Gordon Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is calm and orderly.

Pupils feel happy and safe here. Children in the early years are curious and encouraged to be independent. They work together well.

Pupils learn the school's routines and rules quickly when they join the school. Pupils' behaviour is sensible in the classroom and around the school building.

The school provides a range of experiences to nurture and develop pupils' understanding of citizenship and their social responsibilities.

Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their place in society as well as that of others. Pupils are encouraged also to join clubs that debate global and local issues as well the opportunity to become ...rights respecting ambassadors. Pupils are taught to be respectful of and kind to others.

Staff are ambitious for all pupils. They prepare pupils for their next stage of learning, as well as preparing them for their futures as adults. They do this through scholarship programs and visits to universities.

During work week, pupils learn about a range of different careers and how they link to the subjects that they study in school. They are also taught about financial management and the importance of saving for the future.

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

The school has organised an ambitious curriculum that is well sequenced and details what pupils and children in the early years will learn over time.

This helps teachers to know precisely what to teach and when, so that important knowledge builds progressively. Subject leaders are knowledgeable and identify actions to improve the quality of curriculum thinking. The governing body utilises the expertise of members to support leaders as well as hold them to account.

They know the school well and provide effective challenge to leaders. Consequently, the right priorities are identified and addressed.

Teachers have secure subject knowledge and teach new learning with clarity.

They follow the intended curriculum carefully. Teachers have regular professional training and work closely with subject leaders across the federation to build further subject expertise. Typically, pupils recall enthusiastically what they know and can do.

They link their learning across topics and demonstrate deepened understanding. Sometimes, checks to identify and address any gaps in pupils' content knowledge are not thorough, and as a result, pupils' knowledge and recall are not as secure.

The school has ensured that reading is treated as a high priority throughout the school.

Pupils have ample opportunities to practise reading throughout the school day. There is a rigorous, systematic and sequential approach to the teaching of phonics. Staff are well trained and receive continuous further training.

Those who teach early reading ensure that pupils practise the sounds that they have been taught. Staff provide support for any pupils who fall behind in phonics. As a result, they catch up quickly and pupils learn to blend words accurately and read with confidence.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included in all aspects of the school. In many subjects, teachers adapt their teaching to ensure that pupils access the same learning as, and learn alongside, their peers. In a few subjects, the school is strengthening these adaptations.

Leaders work well with other professionals to make sure that thorough assessments are carried out. Pupils with SEND benefit from the support of external expert practitioners.

The school's personal, social and health education and wider curriculum prepare pupils effectively for life in modern Britain.

Pupils are encouraged to stay safe and leaders use a range of external partners to reinforce this. Pupils attend workshops on the dangers of joining gangs and the consequences of making poor decisions. Pupils are taught about healthy and unhealthy relationships and different types of families.

Leaders ensure that pupils have access to inspiring experiences. Pupils meet visitors to the school who enrich the curriculum, such as authors and poets who bring classroom learning to life. Pupils visit a range of places that enhance their curriculum learning, including places of worship, galleries and museums.

The school makes sure that there is a wide choice of clubs that develop pupils' interests and nurture their talents, including origami, Mehndi and guitar.

The school has taken decisive action to improve pupils' attendance rates. Leaders have in place robust measures to measure and identify pupils whose attendance causes concern.

They meet with parents and carers to understand the reasons behind non-attendance, and work together to find appropriate solutions. As a result, most pupils attend school regularly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, what pupils know and remember is not checked as routinely as in other subjects so as to identify and address any gaps in recall or misconceptions. As a result, weaknesses in pupils' knowledge of prior learning are missed. Leaders should ensure that all teachers check routinely what pupils know and remember to identify and address any gaps or misconceptions.