Gorse Hill Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Gorse Hill Primary School is a happy and harmonious place to learn and play.

Pupils thoroughly enjoy school. They value their friendships and the positive relationships that they have with staff. Pupils know that there is someone there to help them if they have any worries.

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It has high expectations of what pupils can achieve. This is reflected in how effectively pupils are prepared for the next stage of their education.

Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve well.

Pupils are kind and caring towards each other. They behave... consistently well.

This is because staff use clear routines from the start of the early years to Year 6. These effective routines support pupils to make good choices.

Pupils enjoy the range of opportunities on offer to them.

For example, they attend after-school activities, such as French, healthy cooking and art clubs. Pupils enjoy performing as part of a national choir. They also relish competing in sports tournaments, including in football and lacrosse.

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

The school has established a well-ordered and ambitious curriculum. Subject leadership has been prioritised. This has helped to ensure that every subject is important.

Across most subjects, the school has mapped out the vocabulary and knowledge that teachers expect pupils to learn. However, in a very small number of subjects, the school has not identified the most important knowledge that pupils should know. As a result, not all pupils develop their understanding of these curriculums as well as they should over time.

Across all key stages, there is mostly a consistent approach to teaching. In the early years, children benefit from language-rich activities. Teachers use their detailed subject knowledge to design activities that help pupils to learn curriculum content well.

In lessons, teachers explain new learning clearly and take appropriate steps to address any misconceptions that arise. They regularly check to see if pupils have learned what was intended. Teachers use this information effectively in order to design what pupils should learn next.

An established and robust programme for teaching reading starts from the moment that children enter the Reception Year. The routines and visual prompts that the school uses help pupils to quickly learn letters and the sounds that they represent. Pupils read from books that are matched accurately to the sounds that they already know.

Staff provide swift help for any pupils who fall behind where they should be in the phonics programme. This enables them to catch up quickly. Additionally, the school successfully works with parents and carers, who attend phonics workshops.

This helps parents to support their children to develop greater fluency and confidence in their reading.

There is a widespread love of reading through the school. High-quality texts underpin pupils' learning across the school's curriculum, including for children in the early years.

Older pupils relish spending time in the library. They read widely and enjoy the books that their teachers share with them. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about their favourite authors.

The school aims for pupils with SEND to be as independent and confident as possible. Staff identify the additional needs of these pupils quickly and accurately. Teachers use up-to-date information on the learning needs of individual pupils to successfully adapt their delivery of the curriculum and give them the support to succeed.

Pupils with SEND take part in all that the school has to offer and achieve well. This is also the case for children with SEND in the early years.

Pupils display positive attitudes to their learning and behave well around the school.

They are polite, courteous and curious. Their conduct in lessons and at social times is excellent. Pupils listen carefully to adults' instructions and promptly settle to their work.

Children in the early years make a strong start to their education. Staff support them to concentrate, take turns and share.

The school enriches pupils' wider development well.

Pupils learn to become responsible and tolerant citizens. They develop their confidence through taking on roles of responsibility, such as well-being ambassadors, school councillors and sports leaders. Pupils learn about national and global events of moral and cultural significance, for example Remembrance Day and Black History Month.

They are vocal about celebrating the differences between themselves and others. Pupils are proud to belong to a learning community where everyone is welcome. They are taught how to be healthy in mind and body, and how to stay safe online.

The school is committed to the pupils and the community that it serves. Leaders and staff involve parents closely in their children's education. Parents are highly positive about the guidance and care that the school provides, including how they can support their children's learning at home.

Staff feel very well supported with their workload and well-being. They appreciate training and development opportunities that help them to improve their practice. Staff are proud to work at the school.

Those responsible for governance know the school well and strive for continual improvement. They ensure that the school's actions have a positive impact on the quality of education that pupils receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a very small number of subjects, the school has not identified the important knowledge that pupils should learn. This prevents pupils from developing a secure understanding in these subjects. The school should make sure that all subjects have well-designed curriculums so that pupils know and remember more.

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