Glasshouses Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Glasshouses Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Glasshouses Primary School is a small school that has big ambitions for all its pupils. A caring and respectful ethos runs through all areas of the school. Leaders are determined to provide pupils with the knowledge and understanding they need to be happy, confident and successful.

As an accredited Rights Respecting school, teachers support pupils to express their opinions and value those of their friends.

The support for pupils' personal development is a key strength of the school. Leaders make sure that pupils and parents develop an awareness and appreciation of div...ersity.

An expertly structured curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE) develops pupils' understanding of healthy relationships and how to manage risks and keep themselves safe. Pupils understand how to ask for help and are confident that they will be listened to if they are worried.

Pupils talk positively about the 'CHAMPS' values: choices, honesty, achievements, manners, perseverance and safety.

They model these values throughout the school day and feel that these help to make their school special. Pupils' behaviour, both in and out of lessons, is positive. Relationships between older and younger pupils are strong and contribute to the family ethos of the school.

Pupils, staff and parents are proud to be a part of this nurturing school.

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

Leaders have established a well-sequenced curriculum across all subjects. They have carefully considered the local context of the school and the additional challenges of learning in mixed-age classes.

Each subject begins in the early years and develops through to the end of Year 6. In mathematics, teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to discuss their learning and address misconceptions. Pupils confidently use a range of resources to deepen their understanding.

Leaders have established individual learning logs in subjects such as geography and history. These help to assess pupils' knowledge and identify any gaps in learning. In addition, subject leaders have designed knowledge mats to introduce the key knowledge and vocabulary for each topic.

However, teachers do not use these consistently in all classes.

The approach to learning in some subjects is not well matched to the design of the curriculum. For example, in geography some learning tasks lack a sharp focus on developing essential subject vocabulary.

Teachers do not consistently provide pupils with opportunities to explore and deepen their understanding. This limits the connections that pupils are making between different areas of their subject knowledge.

Leaders have introduced a new scheme for the teaching of early reading.

A structured programme of training and support has ensured that all lessons are consistent and clearly focused. Pupils respond well to the structure and pace of learning. They successfully read books that contain the sounds that they know.

Leaders have ensured that teaching addresses any identified gaps in learning. Regular assessments and interventions ensure that any pupils falling behind have the support they need to catch up quickly. Reading underpins all areas of the curriculum.

Leaders have introduced an ambitious range of books and poems within each class. Pupils talk enthusiastically about stories they have read, from both classic and modern authors.

The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is a strength of the school.

The special education needs coordinator (SENCo) has established clear systems for identifying and addressing pupils' individual needs. Parents speak highly of the support their children receive. The SENCo provides teachers with clear guidance on any additional support or resources that pupils need to be successful in their learning.

The provision for pupils without individual learning plans, who struggle to keep up with the pace of learning, is less strong. Teachers do not consistently provide the focused support that these pupils need to close the gaps in their knowledge.

Staff speak positively about the support they receive from leaders.

The headteacher has a clear understanding of the need to balance the pace of improvements with the pressures of teachers' workload. The new governing body has quickly established a strong understanding of school priorities. They hold leaders to account effectively and have clear plans for the ongoing development of the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that maintaining a culture of safeguarding is a high priority for all staff. A regular programme of training, updates and monitoring ensures that staff identify and act swiftly to address any concerns.

Leaders use the early help system well to provide pupils and families with additional support. Staff make effective use of the electronic recording system to build a picture around each pupil causing concern. Leaders monitor this carefully to identify any trends in incidents and follow up actions.

Teachers have a good understanding of local safeguarding issues such as the threat from county lines (county lines is where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, usually by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by gangs) and extremism. They teach pupils how to recognise these risks and keep themselves safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, teachers do not design lessons that effectively support the intentions of the curriculum.

Some learning tasks limit pupils' opportunities to apply and deepen their subject knowledge. Leaders should ensure that the work required of pupils is ambitious and enables them to strengthen their subject knowledge and establish links between different areas of the curriculum. ? Pupils working just below age-related expectations do not receive the targeted support they need to catch up quickly.

This means that teaching does not consistently address the learning gap between these pupils and their peers. Leaders should ensure that teachers use specific time-limited interventions, along with quality-first teaching, to rapidly reduce any gaps in learning.

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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2012.