Faldingworth Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Faldingworth Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Faldingworth Community Primary School considers the individual needs of all pupils.

Staff place the school's values at the centre of all that they do. These values include being fair and respecting yourself and others. Pupils live out these values in the way in which they treat one another.

Parents and carers appreciate the family feel to the school. One parent commented that the school is 'a superb school which feels like an extended family for each child that attends – and their families'. Older pupils take great pride in helping and supporting younger pupils.
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This includes at social times, when they offer encouragement and help to younger pupils through their roles as lunchtime monitors.

Leaders have high expectations of all pupils. Pupils understand these expectations and show them in their attitude to learning.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from high-quality provision.

Pupils feel safe. They are able to talk about who they would speak to if they had a worry or a concern.

Most pupils behave well across the school. On the very rare occasions that bullying occurs, leaders deal with it effectively.

Pupils take part in a range of extra-curricular activities.

Many pupils speak positively about their involvement in a winter well-being club and dance club.

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

Leaders have ensured that early reading is a priority. Leaders have implemented a phonics scheme effectively to help pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read.

Staff are trained to deliver this programme well. They consistently use effective strategies when teaching children to read. Pupils use the sounds they have learned to read new and increasingly complex words.

Older pupils who need additional guidance with their reading receive timely support which helps them to develop fluency in reading.All pupils read a range of high-quality texts across different genres. Younger pupils love reading.

Some older pupils feel that they would like more time to be able to read in school in order to further foster their love of reading.

Leaders have carefully considered the topics they want pupils to learn about. Many pupils have gained detailed knowledge of the subjects they study.

In some subjects, leaders have not clearly identified the important knowledge they want pupils to learn. Pupils are not always able to make links between their learning in these subjects. There is a clear approach to checking pupils' understanding.

This involves pupils receiving feedback on how they can improve their work further. In the early years, staff help pupils to quickly expand their vocabulary.

Staff support pupils with SEND well.

Leaders identify pupils' needs quickly. Staff know precisely how to adapt their teaching so pupils with SEND learn the curriculum well. They help pupils to understand their own strengths and how they can improve their work.

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) knows these pupils and their families well. Parents of pupils with SEND speak positively about the communication that they receive from the school. The SENCo works with external agencies to help pupils with SEND develop their emotional and social skills.

Most pupils behave well. Their attitudes to learning are positive. Staff provide effective personalised support which has a positive impact on pupils who need help to manage their behaviour.

Pupils benefit from personal, social and health education lessons in which they gain an understanding of what it means to stay safe and healthy. Many pupils talk positively about how clubs and the opportunity to be a class council representative have helped them to develop their confidence. Pupils take part in trips linked to what they study in their lessons.

They visit places such as Rand Farm and Cresswell Crags. Teachers help pupils develop their understanding of different cultures. For example, recently all pupils took part in a Chinese New Year lion dance workshop.

The school is very much part of the local community. Members of the local community are often invited into school for different events. Parents value the communication that they receive from the school and the welcoming approach of all staff.

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the way in which the headteacher and governors consider their workload and well-being. They feel well supported and value being part of the school community and the federation.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have fostered a strong culture of safeguarding. All staff receive regular training. Staff pass on any concerns swiftly, and leaders take timely action to protect children.

Leaders work effectively with other agencies to provide further help when needed.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They know that they can speak to staff if they have any worries or concerns, and that staff will take these concerns seriously.

Leaders ensure that through the curriculum pupils receive information about how to stay safe, including when online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The reading curriculum is less effectively prioritised in key stage 2 compared with early years and key stage 1. Older pupils are not as enthusiastic about reading.

Leaders should ensure that older pupils get the opportunity to further foster a love of reading and that they have the opportunity to read on a regular basis. ? Leaders have developed subject curriculums which outline the broad knowledge that pupils will learn and when. They have not always identified the precise component knowledge that pupils will learn at each stage of their journey through the curriculum.

As a result, pupils are not always able to connect their current learning with previous learning. Leaders should ensure that curriculum plans set out for all teachers the precise knowledge that pupils will learn and when.

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 September 2011.

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