Hadrian Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say they enjoy coming to school every day. One pupil, echoing the views of others, commented that 'teachers are the best because you can talk to them and they care for us.' The care shown by staff helps pupils to feel safe.

Pupils are highly motivated. They take pride in their school. They are pleased to contribute towards the school community by becoming prefects.

Leaders are ambitious for every pupil, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In most subjects, the curriculum is well planned for everyone to achieve.

Pupils behave exceptionally well.

Bullying is rare. If it does happen, adults deal with it effe...ctively. Children learn how to form positive relationships right from the start in Nursery.

Pupils look out for anyone who needs help, in or out of lessons. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning.

Pupils say they feel proud to represent the school in the many sports and music festivals on offer.

Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 help to organise breakfast club. Parents, carers and pupils enjoy 'Funky Fridays', where everyone gets to start the day disco dancing. This helps to promote physical and mental well-being.

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

After a period of staffing turbulence, some relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders have worked well to manage staff absence and appoint new staff. Leaders and teachers are enthusiastic about providing an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including in the early years. In most subjects, it is clear how pupils will gain new knowledge and skills.

The curriculum in English and mathematics is strong. For example, children in the early years learn to spell words by recognising the sounds in them and representing the sounds with letters. As pupils get older, they learn to spell more complex words to express their ideas well in writing.

Leaders have developed most foundation subjects well. Some subjects, such as music and physical education (PE), are more developed than others. The PE curriculum enables pupils to remember knowledge and skills they need for new learning.

For instance, pupils remember circuit training skills before learning new boxing techniques. In some curriculum subjects, pupils do not have strong knowledge of subject-specific ideas. For example, from their study of mountains in geography, pupils can name some types of mountains.

However, they cannot link their knowledge to mountains in different parts of the world. Leaders have not made clear the specific subject knowledge they want pupils to learn. Leaders are currently improving this aspect of the curriculum.

In most subjects, such as mathematics, teachers use assessment well in lessons to check pupils' understanding. This helps teachers know when pupils are ready to move on. However, some of the systems for assessment in the foundation subjects do not show how well pupils have understood subject-specific content, such as weather and climate in geography.

Sometimes, pupils' recall of knowledge is inaccurate. Teachers do not always correct misconceptions, so pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

The programme for teaching phonics is effective.

Children in Reception learn letters and the sounds they make. This helps children learn to read. Teachers identify and support pupils who need extra help.

Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge and cannot read fluently. A few pupils are not given the right help they need to learn the letters and sounds they need to catch up. Sometimes, the books pupils read do not match the sounds pupils know.

This hinders their progress.

Staff support pupils with SEND well. They identify pupils' specific needs and make sure teaching and resources support pupils well.

There is a team of staff with expertise to support pupils' mental health. They use their expertise to inform staff when pupils need extra help. As a result, pupils with SEND thrive.

Behaviour is outstanding. In the early years, children get off to a strong start because routines are well established. Children play and learn well together.

Relationships between staff and pupils are very strong. Staff have high expectations for every pupil. Pupils show high levels of maturity and self-control.

They concentrate extremely well and work hard.

Pupils' personal development is a strength of the school. For example, pupils have a strong understanding of faiths and cultures different to their own.

Pupils learn about democracy by voting for members of the 'Pupil Parliament'. They are proud to serve the school community by becoming 'Mini Police'. Pupils learn to become good citizens by running and managing their own food bank.

Pupils enjoy attending the many clubs on offer, such as football, boxercise, and guitar.

Governors know the priorities of the school. They work well with the local authority to help them check the accuracy of the information from leaders.

As a result, governors hold leaders to account effectively. Staff are proud to be part of this happy school community. They appreciate the care and concern that leaders have for their professional development and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders carry out checks to ensure that all adults who work in the school are safe to do so. They ensure that staff understand how to identify and report concerns to keep pupils safe.

There are clear and effective systems for reporting safeguarding concerns. Staff know how to check on pupils' mental health and well-being. Leaders act on concerns immediately.

Leaders work well with other agencies to get pupils support when they need it. Staff make sure that pupils know the risks they may face as they get older. Pupils know how to stay safe when they are online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, such as geography, leaders have not clearly defined the most important subject-specific knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn. As a result, teachers are not clear about the essential knowledge pupils must learn. Leaders should ensure that teachers are given guidance, so that they can prioritise important knowledge and skills in their teaching across all subjects.

• Some pupils at the early stages of reading have gaps in their phonics knowledge. For a few of these pupils, their progress is hindered because they do not receive the right support to help them catch up. Some pupils struggle to read and catch up quickly as a result.

Leaders must make sure that all adults who teach pupils to read are sufficiently trained to do so. ? The system for summative assessment in foundation subjects, does not enable teachers to gain detailed information of how well pupils have gained subject-specific knowledge over time. Leaders need to make sure that assessment systems check the most important knowledge and concepts pupils need to know, so that teachers have a clear picture of the depth of pupils' subject knowledge.