Henry Chadwick Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils arrive happily each morning at this small and friendly school.

They are greeted with warmth by caring staff. Staff know pupils well as individuals. Pupils feel safe at school because they trust adults to be fair, to listen to them and sort out any worries.

At Henry Chadwick the school expects all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to use their 'learning powers' to become successful learners. Pupils achieve well, both academically and in their personal development.

Pupils learn the importance of good behaviour and meet the high expectations of the school through their sensible conduct.

They demon...strate the 'RIGHT' behaviours of respect, inclusion, good manners, honesty and thoughtfulness in their considerate play at breaktime and when learning in the classroom.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs to extend their talents and interests. These include sports, drama, arts and craft and yoga.

All pupils learn to play a musical instrument and get to perform to an audience each year. In key stage 2 pupils go on annual residential trips where activities get progressively more challenging. Pupils say these experiences build their skills of resilience and teamwork.

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum to suit the needs of mixed-age classes. Leaders have set out the important knowledge for each year group. This enables pupils to develop a depth of understanding over time.

For example, in mathematics pupils use the term equal and unequal to identify fractions of shapes in Year 2. This means that they can identify more complex fractions in Year 4. By the time pupils are in Year 5 they successfully convert fractions to their decimal equivalents.

The school places a high priority on the development of reading and extending pupils' vocabulary. Staff use stories and texts across the curriculum to ensure pupils experience a range of diverse and interesting texts. Adults teach the school's phonics programme well and ensure that pupils who need extra help receive it quickly.

Pupils read books that match their knowledge of sounds. This means that as they progress through the school, pupils read with increasing fluency and accuracy. The pupil reading ambassadors visit bookshops with staff to choose books for their friends to enjoy in school.

The school holds regular reading breakfasts and reading cafes for parents and carers.

Teachers have secure subject knowledge which enables them to present new information clearly. They help pupils recap and recall what has previously been taught.

This typically helps pupils to remember it. Staff encourage pupils to be ambitious and challenge themselves, such as in in physical education when pupils learn how to change elements of their tennis game to make it more difficult. Teachers are careful to ensure that activities meet the differing needs of the pupils they teach.

This is particularly evident for pupils with SEND. The school quickly identifies the needs of these pupils and provides effective support. Consequently, pupils with SEND confidently and eagerly learn the same curriculum as their classmates.

There is a sharp focus on developing all pupils' communication and language. For example, in the well-led early years, staff encourage children making balls with dough to use the word sphere to describe the shape they make. This enables them to recall and use this term when learning about shapes in mathematics.

The school checks what pupils have remembered in each area of the curriculum. They use this information to identify gaps in pupils' learning. Staff do this effectively in the core subjects.

However, in some foundation subjects the school is still developing and embedding systems for assessment. This means leaders do not yet have detailed information about how well groups of pupils are learning in these subjects.

The school makes sure that pupils are emotionally ready to learn each day.

Pupils and adults regularly share how they are feeling. This helps pupils to be thoughtful and tolerant of others. Some pupils benefit from 'sensory circuits' each morning to get them prepared for the school day.

As a result, pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning. Almost all pupils attend school regularly because they enjoy what they learn and do every day.

The school has carefully considered the personal development curriculum to ensure that it is age appropriate.

Pupils experience activities that help them to develop their character. Consequently, pupils are confident young people. They learn to become good citizens by playing bowls with local neighbours, hosting charity coffee mornings and being involved with the village church.

Pupils understand the importance of equality and diversity and know that everyone is treated equally here. They learn to be responsible by taking on roles such as reading ambassadors, school councillors and sports councillors.

Staff are proud to work here and are positive about the support and training they get from leaders and the trust.

They are a united team that puts the needs of pupils first. Governors are committed to and involved with the school. However, they do not always ensure they receive the information they need to be able to challenge the school robustly about some aspects of the quality of education.

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They appreciate work that the school does in supporting their children academically and emotionally.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment systems in some foundation subjects are underdeveloped. Consequently, in some subjects leaders are not clear about how well pupils are learning the curriculum. The school should ensure that assessment of foundation subjects is refined, in a way that does not contribute to workload, so leaders have the information they need to identify and address gaps in learning.

• Governors are not always fully informed about some aspects of school life, including how well pupils are achieving in some subjects. This means they are unable to question and sufficiently challenge the school. The school should ensure that governors receive training and have the information they need to check pupils are achieving equally well in all subjects.