Great Preston VC CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Great Preston VC C of E Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Great Preston Primary School are proud to attend. There is a strong Christian ethos and pupils are friendly and courteous.

They have positive relationships with staff and treat each other with respect. The vast majority of pupils feel safe and happy at the school and as a result they develop confidence and independence.

Pupils reported that bullying is rare and that it is dealt with well if it does occur.

Pupils are very clear that everyone is equal and they are accepting of all. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are... included in the life of the school. Some pupils with more complex needs are especially well included.

Around school, pupils behave well. Leaders have recently reset expectations to ensure that conduct around school is orderly. As a result, pupils take pride in demonstrating 'Great Preston walking' around the school building.

Leaders have developed 'The Great Preston Promise', which provides opportunities beyond the academic curriculum. Pupils can become leaders and take on responsibilities through roles on the school council, eco club and the worship committee. There are many clubs and activities that pupils enjoy, including chess, sports clubs and choir.

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

Leaders have recently begun work on developing all areas of the curriculum. Staff have worked in teams to review and develop subject content to ensure that it is logically sequenced. Some subjects are further ahead than others with this.

Pupils are given regular opportunities to recall previous knowledge. 'Fluent in five' revision activities are used at the beginning of lessons and pupils know that this is helping them to remember important knowledge. In some subjects, pupils need to be given more opportunities to use their subject knowledge to draw specific conclusions.

For example, in geography, pupils were able to compare Yorkshire with Florida and say what the differences were.However, they were not able to routinely use their geographical knowledge to explain why these differences are present.

Leaders have put in place a new systematic synthetic phonics programme and invested in staff training.

This has ensured that the programme is delivered consistently. Children in early years and pupils in key stage one participate enthusiastically in their phonics sessions. Pupils in Reception and Year 1 were confident to come to the front of the class to demonstrate their knowledge of blending sounds to create words.

Leaders have focused on ensuring that the weakest readers are given support to catch up and have put appropriate interventions in place for these pupils. Pupils take home books to read that match the sounds that they are learning. Staff have put a 'rigorous readers' incentive in place to encourage pupils to read five times a week.

Many pupils are ambitious to achieve this and enjoy getting their reward stamps for completing this.

Some pupils with SEND have one-to-one phonics sessions. There has been an increase in the number of pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs of late and leaders are working to ensure that these pupils are fully supported in lessons and around school.

Some staff feel that there can be inconsistences around behavioural expectations for some of these pupils. Leaders agree that consistency is important to ensure that all pupils meet high expectations of behaviour.

Pupils engage in a range of activities beyond the taught curriculum.

Year 6 pupils love the annual residential educational visit and pupils from the school were recently successful in the Leeds Skipping Challenge. Fundamental British values such as democracy are taught through voting for pupils to be on the student council. Pupils have knowledge of other religions and faiths and receive age-appropriate relationship education.

Some members of the governing body are new to their roles and are developing the skills that they need to challenge leaders. Further support and challenge are provided by the diocese and local authority. Pupils' outcomes at the end of 2022 were not where leaders would like them to be.

Leaders have recognised where gaps were previously present. Recent work in phonics, mathematics and strong early years provision have ensured that gaps in learning have been addressed.

There have been changes to leadership of late and while some staff are still adjusting to this change, the vast majority feel well supported by leaders and enjoy working at the school.

They report that leaders consider their workload and that they feel well supported. Staff are proud to work at this school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated safeguarding leaders keep clear records of safeguarding concerns and these show that timely and appropriate actions take place when there are concerns. Staff are well trained to spot signs of worrying behaviour or conduct and know how to report any concerns. There is very much a culture of 'it does happen here'.

All pupils spoken to said that they had a trusted adult in school and know who they can speak to if they are worried. Leaders ensure that pupils are aware of local risks such as water safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some curriculum subjects, pupils do not apply precise knowledge when drawing their conclusions.

As a result, pupils are not making regular connections between concepts that would help them to build on prior learning. Where this occurs, leaders need to ensure that pupils are given opportunities to apply their subject-specific knowledge regularly and ensure that assessment of this is precise in order to enable pupils to fully apply their learning. ? Some staff feel that there is inconsistency when managing the behaviour of some pupils.

As a result, pupils' experiences of behaviour management can vary. Leaders should ensure that there is clear communication regarding expectations of behaviour strategies for some pupils and support staff to apply them.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 good in March 2018.

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