example responding quickly to any trends and patterns in a pupil's absence.

Pupils with SEND receive strong support. Staff know pupils well.

Teachers ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well because they carefully adapt the curriculum when needed. As a result, pupils with SEND learn important knowledge across a range of subjects.

Pupils are taught about different faiths and cultures.

The school ensures that the diversity of the local area is represented in the stories pupils read, the curriculum and school activities. This helps pupils to understand the world beyond the school. Pupils talk about the qualities that make a good friend, including trust and kindness.

They learn what makes a healthy relationship. Pupils are keen to explain their understanding of how to make a positive contribution to society.

The school community works well together.

Staff, including those at the early stages of their careers, are very appreciative of the support they receive. They say that leaders are approachable and consider workload carefully when making decisions. The committed governing body has effective systems in place to hold leaders to account.

It has an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and the areas that need further development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Occasionally, in a few subjects, pupils struggle to recall essential knowledge or skills that they have previously been taught.

This is because sometimes staff do not give pupils enough opportunities to revisit their prior learning. The school should ensure that staff review these subjects, ensuring that pupils have sufficient opportunities to embed learning into their long-term memory.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 in October 2013.