Derwentwater Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Derwentwater's ethos of ambition, unity and character underpins its work. Pupils benefit from a nurturing environment. Staff prioritise pupils' emotional well-being and pastoral care.

The school fosters a strong sense of belonging through warm and respectful relationships between staff and pupils. This creates a community where pupils feel supported and are confident to seek help when needed. Pupils are happy and safe.

Expectations for behaviour and achievement are high. Pupils respond positively, showing respect for... one another. They enjoy lessons and engage enthusiastically in their learning.

Teachers have high aspirations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring they are included in every aspect of school life. Well-structured routines for behaviour and learning ensure that most pupils achieve highly.

Pupils are polite and well mannered, treating each other with kindness.

In cases where behaviour falls short of expectations, staff act swiftly to address issues. This ensures a calm and purposeful atmosphere in classrooms and on the playground.

The school organises a wide range of trips, workshops, and pupil leadership opportunities.

Pupils learn to articulate themselves clearly, preparing them well for their future learning and lives beyond school.

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

The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum. It is well designed and taught in a logical sequence that builds on pupils' knowledge.

For example, in history, Year 1 pupils begin to develop their understanding of chronology by comparing artefacts from schools in the 1950s and the present day. They build on their knowledge of chronology as they move through the school. In Year 5, pupils learn how the time period of early Islamic civilisations fits into the chronology of other societies they have studied.

The school prioritises pupils' language development and oracy to good effect. Many pupils speak confidently and articulately about their learning. For example, some pupils use words such as 'commutative' when describing how to find multiplication and division facts in mathematics.

The school ensures that teachers and support staff know how to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Generally, they are well supported to access the curriculum alongside their peers. Teachers typically check that pupils' knowledge is secure, and they correct any misconceptions.

However, there are instances when some pupils progress to more complex tasks before they are ready, while others are not moved on soon enough. This can limit how well some pupils learn the curriculum. Occasionally, some teaching activities create misconceptions or are not closely linked to the intended learning objectives.

This affects how well pupils learn the curriculum. The school has introduced systems to check pupils' knowledge in some subjects. This work is in the early stages and is not consistently used to address gaps in pupils' knowledge.

From the early years, phonics is taught effectively. Pupils practise reading books that are well matched to the sounds they know. Pupils who need additional help are quickly identified and supported to catch up.

This approach builds strong foundations for reading fluency and comprehension.

Attendance and punctuality are a high priority for the school. It closely monitors data to identify trends and patterns.

Targeted support for families is central to the school's work in addressing persistent absence and lateness. As a result, the school has maintained pupils' attendance in line with national averages.

Pupils are polite, respectful, and engaged in their learning.

Clear routines are in place, and staff manage behaviour effectively, particularly in the early years, where expectations are well embedded. While some instances of low-level disruption or playground disagreements occur on occasion, these are addressed quickly. Pupils report feeling safe at school.

Any issues with bullying are investigated thoroughly.

The school has a strong focus on personal development. The personal, social, health and economic curriculum is at the heart of this.

It is well structured and expertly delivered. Pupils are taught about fundamental British values, such as democracy and respect. They are taught how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.

Opportunities for pupil leadership, such as the school council, enable pupils to contribute to the life of the school, such as the design of the school's playground environment.

The leadership of the school is a strength. Those responsible for governance work closely with leaders to ensure the school maintains high standards.

They know the school well and provide appropriate challenge and support. Leaders are reflective and seek out external support to ensure the school continues to improve. The school engages well with parents and carers, who are overwhelmingly positive about the school.

Leaders prioritise staff's well-being and workload. As a result, staff enjoy working at the school and are happy.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There are occasions when pedagogical choices do not deliver the curriculum effectively. As a result, some pupils develop misconceptions, some are moved on too quickly and others are not moved on quickly enough. The school should support staff to ensure that pedagogical approaches and teaching activities lead to pupils knowing more and remembering more across the curriculum.

• Systems to check what pupils know and remember in foundation subjects are in the early stages and are not fully embedded. This means gaps in knowledge are not identified or addressed consistently. The school should continue to embed these systems across the curriculum to ensure they are used consistently and effectively.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in June 2019.

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