Ickworth Park Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are confident and respectful citizens at Ickworth Primary School.

They like the leadership responsibilities they can have. Pupils can become experts as digital leaders, librarians or football referees. They value their contribution to life in the school.

Pupils are kind to each other. They feel happy and safe. They know they can talk to staff about any worry they may have.

Pupils like using the tranquillity garden. This provides a space where they can talk with their friends about their feelings.Playtime activities and a wide array of sports clubs help pupils keep active.

Educational trips and experiences enrich pupils' learning and broaden th...eir horizons. Pupils are proud of their school and have a strong sense of belonging. They delight at representing their school in singing events and football tournaments.

Pupils have positive attitudes to learning from the early years. They achieve well. They understand what is expected of them and try their best in lessons.

Pupils love reading. They like the wide choice of books available in the school library. They make good use of these to expand their interests and learn more about life in the wider world.

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

Pupils are well prepared for their move to secondary school. They achieve in line with others nationally in English and mathematics. Leaders have an ambitious vision for the achievement of all pupils.

They make sure that children get off to a good start with their early reading and mathematics. The curriculum has been reviewed in the past year. Leaders have identified where the content of some subjects could be improved to enrich pupils' learning further.

They are yet to see the impact of this and support teachers to understand the new expectations.Teachers present information clearly and maintain familiar routines for learning in lessons. This helps pupils focus on understanding new knowledge.

As pupils progress through the curriculum, they have some opportunities to revisit learning. 'Snapshot' quizzes help pupils check what they have remembered. This helps identify where they may need more help or practice.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access learning alongside their peers. Teachers adjust learning to help pupils with SEND succeed in lessons. In some subjects, the quality of pupils' work and what is expected of them is variable.

This means not all pupils, especially the most disadvantaged, achieve as well as they could.Pupils delight in reading and soon learn the kind of books and authors they like. Well-trained staff teach phonics daily.

Pupils practise reading books matched to the sounds and words they already know. Staff check pupils' understanding of new words and help pupils read with expression. This makes reading fun and pupils quickly become confident fluent readers.

Pupils confidently apply their knowledge of letter sounds to spelling new words.In Reception, children benefit from high-quality, frequent interactions with staff. Children listen respectfully to each other.

They play collaboratively in their imaginative play. The well-organised learning environment invites children to practise learning across the curriculum. Children use a range of art materials, although they do not always remember how to use these as they have been taught.

Children develop their understanding of the world through carefully planned units of work. They recall and can talk about different kinds of weather, temperature and countries around the world. In a few areas of learning, the early years curriculum is not as well organised.

The knowledge that children need to prepare them for Year 1 has not been precisely identified or taught. This means there are instances when it is hard for children to confidently integrate previous learning into new experiences.Pupils like school and arrive promptly.

The school has highly effective systems for checking attendance. This ensures that high attendance rates of pupils at the school are maintained. Where low attendance occurs, leaders work collaboratively with families to improve this.

The school promotes pupils' personal development well. Pupils understand that people are unique. They learn about world faiths and are respectful of different beliefs.

Pupils develop economic understanding. They raise money for charities and end-of-year trips. Pupils learn how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.

They understand how to keep themselves safe online.Leaders make highly effective decisions that improve the school further. They have a clear vision and are working with the team to ensure this is realised quickly.

Staff feel well supported. Parents value the engagement they have with the school and the regular communication about their child's learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some foundation subjects are in the early stages of review and implementation. Leaders have not yet checked how well these are being implemented. This means the quality of pupils' work and what is expected of them is variable.

Consequently, not all pupils, especially the most disadvantaged, achieve as well as they could. Leaders should focus on using the expertise of subject leaders to improve teachers' confidence and subject knowledge so that the vision for these subjects is fully realised. ? In a few areas of learning, the early years curriculum does not precisely identify the most important knowledge children need to learn that will prepare them best for Year 1.

Staff therefore make their own decisions about the curriculum. This means there are occasions when children do not remember what they have been taught so that they can integrate this into new learning. The school should ensure that it considers the key knowledge children need to prepare them most effectively for their future learning in the school.

Also at this postcode