Gosforth CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like their school. They feel safe and happy here.

Pupils enjoy their lessons and get on well with each other and with staff. Children in the early years settle in quickly because they feel secure with the adults who care for them. Pupils of all ages enjoy breaktimes in the school's extensive grounds.

There is a warm welcome for any pupils who are new to the school.

The school sets high expectations for what pupils can achieve, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils try their best to live up to these expectations.

They listen carefully to teachers and apply themselves to their work. If they do not ...understand something, pupils know that they can ask staff to help them. Pupils achieve well in the subjects that they learn.

Since the last inspection, the school has put in place clearer expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils, including children in the early years, understand the rules and try hard to follow them at all times. The school is a calm and orderly place where pupils behave well.

The school provides pupils with a range of experiences beyond the academic curriculum. Pupils relish their after-school clubs for activities such as judo and dodgeball. They especially enjoy participating in the school's talent festival.

Pupils strive to achieve their school's motto by being strong and courageous. They are appropriately prepared for high school when the time comes.

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

The school has made improvements to the curriculum since the last inspection.

The now broad and ambitious curriculum makes clear what pupils should know in each subject by the time that they leave the school. The school has broken down this important knowledge into small, well-ordered steps from the early years to Year 6. All pupils learn this strong curriculum, including those with SEND.

Improvements to the curriculum did not have sufficient time to impact upon the outcomes in mathematics for pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2023. Consequently, the published data for those pupils does not reflect how current pupils are learning.

Staff design learning that builds on what pupils already know and can do.

This helps to ensure that pupils develop their knowledge appropriately, including where they learn in mixed-age classes.

In lessons, staff check regularly to ensure that pupils have understood new learning. This enables staff to identify and correct any misconceptions that may have occurred.

The school makes effective use of information from assessments to improve the delivery of the curriculum when necessary. In most subjects, the school has developed a clear understanding of how the curriculum helps pupils to know more and remember more over time.In a small number of subjects, the school's understanding of the impact of the curriculum is at an earlier stage of development.

This limits the school's ability to make any further improvements to the curriculum so that it has the intended impact on pupils' knowledge.

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. The school's phonics programme begins at the start of the Reception year.

Children quickly learn how to break down and build up sounds in order to read words successfully. Staff have received training to enable them to teach phonics with expertise. For example, staff provide children with reading books that contain only the letters and sounds that they know.

This enables children to develop confidence in reading. Children receive prompt help to catch up with the phonics programme should they need it. Pupils continue to increase their phonics knowledge in Year 1.

They typically become competent readers.

The school provides pupils with a wide range of literature to read. Pupils said that they enjoy visiting the school library to select books for themselves.

They remember books that they have read, and they can talk about their favourite authors. Pupils apply their strong reading skills to their work in other subjects. Pupils of all ages achieve well in reading, including pupils with SEND.

Staff are skilled at identifying when pupils may have SEND. They know how to make adaptations to the way that they deliver learning, so that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum fully. The school communicates effectively with a range of professionals to ensure that pupils with SEND receive expert help if they need it.

Parents and carers are fully involved in this process. Pupils with SEND achieve well over time from their individual starting points.

Following the last inspection, the school took swift action to improve the consistency with which staff managed pupils' behaviour.

This action was successful. Pupils are now clear about what is expected of them in class and around school. Their sensible behaviour ensures that everyone can get on with their work in class.

Pupils learn in age-appropriate ways about the differences and similarities that exist between people and families. For example, they learn about cultures and faiths that may be different from their own. Pupils learn to contribute to the life of their community through various projects and fund-raising activities.

Pupils learn about the importance of healthy relationships and how to keep themselves safe when they work online. These experiences help to prepare pupils for life beyond school.

Governors understand the school's strengths and its priorities for development.

They ask a range of challenging questions to hold leaders to account for their work to improve the school. Governors and leaders have due regard for any impact on staff's workload and well-being when making decisions about the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's work to understand the impact of the curriculum in a small number of subjects is at an early stage. This makes it difficult for the school to make further improvements to the curriculum in these subjects, should they be necessary. The school should ensure that in these subjects, there is a clear understanding of the impact of the curriculum over time from the early years to Year 6.

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