Gusford Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to Gusford Community Primary School.

They are eager to attend here and engage well with their learning. The core values such as kindness, honesty and responsibility are embedded in the school's ethos and lived out daily. These values unite the community, reflecting the school's motto 'Together we believe, learn and achieve'.

The school has high expectations for behaviour and learning. Pupils achieve these. They behave well in lessons and around the school.

They conduct themselves with maturity and show respect to visitors and to each other. Initiatives like the bluey club, well-being ambassadors and the eco-team empower pupils to make mean...ingful contributions. These leadership responsibilities help to foster pride in their school and community and improve pupils' confidence and self-esteem.

Pupils feel safe and well supported. They know that staff address issues like bullying promptly and fairly. They appreciate adults who listen and care for their well-being.

Parents and carers value the school's nurturing environment and describe the school as a community.

The school provides an extremely well-planned, varied and rich set of experiences to promote pupils' wider development. These include table tennis, comic, music and gardening clubs.

There is something here for everyone.

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

The school is rapidly improving. The ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum prepares pupils well for the next stages of their education.

Staff ensure pupils learn key knowledge that builds over time. This enables pupils to make connections across different subjects. In physical education (PE), pupils develop core skills such as balance and coordination before progressing to complex team sports.

In science, pupils enjoy learning about chimpanzees and the female scientist who studied them. The school has an ambitious approach to learning modern foreign languages. Children in the nursery are exposed to Spanish from the moment they start.

The school checks the curriculum to ensure its quality and that it is being taught consistently well. However, some of these checks are in their infancy and are not yet well established. Staff require support and guidance to ensure this element of the school's work is further strengthened.

Reading is prioritised. There is a well-structured phonics programme that starts in the early years. Effective staff training ensures that there is a consistent approach to phonics teaching.

Pupils read books that match the sounds they know. Pupils who find reading a challenge receive the support they need to help them to catch up. However, pupils are not routinely exposed to a rich, diverse and engaging literary diet.

This limits their reading experience, fluency and range of genres and authors.

Personal development is a real strength. The school's personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum is exemplary.

It teaches pupils, in an age-appropriate way, about relationships, empathy and respect for diversity. They have a good understanding of faiths and cultures that are different to their own. Pupils show genuine kindness and understanding towards peers, including those new to the school.

Leadership roles such as 'art ambassadors' allow pupils to contribute actively to school life and the wider community. Opportunities like learning to play golf, how to sail, becoming forest wardens and being a hallway hero instil pride and aspiration. Pupils are being prepared very well for life in modern Britain.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support. The school works closely with staff and families to ensure that pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. Teachers make thoughtful adaptations to their lessons without diluting expectations.

These adaptations ensure that pupils with SEND develop their independence and achieve well from their various starting points.

The early years curriculum is ambitious and well planned. Thought has been given to the sequencing of activities and how they build towards appropriate end points.

Children in the early years settle well into school life. They develop positive attitudes to learning. Staff have high expectations.

They consistently use a wide and ambitious vocabulary as the children play and learn. For example, the nursery staff in the mud kitchen checked that the child had 'pre-heated the oven'. Children are prepared well for Year 1.

Governors and trustees provide robust support and challenge. They work closely with leaders to manage staff workload and promote well-being. Staff feel valued by leaders, who are supportive of them and have created a climate of trust.

This sentiment extends to the school's engagement with families and the broader community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The checks that the school makes to ensure the curriculum is being implemented effectively are in their infancy.

Staff need support to ensure that these checks are undertaken consistently and rigorously. Consequently, in some subjects, the school is not clear as to what is working well and what needs to improve. The school should ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills necessary so that all subjects are monitored and evaluated effectively and accurately.

• The school has not ensured that all pupils receive a varied, rich and diverse reading curriculum. Consequently, some pupils have a limited experience of different authors and genres. The school should ensure that all pupils receive a full and rich reading diet so that their knowledge, vocabulary and fluency are as good as they can be.

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