Drew Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Drew Primary School is an inclusive and welcoming school at the heart of its community. Pupils are happy, safe and enjoy their learning. They are friendly and behave well in lessons.

Pupils demonstrate the core values of the school, such as showing respect and being responsible. Bullying is rare. If any bullying happens, leaders deal with it effectively.

Parents and carers value the education and support for pupils that leaders provide.

Leaders have high expectations of pupils' achievement. Pupils get the help they need to meet these expectations.

Leaders continue to improve the quality of education to give pupils a good chance of educational success.... Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well.

Pupils enjoy the different activities on offer.

They particularly enjoy visits, including to outdoor activity centres. Leaders encourage all pupils to take part in a wide range of high-quality activities. These include sports, chess and music.

Pupils have valuable opportunities to take responsibility, for example as school councillors and prefects.

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

Leaders have revised the curriculum so that it is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND. They have a clear vision about what they want pupils to achieve.

Leaders identify pupils' needs accurately. They provide staff with the training they require to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Staff meet these needs well.

In most subjects, leaders are clear on what they want pupils to learn and by when. This starts with children in the early years. In many subjects, content is well sequenced and broken down into manageable steps.

As a result, pupils become skilled and confident learners as they build new knowledge on what they already know and can do. This helps pupils to deepen their knowledge over time. However, in some subjects, leaders do not identify precisely the essential knowledge they want pupils to learn.

In lessons, staff check how well pupils are learning. In early years, staff develop children's communication and language skills well. Staff help children to name shapes and count up to 10 accurately.

Children in Nursery learn about locations in an inviting outdoor play area. By Year 6, pupils build on these secure foundations to be able to understand different time zones in the world and the prime meridian in Greenwich.

Reading is a key priority for leaders.

Staff are skilful in the teaching of phonics. From the start of Nursery, all pupils learn to read using phonics. Pupils read books that are matched to the sounds that they know.

This helps to improve pupils' confidence and fluency. Leaders quickly identify pupils who need extra help and assess the reading of these pupils accurately. Leaders ensure that they provide appropriate support to enable weaker readers to catch up quickly.

Leaders promote a love of reading well. Books and authors feature prominently in all areas of the school. Pupils enjoy daily story times in class.

They also enjoy using the school library, a converted red bus in the playground.

Leaders maintain a close focus on pupils' mental health and well-being. Pupils appreciate this.

They know that there is always a trusted adult to talk to. Teachers support pupils to understand and regulate their emotions from an early age.

Pupils behave well in lessons and as they move around the school.

Lessons continue without interruption. Leaders are working to ensure that pupils' behaviour in the playground is more orderly. Pupils welcome those new to the school and help them to settle quickly into school life.

Pupils enjoy a wide range of experiences to support their personal development. For instance, residential visits help pupils to develop curiosity about the world around them. Leaders ensure pupils have regular trips to places of worship, such as local mosques, churches and temples.

This supports pupils' knowledge and understanding of different religions and beliefs.

Staff said that senior leaders are considerate of their workload and well-being. The academy trust provides effective challenge and support for leaders and staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff receive regular and up-to-date safeguarding training to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. Thorough checks are in place for any adults working or volunteering in the school.

Staff use effective procedures for reporting and recording any concerns. The safeguarding team swiftly follows up and addresses any issues that staff or others report to them. Leaders ensure pupils and their families receive timely support, either from school staff or external agencies.

Staff know the local concerns and risks pupils attending the school may face. Pupils are taught how to stay safe, including when they are online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders have not identified fully the knowledge that pupils need to learn.

This means that teachers are sometimes unclear about the essential knowledge they need to teach. As a result, in these subjects, teaching does not build up pupils' knowledge in a logical and sequential way. Leaders should ensure that teachers know, precisely, the essential knowledge they need to teach and in what order.