Gordonbrock Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Gordonbrock Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is an exceptional school where pupils thrive as learners.

The school has the highest ambition for pupils to develop as confident and capable young people. This starts in the early years. Leaders have developed a curriculum that is relevant and well structured.

Teachers deliver that curriculum with care and skill. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make strong progress through the curriculum and achieve high outcomes as a result.

Behaviour is exceptionally well managed at the school.

This is... the result of the trusting relationships that are developed by staff who know their pupils well and understand their learning needs. Low-level disruption and bullying are rare. They are swiftly resolved by staff if they do occur.

The school provides a range of enrichment activities to widen pupils' experiences. The arts are at the core of this offer. Pupils are exceptionally well supported to develop their knowledge of life beyond school and their self-confidence as a result.

Pupils are successfully prepared for their next steps at secondary school. By the end of Year 6, they have a rich and well-developed body of knowledge in a range of areas, especially reading, writing and mathematics.

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

Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), study a curriculum that matches the breadth and scope of the national curriculum.

The school has carefully set out the knowledge that it wants pupils to learn, including in the early years.The curriculum in Nursery and Reception classes is skilfully designed to provide children with the right foundations to be successful in their future learning. This ambition is supported by engaging activities that enable children to develop and apply knowledge with growing confidence.

As a result, the school's youngest children thrive and make exceptional progress through the curriculum.The school prioritises reading from the moment children start school. It took the ambitious decision to change the school's approach to phonics in order to improve already strong outcomes.

As a result, the very large majority of pupils now develop the phonics knowledge they need to read confidently and write accurately. Pupils who have fallen behind with their reading are well supported to catch up and then keep up. Staff encourage pupils to engage with and enjoy a wide range of books by the end of Year 6.

The curriculum is well designed. It includes carefully selected opportunities for pupils to revisit important knowledge and regularly recap prior learning. This provides pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, with an excellent foundation for future learning.

The curriculum also provides opportunities for pupils to apply and deepen their existing understanding. For example, in Year 5, pupils use their knowledge of how to convert fractions into percentages in different contexts, such as working out the amount of water covering the earth's surface. Provisional outcomes in the 2024 national assessments show that pupils attain highly in reading, writing and mathematics.

The school has worked successfully to diversify the curriculum to better reflect the school's wider community and to support pupils to understand different perspectives and experiences. For example, Year 2 pupils are taught about Jane Birch, a maid at the time of the Great Fire of London, and Year 6 pupils learn about the 16th century musician John Blanke.The school provides staff with high-quality and regular training to support delivery of the curriculum.

This enables teachers to develop their subject knowledge effectively. Teachers routinely check on how well pupils learn and remember the curriculum. They use this information well to identify and tackle any gaps or misconceptions in pupils' knowledge.

This includes for those pupils with SEND. This results in effective development of pupils' knowledge across the subjects.Staff expect pupils to behave well and to concentrate on their work.

This ensures that classrooms are calm and purposeful places to learn. The promotion of positive relationships is a clear strength of the school. This encourages pupils to take greater responsibility for their own conduct.

The school prioritises attendance and communicates clear expectations to families about its importance. As a result, pupils are punctual and attend exceptionally well.The school has developed an impressive range of experiences to support pupils' wider development.

These range from putting on an art exhibition to taking on leadership responsibilities, such as being eco-club leaders or playground buddies. The school also provides a wide range of after-school activities. Its approach helps pupils to explore their different talents and interests.

The school's carefully planned work on developing pupils' spoken language supports them to express themselves with clarity and confidence.Leaders, including governors, have a clear understanding of their strategic roles and work well together to maintain high standards. They help staff manage their workload effectively.

The school promotes staff well-being with thought and care. Staff appreciate the support they receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged outstanding for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding for overall effectiveness in March 2019.

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