Garway Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Garway Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school that is extremely popular with its pupils and parents and carers.

They love the family atmosphere, and pupils radiate enthusiasm for their work. One parent said that their children did not want to go to sleep before they had recounted everything they had learned. Pupils study a wide range of subjects.

Leaders and governors place the school's values at the centre of their work. Pupils care for each other, and older ones help younger ones. Behaviour in the classroom and the playground is consistently good, and sometimes exceptional.

Bullying is not accepted a...nd pupils feel safe. Pupils and their parents are sure that staff will sort out any disagreements quickly.

Teachers organise learning well.

They plan the work so that it builds on what pupils already know. They check on pupils' progress and make good arrangements for those who need to catch up. Staff provide well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The headteacher has a shrewd understanding of the school's priorities. She has taken effective action to improve the quality of education and to manage recent staffing changes.

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

Class teachers plan pupils' learning well.

They make sure that they base their teaching on pupils' prior knowledge and understanding. Teachers draw effectively on a range of resources. Leaders for each subject provide additional support.

Teachers combine the learning of different subjects well. For example, topics often combine history with geography and the art of the period. Pupils also develop their literacy skills effectively by writing at length about their topic work.

Teachers nevertheless ensure that they teach the skills and knowledge that each subject requires. They encourage pupils to reflect on how new ideas relate to what they have learned before. As a result, pupils understand how their learning fits together.

They are able to recall knowledge and ideas in good detail.

In the classroom, teaching assistants help to ensure that work is well matched to pupils' differing abilities. Staff encourage pupils to be increasingly independent, but pupils know that help is always available if they need it.

Sometimes, the most able pupils complete too many similar tasks. On these occasions, they would benefit from work that makes them think more deeply. This would help them to do even better at school, particularly in writing and mathematics.

Leaders recognise the central importance of early reading. Responding to a dip in reading outcomes for Year 1 pupils, leaders have revamped the teaching of phonics. Those who attend the pre-school begin their work on letters and sounds in the summer term of Nursery Year.

From then on, pupils follow a programme that ensures that they learn letters in a helpful sequence. Staff group pupils using precise assessments of what pupils already know. This careful planning and lively teaching sustain pupils' interest and help them to make strong progress.

Pupils hear teachers reading, study texts together as a class and read on their own. Books are generally well matched to pupils' reading skills. Pupils enjoy reading and understand its importance.

Staff in early years teach numeracy well. Children are able to reason and develop an understanding of mathematics, alongside number facts. Older pupils' learning in the subject is broken down into small steps.

These help them to acquire and retain mathematical knowledge. At key stage 2, in particular, pupils have the secure understanding to reason mathematically and apply their learning in different ways. Pupils use the correct mathematical vocabulary.

Pupils' outcomes in mathematics have improved steadily over recent years.

Teachers know how to teach the different subjects of the national curriculum. For example, in history, they have a good knowledge.

Teachers develop pupils' skills as historians, such as how to use different sources. They make sure that pupils have a sense of chronology, so that pupils can fit together their learning about different time periods.

There are several opportunities for pupils to take responsibility and to serve the wider community.

Staff carefully nurture pupils' self-confidence and personal independence. Most take part in clubs after school, and many receive instrumental music lessons. Pupils recognise how well staff teach and care for them.

They consistently treat adults and their classmates with respect.

Teachers told us that their training has been very effective in improving their skills, especially in the teaching of phonics and mathematics. They have useful opportunities to visit other schools.

Leaders have taken appropriate steps to manage teachers' workload.

This school year has seen a marked improvement in pupils' attendance, but it remains below the national average. Leaders have not persuaded some parents to send their children to school on every day that they are fit to attend.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know the pupils and their families very well. They use this knowledge to help them to keep pupils safe.

Leaders make sure that staff are well trained, so that they are vigilant and alert to any risks. If an issue arises, leaders take the right steps to involve other agencies that work with children. They keep good records.

Leaders make the necessary checks on the staff who join the school. The governing body plays an effective part in safeguarding.

Pupils feel overwhelmingly safe in school, and their parents share this view.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Some of the most able pupils do not achieve as well as they should do. More key stage 2 pupils should attain at greater depth in mathematics and writing. Current steps to dovetail the curriculum in the pre-school with that in Reception Year will further increase the proportion of pupils who start key stage 1 having exceeded at least some of the early learning goals.

Leaders should ensure that teachers at key stages 1 and 2 understand how to plan well in different subjects so that the most able pupils gain a deep understanding of the subject matter. . Although this school year has seen a considerable improvement, both the overall rate of pupils' absence and the proportion of pupils who are absent persistently remain above average.

Leaders and governors have stressed to parents the importance of good attendance. They should, nevertheless, redouble their efforts to demonstrate the benefits to both individual pupils and to the school community of the fullest possible attendance.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2016.