Gillespie Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that all pupils receive an exceptional education.

They have extremely high expectations of pupils, which ensures all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve very well.

Pupils are hard-working, confident and highly motivated to learn. Leaders and staff encourage pupils to develop their resilience.

As a result, pupils enjoy being challenged during lessons and are excited to acquire new knowledge.

Staff know pupils very well. Working relationships between staff and pupils are extremely positive.

As a result, pupils are safe in school. Behaviour in the school is exemplary. Pupils'... attitudes to learning in the classroom are extremely strong.

Pupils contribute to the school community in many ways, including through the student council, the 'eco-committee' and the 'travel ambassadors'. These opportunities also help pupils to develop their leadership skills.

There are a wide range of clubs and extra activities for pupils to take part in.

These include sports clubs, a choir and street dance club. Pupils also take part in the 'science for life' programme, which involves many workshops, experiments and outings.

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

Leaders have developed an extremely ambitious curriculum for all pupils in the school.

They make sure that pupils build knowledge over time progressively. This helps pupils to learn and remember new concepts quickly. Leaders' curricular thinking embeds subject-specific vocabulary, which pupils use confidently.

Teachers have extremely strong subject knowledge. Highly effective training is in place to ensure staff have expertise across all curriculum areas. Teachers present information clearly and make adaptations to ensure pupils with SEND access the curriculum effectively.

Teachers check for pupils' understanding systematically and address any misconceptions quickly. This helps pupils to produce work of extremely high-quality. In Reception, teachers are highly skilled at ensuring children develop their communication skills.

This includes regularly checking of and developing the children's use of new vocabulary.

Leaders have placed a sharp focus on the teaching of early reading. All staff are well trained in delivering the phonics programme, which ensures it is taught to a consistently high standard.

Staff are highly skilled at identifying any pupils that fall behind the pace of the programme. Effective support is put in place for these pupils to ensure they catch up and keep up.

Staff enable pupils to have a strong passion for reading.

They make sure that pupils read every day at school. Pupils read a wide variety of books, both in school and to take home. Leaders make sure that books for pupils at the early stages of reading are well matched to their phonic ability.

Leaders have run workshops for parents and carers to support them with strategies for reading with their children at home.

Pupils are highly focused during lessons. They consistently demonstrate excellent attitudes to their learning.

In early years, children are motivated, share and cooperate well with each other. The attendance of pupils in school is extremely high. Leaders work effectively with parents and have robust strategies in place to ensure pupils attend school regularly.

Leaders have thought carefully about the pupils in the school when designing the personal development programme. This helps pupils to understand how to stay safe and healthy. Staff assess and address any gaps in pupils' understanding of these topics with great expertise.

All pupils attend a range of outings each year. These include visits to museums, places of worship and workshops, including with creative arts organisations. The school also welcomes a variety of external speakers to deliver sessions to pupils.

These include a poet and an electrical engineer.

Leaders prioritise the health and welfare of their staff. They are conscious of the pressures of workload and explore strategies to minimise this, where possible.

The governing body understands the strengths and priorities of the school and carries out its role effectively. It has a clear strategic vision and provides appropriate challenge and support to leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.