Georgian Gardens Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very happy at school.

They enjoy their lessons and feel that everyone is included and treated fairly. Pupils feel safe. They understand and follow the school rules of 'ready, respectful, safe'.

They are confident that school staff would always listen to any worries they had and get them any help they needed.

Since her arrival in 2018, the headteacher has established the same high expectations for every pupil in the school. All staff now understand these expectations.

Children in Reception have quickly settled into classroom routines. They listen attentively to adults and are keen to join in and have a go. Lessons for older pupils are calm ...and settled.

Pupils want to be successful in their learning. They told inspectors that children at their school are kind and considerate. Pupils are confident that if bullying was reported to staff, concerns would be quickly and effectively addressed.

Parents recognise the dedication of the headteacher, and the staff, to the welfare and education of every pupil. They feel that their children are known, nurtured, respected and valued. Parents are particularly appreciative of how their children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported, and also of the positive approach to inclusion that sits at the heart of the school's vision and ethos.

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

Since 2018, senior leaders have focused on the quality of education provided to pupils. They have ensured that there is a broad and balanced curriculum in place for all. They have worked to develop teachers' knowledge and expertise, particularly in mathematics and English.

A new mathematics curriculum was introduced for key stages 1 and 2 in September 2019. Staff across the school have worked together to break the curriculum down into manageable chunks of learning for pupils. If pupils fall behind, they receive additional, targeted support to help them catch up.

Children in Reception work from a different mathematics curriculum, that leaders feel is more suited to their needs.

A new phonics programme was introduced in September 2021. Senior leaders have ensured that all staff have received training to support them in teaching phonics.

Children in Reception quickly begin to learn letter-sound correspondences. Leaders have ensured that younger pupils read books that match the sounds they are learning. Careful assessment is used to ensure that pupils who fall behind are identified.

Intervention is in place for those who are behind. However, not all staff have the expertise they need to support pupils with SEND and pupils who struggle to learn to read to catch up. Leaders are aware that further training is needed.

The wider reading curriculum has been carefully developed since 2018. Staff have received training to develop their knowledge of children's literature and so they know how to teach reading to a whole class. Leaders have been supported by the local authority to develop teachers' understanding of how to teach writing effectively.

This work is well developed. Leaders have begun to develop a core of high-quality and ambitious texts for all year groups to strengthen further the teaching of reading and writing.

Senior leaders have introduced a new curriculum for each foundation subject, with the clear ambition to ensure that all pupils, especially pupils who are disadvantaged or who have SEND, have the knowledge, skills and experiences they need to succeed in life.

They have carefully considered the context of their school, and the range of experiences that they want their pupils to have. These rich experiences have been carefully threaded through the curriculum, right from the beginning of Reception. Senior leaders know that not all subjects are coherently planned and sequenced towards a clear end point.

They have plans in place to complete this work.

Throughout their work to develop the quality of education that pupils receive, leaders have kept the needs of pupils with SEND and pupils who are disadvantaged at the heart of their thinking. The special educational needs coordinator works very effectively with staff to identify when a pupil has SEND and to ensure that pupils get the right support within school, and from external experts where appropriate.

Leaders have carefully considered how they support pupils' personal development. All pupils are assessed twice yearly to identify if they need support with their emotional development or well-being. Pupils appreciate the wide range of opportunities the school provides, for example, to compete in sporting events or to take on a 'pupil governor' role within the school.

The school's 'education for safeguarding' curriculum teaches pupils how to keep themselves safe.

Since the last inspection, an external review of governance has been carried out. Governors have been very quick to respond to recommendations.

They have recruited additional governors with the expertise necessary to drive the school forwards. They have restructured the governing body to ensure that they are able to support the school in providing pupils with an ever-improving quality of education. Governors and the local authority have high levels of confidence in the school's leadership team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have trained staff so that they are able to identify pupils who might be at risk. Staff and leaders alike recognise indicators of risk and understand their wider significance.

Careful tracking and recording means that they have a broad picture of vulnerable pupils, their presenting behaviours and patterns over time. Leaders ensure that pupils get the help they need, making referrals to external safeguarding partners appropriately. There is strong support for families.

However, leaders do not allow the pursuit of positive relations with families to distract them from their safeguarding responsibilities. Pupils at the school feel safe and say they would be confident about talking to school staff about any worries they might have.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders know that too many pupils are still persistently absent.

Leaders must continue their work to improve the attendance of these families, working with external partners as appropriate. ? Leaders have developed or adopted a curriculum for each foundation subject. These curriculums are ambitious and designed to give all pupils, especially pupils who are disadvantaged or who have SEND, the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

However, in some foundation subjects, leaders have not been sufficiently precise in setting out the key concepts and knowledge that pupils need to learn over time. This means that the curriculum in some foundation subjects has not been fully sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills. Leaders need to continue their work to fully develop the sequencing of the curriculum for each subject.

For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. ? Leaders introduced a new phonics programme in September 2021. Staff have had training to ensure that they understand the programme and how to deliver it.

However, at present, not all staff have sufficient expertise to be able to effectively support the weakest readers to learn to read. Older struggling readers do not always read books that match the specific sounds they are learning and need to practise. Leaders must ensure that staff are trained to support all pupils to learn to read at an age-appropriate level, and that all readers at an earlier stage of learning to decode have a well-matched book.

• Leaders have begun to map out the core texts that underpin the English curriculum. The sequence of books that pupils will read over time, and how children will be taught to recognise themes in what they read, are not fully developed and sequenced. Leaders need to develop the sequencing of the English curriculum to ensure that pupils are supported to engage with increasingly complex texts across a wide range of genres.

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