Fulham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive here. The new leadership team and all staff have consistently high expectations and are committed to ensuring success for all.

This is being realised.The curriculum is broad and ambitious. It is well designed so that learning in all subjects is broken down into small steps.

This helps pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to deepen their knowledge and understanding. Pupils are highly enthusiastic about their learning. They produce work of high quality and are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Behaviour in classrooms and around the school is exemplary. This is because pupils are... taught about integrity and the importance of positive behaviour. As a result, pupils feel safe and are kept safe.

They are committed to their learning and disruption in lessons is rare.

Pupils are rightly proud of their school. They have contributed fully to the recent changes and show a real commitment to school life.

Pupils readily take on a wide range of responsibilities, including as head boy and girl, playground buddies and on the behaviour panel. Elections for these roles provide pupils with an understanding of democracy and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

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

Leaders have created a strong culture of reading across the school.

For example, carefully chosen reading materials encourage pupils' love of reading. Staff are well-trained and deliver the school's chosen phonics programme with precision. Children start learning letter sounds as soon as they start school, practising reading using books that are carefully matched to the sounds they know.

Appropriate support is provided for those at risk of falling behind. This ensures that all pupils, including those with SEND, learn to read with increasing accuracy, fluency and confidence.

From the Nursery onwards, there is a relentless focus on developing pupils' oracy.

The curriculum identifies the vocabulary children should encounter and secure as they move through early years. They are taught how to respond when answering questions and talking with each other. As a result, children learn to communicate confidently and effectively.

Leaders have given careful thought to the knowledge pupils should secure in each subject and how that learning is sequenced. This is helping pupils to know and remember more over time across the breadth of the curriculum. For example, in early years children learn about castles and who has lived in them in the past.

This prepares them for learning about concepts, such as monarchy and invasion, later on. Similarly, in mathematics, children in Reception learn to recognise, count and make different amounts. This lays the foundations for more complex addition and subtraction.

Staff have very secure subject knowledge because of the high-quality training and support they receive. Assessment is used effectively in order to check pupils' learning and to address any errors or misconceptions that may arise. Time is provided each day to revisit, practise and embed the knowledge from across the curriculum.

This helps to ensure that pupils are thoroughly prepared to tackle more complex learning.

The recent changes made to the curriculum and how it is implemented are not yet fully reflected in the school's published outcomes. However, the consistent implementation of the curriculum means pupils develop a deep understanding across all subjects.

This is evident in their confidence when talking about their learning and through the high-quality work they produce.

Behaviour in lessons and around the school is calm and harmonious. Pupils know the rules and are committed to following them.

There are effective systems in place to manage attendance. Most pupils attend regularly and on time. Leaders are focused on increasing this further and reducing rates of persistence absence.

This is a truly inclusive school. Leaders work closely with specialists, including speech and language therapists and the educational psychologist, to secure advice and guidance. Information is clearly communicated with staff.

This enables pupils, wherever possible, to access the same ambitious curriculum.

Provision for pupils' personal development is exceptional. The curriculum is carefully designed to help prepare pupils for their future lives.

For example, they learn about respectful relationships, how to stay safe and healthy, and age-appropriate information about consent. Pupils benefit from a wide range of activities that enrich and enhance the curriculum. These include an engineering project with Cirque du Soleil and Rolls Royce, and work with Chelsea Football Club focusing on the importance of staying safe and healthy.

Despite senior leaders being relatively new, they have a precise and accurate understanding of the school's strengths. They have been meticulous in their approach to school improvement. They know the impact of their work and use this to identify appropriate priorities moving forward.

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the support they receive to manage their workload and well-being. This includes opportunities provided by the trust to develop professionally.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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