Foxdell Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Foxdell Primary School is a supportive and welcoming community, putting pupils at the centre of all it does. The school celebrates the diverse cultures and backgrounds of its community, ensuring a safe and happy environment for every child.

The school has high expectations for both behaviour and learning.

Pupils follow the 'Foxdell Way', moving calmly and responsibly through the school. Most attend regularly, are happy and enjoy their lessons, striving to do their best and taking pride in their work.

Pupils take on various roles, such as play leaders and school council members.

The Eco Council is especially proud of its efforts to improve the school ...grounds and of earning the Eco Green Flag Award. These experiences foster a strong sense of pride and belonging within the school community.

The school's ethos is built on positive and supportive relationships between adults and pupils.

Children feel safe and know they can confidently approach staff with any concerns.

A careful and personalised approach to early language development helps pupils build strong communication skills right from the beginning. Most pupils achieve well across the curriculum and understand what it means to be a good citizen.

This ensures they are well-prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

The school's curriculum is ambitious and broad. Despite staffing challenges in the past, the school has identified its most important learning priorities and has started to address gaps in pupils' understanding.

Pupils' outcomes in national tests and assessments are improving as they increasingly recall important knowledge across subjects and complete work to a high standard.

Leaders have recently established curriculum subject teams to ensure consistency of curriculum delivery across both sites. Effective systems are in place to develop staff at all levels through well-thought-through training programmes tailored to the school's specific needs.

However, with many new staff, including those new to the profession, some areas of the curriculum are not taught as effectively as others. For example, while strong systems are in place to identify pupils with barriers to learning, such as pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or pupils who are new to speaking English, some staff are still developing the skills needed to consistently adapt learning to meet pupils' differing needs and help them to be as successful as they can.

Staff are committed to fostering a love of reading and helping pupils develop a solid foundation in literacy throughout their primary years.

Leaders aim to ensure that every pupil, regardless of background, ability or language, becomes a confident and capable reader. Targeted sessions ensure that pupils catch up quickly.The school provides a strong start for children in the early years and those joining at different points in the year, including pupils arriving from other countries.

By identifying communication, speech and language needs early, the school offers tailored support that helps pupils settle quickly and engage with the reading curriculum. Reading is firmly embedded as the foundation for learning, and as a result, most pupils make strong progress across the curriculum.

The school's early years curriculum sets clear expectations for behaviour and learning.

Children engage well in most lessons. Adults are skilled at identifying and teaching the letters and sounds children need to learn. However, during child-initiated learning, adults are sometimes unclear about the purpose and learning goals of activities meant to encourage independent play.

In these instances, children rely too much on adult support or lose focus and become disengaged.

Pupils across the school behave well. Recent changes to lunchtime activities have encouraged positive engagement, and pupils report noticeable improvement.

While most pupils attend school regularly, the pastoral team works closely with families and professionals to support those who struggle, helping some pupils to improve their attendance.

The school's values are deeply embedded in its curriculum. Pupils are caring and sensitive to others' needs, expressing aspirations to abolish racism, fighting and poverty.

They learn about a range of religions and respect the beliefs and choices of others. Annual interfaith workshops, well attended by parents, promote understanding and respect within the community. The school's values help pupils to develop as positive role models and responsible citizens.

Enrichment opportunities, such as trips to the zoo and reptile workshops, are carefully planned to enhance learning. The strong music curriculum deepens pupils' appreciation of music and fosters joy in playing instruments together, enriching their experience and strengthening the school community.

Leaders, including governors, show strong commitment to supporting families and pupils, with a clear understanding of their needs.

Staff value the consistent support and targeted training provided by leaders. This enables them to perform their roles effectively and improve pupils' learning experiences.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not consistently adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all pupils, occasionally setting tasks that are too difficult. As a result, some pupils struggle to complete these tasks successfully. The school should ensure that all teachers have the expertise needed so that they can modify tasks so that all pupils can access learning and make progress through the curriculum.

• In the early years, tasks designed to support children's independent learning do not always give sufficient consideration of children's developmental needs and learning goals. As a result, some children struggle to sustain engagement with activities, limiting their ability to fully benefit from these opportunities. The school should ensure that teachers have a clear understanding of the specific learning objectives for each activity so that they design activities that are purposeful, capture children's interest and foster deeper learning.