Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Fourlanesend Community Primary enjoy coming to school and feel safe. Staff have created a welcoming and inclusive ethos. This makes pupils feel valued.

They say that there are always staff who can help them.

Leaders are ambitious for their pupils. Children in Reception Year make a positive start.

However, the curriculum is not well sequenced beyond the early years. For example, letters and sounds in pupils' reading books do not match their phonic knowledge. As a result, pupils have gaps in their understanding.

They do not learn as quickly as they otherwise could.

Pupils are caring and support each other with respect. They have expe...riences and meet visitors that teach them about the world beyond their school.

Pupils state that bullying does not occur and are confident that it would be dealt with effectively if it did.

Pupils behave sensibly. The school is calm and orderly.

Staff and pupils understand the school's values of 'respect, responsibility, enthusiasm for learning, confidence, honesty and kindness'. These values underpin the pupils' experience of school. Staff have high expectations.

Pupils value the way staff reward positive behaviours in celebration assemblies.

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

The school's curriculum is ambitious. It covers all the subjects in the national curriculum.

The early years staff use their knowledge of the children to build a curriculum that meets their needs, such as speech and language. However, beyond early years, the curriculum is not consistently well sequenced. In some subjects, leaders have not broken down the knowledge that pupils need to know into small steps.

As a result, pupils do not know more or remember more over time. For example, in geography, the jump from learning about their locality to learning about Kenya is too large for pupils to understand and remember.

Leaders have not identified the important knowledge that pupils need to remember over time.

They do not check that pupils have understood this knowledge. For example, in mathematics, pupils do not have enough opportunities to problem-solve. As a result, knowledge is not embedded and pupils are unable to answer questions presented in new or different contexts.

While the sequencing of the school's reading curriculum is logical, pupils who need to catch up are not always taught sounds that match their knowledge and skills. The books pupils are given to read do not closely match the sounds they are being taught. This means that pupils' fluency in reading is not effectively supported because they do not have enough opportunity to practise new sounds.

Teachers know the children well. There is an inclusive ethos throughout the school. Teachers support pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs.

They learn the full curriculum. However, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not benefit from a well-sequenced curriculum. Targets for pupils are not specific.

They do not support teachers to break learning down into the small steps that pupils need to be successful. Consequently, some pupils with SEND have gaps in their learning.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for pupils' behaviour and conduct.

Staff notice and celebrate good behaviour. Systems are well understood by all. Pupils are keen to engage in learning.

They are confident to share their opinions and thinking. Leaders work hard to tackle absence. This has led to a reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently absent from school.

Children in early years are cared for well. They are supported in building positive relationships with each other and showing respect to all.

There is a strong focus on developing pupils beyond the taught curriculum.

The school's personal development programme ensures that pupils have access to a wide range of experiences. These are valued greatly by pupils. Assemblies support pupils to understand what it means to be tolerant.

Pupils link their school values to fundamental British values and enact these in their relationships with others.

Governors know the school well. They have a clear vision and use regular visits to assess the impact of leaders' actions.

The governors and leaders support the staff by ensuring that well-being is prioritised. As a result, staff report that workload is manageable.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders know the community well. They notice changes in pupils' behaviour. They act quickly when issues are raised.

They check vulnerable pupils' needs carefully. Additional help from the school is in place for families who are struggling. This is effective in stopping risks from escalating.

Staff and governors receive regular safeguarding training and updates. Leaders make them aware of the local contextual risks faced by pupils. Leaders follow up on concerns reported by staff.

Leaders work proactively with other agencies and professionals. They are not afraid to challenge practice where the needs of families are not met.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority) ? In some curriculum subjects, leaders are not clear enough about the small steps of knowledge that they want pupils to know and remember.

As a result, pupils' learning is hindered. Leaders need to ensure that they have identified the key knowledge and skills that pupils need to know and remember. ? Assessment is not used to identify how well pupils remember the knowledge taught.

This means that teachers do not revisit learning sufficiently well. As a result, pupils' recall of their learning is incomplete. Leaders need to make sure that teachers use assessment to check what pupils know and remember across all subjects.

• In phonics, pupils who need to catch up are not taught the next sound that they need to learn. This holds these pupils back. Leaders must ensure that teaching matches the needs of those pupils and enables them to catch up quickly.

• Pupils' reading books are not directly matched to the sounds taught. As a result, books provided do not enable pupils to practice new sounds to build automaticity. Leaders need to match reading books to the sounds being taught so that all pupils can become fluent readers as quickly as possible.

• Plans for pupils with SEND are not precise enough. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders need to ensure that targets identify exactly what pupils need to achieve and check the effectiveness of any additional support.