Glebefields Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Glebefields Primary School. They are kind to one another and look after each other.

They say that they treat each other as equals and how they would like others to treat them.

Staff know the pupils well across the whole school. Relationships between staff and pupils are positive.

Pupils say that they feel happy and safe in school. They know that they can talk to staff if anything is worrying them. They understand about the different types of bullying.

If bullying does occur, staff sort it out quickly.

Pupils study a broad range of subjects and show interest in what they are learning. All staff want pupils to do well....r/>
However, leaders have not ensured that teachers' subject knowledge is as secure as it should be. This slows learning and limits pupils from reaching their full potential.

The curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

Pupils know how to be tolerant, active and eat healthily. Pupils learn about different faiths and cultures. Leaders make sure that pupils have good pastoral support and children know how to keep themselves safe.

Pupils also enjoy attending a range of after-school clubs, including dodge ball and choir.

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

There have been many changes in the curriculum over the past few years. Leaders have a clear idea of what they want pupils to learn.

Leaders have thought about the progression of skills and knowledge over time. However, there is variation in staff expertise and subject knowledge. Teachers do not always identify pupils' factual errors and misconceptions quickly enough.

This slows learning and creates confusion for pupils.

Children get a good start to life in school in the early years. The early years curriculum is well sequenced and allows children to build on what they already know and can do.

In Nursery, children quickly settle into school and develop strong relationships with the staff and each other. Staff work well with children in the Nursery to develop speech and language. Children take part in lessons and activities that interest and excite them.

They regularly practise their listening skills, so they can hear and recognise sounds and letters. Staff make the most of each opportunity to talk and interact with children. They encourage children to speak in full sentences.

This helps children make a successful start to their life at the school.

Leaders recognise the importance of reading and introduced a new approach to teaching phonics in February 2022. All staff have had training in the teaching of phonics and leaders have ensured that staff understand how to teach the subject well.

Books are generally matched well to the sounds that pupils know. However, support in reading for those pupils who need it the most is inconsistent. Some pupils do not read regularly enough in school.

This is especially the case for pupils at the earlier stages of learning to read. Where this is the case, these pupils may fall further behind because they do not have the practise they need to become more fluent in reading.

Pupils want to do well in school.

The generally behave well in lessons. However, at times, staff's expectations of pupils are not high enough. For example, some work in books is very hard to read and staff do not pick up on repeated basic errors which hamper progress, such as forgetting to use a capital letter at the start of a sentence or poorly setting out a mathematics calculation.

Staff promote equality and respect for all through lessons and in school assemblies. Pupils learn about the features of positive friendships and healthy relationships. Pupils understand why they need to show respect to others.

They welcome and respect everyone in school and celebrate their differences.

Any barriers to learning pupils have are promptly identified. Leaders work well with staff, parents and carers to put suitable plans in place to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

They ensure that these pupils receive support that is well matched to their needs.

Some pupils have very poor rates of attendance. Leaders' actions to address this issue have had some success.

However, too many pupils are persistently absent, resulting in them having gaps in their knowledge.

Governors know the school well. They want pupils to succeed.

They provide suitable challenge and support and acknowledge that there is more work to do. Most staff enjoy working at the school. However, there are some staff who feel that leaders do not engage with them as well as they could.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff understand their role in keeping pupils safe. They know what to do if they have concerns about pupils and act promptly.

Leaders take the necessary action to support pupils who need help. This includes working with families and external agencies when needed.

Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe, both online and in the local community.

In addition, leaders arrange lessons to educate pupils about specific issues that affect them. For example, older pupils have worked with the police community support officer to find out more about how social media can affect people negatively.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers do not pick up factual errors and misconceptions quickly enough in some subjects.

This is because teachers' subject knowledge is not as secure as it should be. This slows the progress that pupils make and sometimes causes confusion. Leaders should ensure that staff have secure subject knowledge, so that they can support and challenge all pupils effectively.

• Some pupils, especially those at the earlier stages of learning to read, do not read regularly enough. This means they are not catching up as quickly as they could and may be falling even further behind. Leaders should ensure that these pupils receive the enhanced support and practise they need to develop their reading fluency.

• Staff do not always have high enough expectations of pupils. For example, sometimes, pupils' work is presented poorly, which compounds pupils' errors. Leaders should ensure that staff have sufficiently high expectations of pupils, so that basic errors with the accuracy of pupils' work are much reduced.

• A significant number of pupils are absent or persistently absent from school. This impacts on how well pupils learn and slows their progress. Leaders should work closely with parents to overcome barriers to pupils' poor attendance.