Iqra Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Iqra Primary School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is an exceptional school with a strong commitment to its community.

The school prioritises helping pupils to have a sense of belonging. Kindness and respectful behaviour extend throughout daily school life. This ensures that pupils feel welcome, safe and well supported to achieve highly.

The school sets the highest aspirations for every pupil. Pupils are supported to be curious and resilient learners. They enjoy and value their education, producing a consistently high quality of work across all subjects.

In class, pupils work hard and are encouraged to be inclusi...ve of others. Pupils achieve exceptionally well, reaching standards that are higher than those found nationally. Pupils are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. They are taught to be polite and respectful towards each other and towards adults. The maturity and self-discipline that pupils demonstrate is impressive.

Pupils and parents and carers value the high-quality education here. This is one of the reasons why attendance is high. The school takes timely and appropriate steps to support those pupils at risk of non-attendance.

Pupils value difference and embrace diversity, both through the curriculum that they are taught and through the many experiences the school organises in the wider community. The school places emphasis on developing pupils' understanding of fundamental British values. Pupils enjoy learning about how to be active and inclusive citizens.

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

The school is ambitious for its pupils, delivering a rich, carefully sequenced body of knowledge across the subjects taught. Learning is skilfully embedded so that pupils' understanding builds over time. Pupils apply their knowledge with increasing confidence.

As a result, they make excellent progress through the intended curriculum.

The curriculum is delivered by highly skilled teachers who receive regular professional development. The school prioritises the teaching of key vocabulary so that pupils are able to tackle concepts with increasing complexity.

For example, in mathematics, Year 3 pupils explore the properties of lines and shapes, identifying obtuse, acute and right angles. In Year 5, they use this knowledge to explore more-complex geometrical concepts of position and movement, using mathematical vocabulary to talk about what they know. Children in early years are also well supported to understand and use key vocabulary.

For instance, children learn to identify oceans and continents when exploring features of our planet.

Subject content is delivered through carefully devised themes that promote deep learning experiences. Teaching consistently uses approaches to securing pupils' understanding of the knowledge taught.

For example, teachers use 'fluency five' at the start of lessons so that pupils can recall prior learning fluently and in detail. Continuous assessment of pupils' understanding ensures that gaps are quickly identified and addressed.

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Staff know the needs of these pupils well and adapt learning so that all pupils are well supported to make strong progress through the curriculum. Staff receive regular training so that they are confident in providing these adjustments to teaching, ensuring it is both accessible and demanding.

Reading is prioritised as soon as children join the school.

In early years, communication and language development is at the heart of children's learning. Through a well-structured phonics curriculum, the school also places a sharp focus on making sure that those who are at the early stages of learning to read quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers. This includes effective work to identify and support those pupils who fall behind in the school's expectations for phonics learning.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary because they value their education and want to work hard. They attend school very well. The school sets high expectations, and uses strategies and routines that empower pupils to manage their own behaviours.

Pupils value the support and encouragement that they receive. They interact with adults and each other with great levels of maturity.

The school's work in promoting pupils' wider development is exceptional.

Pupils appreciate the range of trips, clubs and community-focused activities offered. They visit local theatres and the choir performs at national events, for example. Pupils learn about their place in the world and how they can be active citizens.

This includes opportunities for pupils to learn how to lead healthy lives, to navigate challenges and manage risk. For example, pupils study philosophy and they learn about road safety and safety online. Pupils are taught to understand the importance of respecting and embracing diversity.

The school regularly engages with staff to ensure that workload is reduced and manageable. Staff are proud to be part of this community.

The school is systematic and meticulous in its oversight of all areas of its work.

The governing body fully participates in this rigorous approach to ensuring the school's aspirational vision is consistently realised.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

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

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 outstanding in October 2017.