Fox Hill Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Each pupil has their own special place in the 'Fox Hill family' and is valued for their strengths and individual personalities. Pupils actively champion the school values, which are reflected in leadership roles such as in the eco and reading councils, and as sports leaders and values ambassadors.

Pupils engage in community and environmental projects such as gardening and visiting local care homes to read to senior citizens. Every pupil has an opportunity to take on a leadership role and they talk with confidence about the improvements they have introduced during their time at the school.

Pupils behave respectfully and calmly around the school.

They concentra...te well in lessons and keep trying when work is challenging. They play kindly together at social times. Younger pupils look forward to playground games organised by the older sports leaders.

The school is ambitious for every pupil, determined they will achieve as well as they possibly can. Adults know pupils well. They recognise pupil's needs and make sure every pupil is provided with the right pastoral and academic support.

Pupils achieve well and are rightly proud of their learning. As one parent commented: 'The school is fantastic and really supports each child as an individual'.

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

Leaders have a crystal-clear vision of excellence for the school, which they execute with relentless determination.

The school has built an optimistic 'anything is possible' ethos which parents, staff and pupils are all proud to be part of.

Recently, the school has introduced a more ambitious curriculum, starting in Reception and running through to Year 6. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many pupils joined the school with below-expected levels of development and did not catch up by the end of Year 2.

In response, the school has strengthened the early years curriculum, ensuring that speaking, listening, personal development and reading are at its heart. Consequently, children in Reception now get off to a strong start, catch up quickly and are ready for Year 1. Throughout the school, leaders have made sure that the curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in the wider world, while taking their interest into account.

Pupils are introduced to inspirational professionals from engineering, artistic, scientific and mathematical backgrounds. This helps them to make links between their learning in school, alongside raising their aspirations for the future.

Leaders make sure every pupil reads fluently and is encouraged to enjoy books.

Pupils begin their reading journey enjoying songs, stories and rhymes in Reception. Pupils' progress is tracked forensically as they start learning to read. Pupils who struggle are given expert support to catch up quickly and overcome any barriers.

Once fluent, pupils continue to develop their interest in books through reading the school's progressive sequence of high quality fiction, poetry and information texts.Teachers know exactly what they must teach and in which order. They model the technical vocabulary that pupils must understand and remember.

They use their secure subject knowledge to explain new ideas clearly and adapt activities and resources well. This means that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are able to learn the same curriculum successfully. Teachers break the curriculum down so pupils build their understanding securely in small steps.

For example, when investigating the anatomy of a hen's egg, pupils dissect it in stages. Their curiosity is ignited as they use magnifying glasses to discover the eggshell pores, then the membrane. Teachers use scientific investigations well, to encourage pupils' questions and promote rich discussion about scientific concepts.

Where subjects are well developed, such as phonics, mathematics and science, teachers use assessment systematically. They use questions effectively to find out what pupils know and to identify and address any misconceptions. As a result, in these subjects, pupils remember what they have learned before and connect new learning with larger ideas.

For example, when learning about recycling in Year 6, pupils build on what they were taught in Year 5 about the adverse effects of re-usable plastics on ecosystems. In some other subjects across the wider curriculum, assessment routines are less securely in place.

The school's work to develop pupil's characters is exceptionally strong.

The school's values are threaded through every aspect of the curriculum. Pupils speak proudly about the changes they have made to the school and the confidence this has given them to voice their opinions.

Governors have an accurate understanding of the school.

They use their knowledge well to support leaders' clear plans and vision. This is helping to create an exceptionally inclusive environment where all pupils feel deeply valued and achieve the very best they possibly can.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some areas of the wider curriculum, leaders do not have a clear enough understanding of what pupils know and can remember. Consequently, pupils have gaps in their knowledge and so struggle to connect new learning with larger ideas. The school should ensure that its ongoing work to develop assessment enables staff to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge consistently well across the whole curriculum.

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