Framfield Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe at this welcoming village school. They know that staff will deal with any concerns they may have.

Pupils enjoy school and are keen to learn. However, staff are not consistent in their application of the school's new behaviour policy. This means that pupils are not being supported to live up to these new expectations.

As a result, learning is sometimes disrupted and learning time is not used effectively.

Pupils do not achieve well enough. The school has begun to address this through improvements to the curriculum.

However, teachers do not always explain learning clearly enough or have high enough expectations of what som...e pupils can achieve. This means, that in a number of subjects pupils do not learn as well as they should. In contrast, children in the early years do learn the important skills and knowledge they need.

The school offers high-quality support for pupils' mental health and well-being. Pupils learn strategies to manage their emotions effectively. They express their feelings confidently and appropriately.

For pupils who require additional help the school has developed a range of therapeutic support. This includes play therapy and time with Douglas, the school therapy dog. Pupils say this helps them to concentrate and to learn well.

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

The school has been through a number of leadership changes since the last inspection. As a result, leadership has not been consistent and support for staff has not been effective. In some subjects, the oversight of the curriculum is not robust enough.

This means the impact of the curriculum on pupils' learning is not known.

Governors have ensured that the school now has stable leadership. The school has an ambitious vision for improvement and staff are positive about working at the school.

However, the school has not had time to embed the new systems they have introduced.

The school's curriculum is not designed well enough. In some subjects, there is a lack of clarity about what pupils should learn.

In these subjects, the curriculum does not meet the needs of pupils in mixed-age classes. Consequently, pupils do not always learn age-appropriate content.

Too many pupils do not become fluent and confident readers.

The school has responded to this and has made significant changes to the teaching of reading. However, this is not embedded. The teaching of phonics and checks on pupils' phonics knowledge are not consistent.

This means the books that pupils read are not always matched closely enough to the sounds and letters that pupils learn. Pupils who fall behind do not always receive the help they need to catch up. However, children in the early years do learn the sounds and letters they need to be able to read.

Teachers' subject knowledge is not secure in some subjects. They do not always select tasks that help pupils in learning the curriculum content effectively. The checks that teachers make on pupils' understanding are not always precise enough and some misconceptions are not addressed.

In early years, teachers model learning clearly and children know what they are learning. Staff in the early years use checks carefully to identify children's next steps.

The school identifies the needs of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), clearly.

Staff understand pupils' barriers to learning and adapt teaching effectively. Pupils with SEND learn the same content as their peers. However, pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could.

This is a result of the design of the curriculum for all pupils.

Pupils do not learn all the skills and knowledge they need for their next steps. They do not write consistently well and some pupils do not have age-appropriate understanding of key mathematical concepts.

In the wider curriculum pupils do learn key content and can apply what they have learned to new learning. For example, in physical education pupils can accurately demonstrate a range of netball passes and can identify when they would use them in a game.

Pupils are polite and courteous.

They play together kindly and older pupils act as role models to those in early years. The school has clear systems to track attendance and respond quickly to break down barriers to attendance. As a result, pupils attend frequently and punctually.

The school has prioritised pupils' personal development. Pupils learn important skills of leadership through the various roles they can hold, including membership of the school council. Pupils know how to keep safe online.

They have respectful attitudes to difference and diversity. The school enriches pupils' experiences through a rich offer of educational visits and wider opportunities. Pupils enjoy these activities and recall the facts they learn during them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff do not have secure enough subject knowledge. This means they do not explain learning clearly enough or check pupils' understanding accurately.

As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school must ensure the curriculum is delivered effectively so that pupils learn well and achieve highly. ? The school curriculum is not designed well enough in a number of subjects.

Therefore, pupils do not learn important skills and knowledge over time. The school must ensure that the school's curriculum is well sequenced and ambitious in all subjects. Staff do not always apply the school's behaviour approach consistently.

This means that routines are not well established. As a result, disruptions to learning and lost learning time occur in some areas of the school. The school should make sure that all staff are supported to apply the behaviour principles and expectations consistently.

• The teaching of phonics is not consistent. As a result, pupils do not learn to read fluently quickly enough. The school must ensure phonics is consistently implemented so that pupils are supported to become confident, fluent readers.

• Leadership is not strong enough in some subjects. As a result, there are inconsistencies in the delivery of the curriculum that hinder pupils in learning important skills and knowledge. The school should ensure leaders receive support to provide staff with the necessary guidance to teach the curriculum confidently and effectively.

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