Drayton Green Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Staff ensure that pupils are looked after and kept safe in school. Pupils turn to staff if they need help and pupils also support each other. For example, the school council recently launched the 'pickle box', a worry box where pupils can post their concerns if they are upset or worried.

Pupils are taught about the importance of politeness and treating people considerately. Pupils act as 'kindness ambassadors' to help new pupils when they join the school or those who may be going through a challenging time. Pupils know how they are expected to behave and typically, they follow the school's rules.

At times, unsettled conduct in class disrupts learning.

Pupils ...are happy here. They attend a range of after-school clubs, including art, choir, dance and a range of sports.

Pupils have opportunities to perform in various school productions and concerts.

Recent changes in leadership, teaching staff and support staff have affected the quality of education for pupils. The school is now more settled than it has been in the recent past and there are signs that the school is improving.

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

The curriculum is broad and reflects the scope of the national curriculum. Pupils study a wide range of subjects and benefit from specialist teachers in some areas, such as physical education and art. The school has set out what pupils need to be taught, and in what order, in Years 1 to 6.

In the early years, the curriculum is not so well thought through. The school has not identified all the key knowledge and skills that they want children to learn over time in Nursery and Reception. This means that children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be.

The school has started to address this effectively. For example, the outdoors area in Reception is now carefully organised to support children's learning and development across all areas of the curriculum.

The school does not have rigorous procedures to check that the curriculum is delivered as leaders intend, particularly where there are frequent changes in teaching staff.

Sometimes in Years 1 to 6, pupils do not develop secure knowledge and skills when what pupils are taught does not reflect the subject content that the school has chosen.

Where staff make sure that pupils follow a logical sequence of learning and build on their previous knowledge, pupils learn successfully. For example, pupils in Year 5 applied their knowledge of French adjectives to write sentences in French about planets, using vocabulary for colours and temperature that they had learned previously.

Pupils' achievement in national assessments in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6 are in line with national averages.Leaders are considerate of the workload and well-being of staff. However, training and support to develop staff expertise and confidence is limited.

Governors work closely with school leaders and visit the school often to check the school's work. They have an accurate understanding of what the school needs to do to improve and a clear strategy to support with this.

The school identifies pupils with special educational needs/and or disabilities (SEND) quickly.

Some delays in accessing specialist assessment and limited training and resources for some staff including in the specialist resource provision mean that teaching is not routinely well adapted to meet the needs of all pupils with SEND.

Staff encourage pupils to read for pleasure. Storytime and individual or whole-class reading are part of day-to-day school life.

Pupils regularly borrow books from class libraries to read at home. Children in the early years enjoy listening to a range of stories, rhymes and books. However, the school's attempts to prioritise early reading have been hampered by variability in the delivery of early reading and phonics.

This is largely due to changes in teaching staff and uneven expertise in the school's chosen phonics programme. Weaker readers are not picked up quickly. Pupils who struggle with learning to read do not receive routine additional support to help them catch up rapidly.

Pupils' behaviour is mostly sensible and settled. In lessons, pupils are generally focused and eager to work hard. Sometimes, learning is disrupted when teaching is not well adapted to pupils' needs.

Attendance rates are improving over time, however persistent absence is high. The school works with families whose children do not attend school as regularly as they should. However, it does not have a clear strategic plan in place to tackle this.

Pupils are encouraged to maintain their mental and physical health. They are taught, for example, about dental hygiene, nutrition and the importance of exercise. Staff encourage pupils' understanding of people's differences and teach them to be respectful.

For example, pupils have been taught that, 'We don't expect everyone to be friends, but we expect everyone to be friendly.'

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The school has recently introduced a new electronic system for reporting safeguarding concerns.

While the school takes prompt and appropriate action to follow up any concerns about pupils, staff are still getting used to the school's new recording system and find it difficult to navigate. This means that safeguarding records are not always easy to accessible to staff when they want to find out or add information about pupils.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Recent changes in staffing, including in leadership and management, and high levels of staff absence have impacted on the school's effectiveness.

The school does not have robust systems in place to check the quality of curriculum delivery and to provide all staff with the training and support they need. The school should ensure that leadership and management is strengthened to help secure the necessary improvements to the quality of education. The school should ensure that staff receive the support and development that they need to fulfil their roles effectively.

• Pupils with SEND are not supported consistently well. Teachers and support staff sometimes lack the expertise and resources to assess and meet pupils' needs precisely. The school should ensure that all staff are suitably trained and confident to support the learning of pupils with SEND.

• The school has not ensured that younger children and those at the early stages of reading gain the phonics knowledge necessary to read. Weaker readers are not identified or given additional support quickly which hinders pupils from catching up rapidly. The school should ensure that all staff are trained and confident to teach phonics securely.

The school should ensure that weaker readers receive the support they need to address any gaps quickly. ? The curriculum in early years is at an early stage of development. The school has not identified precisely what they want children to learn in each area of learning and how this builds progressively.

This means that children are not as well prepared as they should be for future learning in Year 1 and beyond. The school should ensure that the curriculum in early years is coherently planned and well sequenced. ? The rate of persistent absence is high.

Leaders should continue to analyse attendance information and develop strategies to encourage and support regular attendance. ? While safeguarding is effective, inspectors found some minor weaknesses in the school's safeguarding procedures. The school should sharpen oversight of safeguarding and ensure that all staff receive further training in using the new online system consistently for recording concerns.

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