Deeping St Nicholas Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Deeping St Nicholas Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff at this small school are like one big family. Pupils say everyone gets to know everyone else quickly. Older pupils enjoy spending time with younger pupils and help them to play.

There is an inclusive culture and pupils treat each other as they would want to be treated. Pupils say that they feel happy and safe at this school.

Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve.

Pupils engage well with, and enjoy, learning. Pupils develop a love for reading and mathematics. They like the fact that teachers can spend more time with them as ...individuals to help them to understand what they are learning.

Pupils take pride in having wider responsibilities across the school. Many pupils are proud to be on the school council. They understand that this makes a positive contribution to the school and to all those that attend.

Pupils are well behaved in classrooms and pay close attention to teachers during lessons. Pupils consider occasions of misbehaviour to be rare. When it does happen, teachers act quickly so that lessons are not interrupted.

Pupils know what bullying is. They are confident that teachers deal with any bullying effectively.

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

Leaders and teachers have focused on making sure the curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils.

Across all subjects, the curriculum is delivered so that pupils can build on what they have learned before. Plans for pupils' learning start in the early years. This ensures that children begin to learn the necessary knowledge and skills across the full range of subjects from the moment they start at the school.

Leaders have matched whole-class novels in the reading curriculum to fit in with what pupils are learning about in other subjects. For example, when pupils study rivers in geography, they also read 'Journey to the River Sea'. This helps pupils develop an understanding of the Amazon river.

In many subjects, the most important knowledge has been identified. Teachers explicitly teach this knowledge. Teachers check that pupils understand and remember this knowledge accurately.

In mathematics, teachers use the 'Can you still..' activity to ensure that pupils remember the most important knowledge over time.

Leaders have not ensured that teachers explicitly teach the most important knowledge in every subject. In these subjects, pupils do not always remember the most important knowledge.

Leaders have prioritised reading.

They have developed a positive culture of reading. As soon as pupils join the school, they are given books to take home. Teachers read to pupils every day and pupils listen eagerly.

Pupils read a wide range of books and they talk enthusiastically about some of their favourite authors. Children in the early years and pupils in Year 1 have daily phonics lessons. Those pupils who need help to become more fluent readers receive extra teaching to help them catch up quickly.

In the early years, teachers establish routines to ensure that children are ready to learn. Children are able to use the outdoor forest area to play and learn. Teachers use this area so that children have opportunities to explore the natural world around them.

As a result, many children build confidence and try new things, such as making potions with plants.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn the same curriculum alongside other pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants know the needs of these pupils well.

As a result, pupils with SEND achieve as well as their peers.

The schools' values support pupils' personal development. Pupils have assemblies in which they reflect on values such as honesty.

Pupils use the school council as a vehicle to improve the school. Recent examples include older pupils creating posters for the younger pupils to help them understand online safety. Pupils have also created signage for different types of bins.

This is to encourage staff and pupils to recycle more. In religious education, pupils are taught about different faiths. This helps pupils understand and value diversity.

Staff are proud to work at this school and agree the school is well led and managed. Leaders are considerate of staff's workload. Governors and leaders are focused on making the school the best it can be.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Governors hold leaders to account for making sure that children are safe at the school.Leaders who are responsible for safeguarding know about every concern that is raised.

They act swiftly and decisively in response to any concerns, involving other agencies when required.

Leaders prioritise staff training in the most important safeguarding issues. Staff are vigilant and can spot signs of abuse.

Staff know the exact routes to follow when reporting concerns about pupils or adults.

Close relationships between staff and pupils create an environment in which pupils can speak to staff about problems.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not ensured that teachers are teaching the most important knowledge explicitly enough in a few foundation subjects.

As a result, pupils do not remember important knowledge well and struggle to recall it. Leaders must ensure that teachers know how to identify and explicitly teach the most important knowledge in all subjects.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2016.