Ivy Road Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's expectations for pupils' achievement are not high enough.

The school does not provide an acceptable standard of education. Pupils have gaps in their learning which are not addressed quickly enough. This is, in part, as a result of the school not implementing the necessary improvements in behaviour and the curriculum quickly enough.

Leaders have focused on improving pupils' behaviour in recent years. This is having a positive effect on some pupils, but not all. There are too many occasions when poor behaviour causes disruption to pupils' learning.

Dealing with poor behaviour has distracted the school from making the necessary improvements in other... areas.

Many pupils at this school are polite, considerate and happy. They understand the school's values of 'Community, Aspirational, Nurturing'.

Pupils enjoy collecting CAN points for these values and receiving rewards.

Pupils enjoy a range of different clubs and activities. Some pupils have leadership roles in school, such as eco-warriors and 'Phunky Food' ambassadors.

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

Historically, some subject curriculums did not identify what pupils need to know precisely enough. The school identified areas for improvement in these subjects. There have been some positive improvements.

Changes have been made to the geography curriculum, for example. This now identifies the key knowledge that pupils should learn. However, the school has been too slow in implementing the necessary changes.

Teaching in some subjects does not address pupils' significant misconceptions precisely enough. This means that gaps in knowledge are not identified or acted on with urgency. External support from the local authority has been necessary to introduce the urgent improvements that are needed within the curriculum and at leadership level.

Without this level of external support, the school's capacity for improvement is limited.

Since the previous inspection, leaders have embedded the phonics programme. The quality of phonics teaching has improved.

Pupils read books that are accurately matched to their phonics knowledge. Staff identify pupils who have gaps in their phonics knowledge. These pupils receive additional support.

However, this support is not sufficiently well targeted to ensure that it helps pupils to become better readers. The support does not ensure that gaps in phonics knowledge are closed. Some pupils do not make enough progress in reading.

Too many pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of learning.

While many pupils engage in lessons and behave well, there are some older pupils whose poor behaviour causes disruption to others. Some lessons are interrupted by this poor behaviour.

As a result, a small number of pupils do not feel safe. Some staff do not feel well supported to deal with this challenging behaviour. This has a negative impact on staff's morale and well-being.

The school has put some support in place to address this poor behaviour. This includes referrals to external agencies. However, the impact of this support is not clear.

The behaviour of younger pupils is more positive. Children in Nursery's forest school provision showed kindness and consideration for each other when constructing a bug hotel, for example. Older pupils understand the needs of others.

The attendance of some pupils has improved recently because of the school's work and heightened focus on this area. However, overall rates of attendance are still too low. Too many pupils are persistently absent from school.

This means that pupils fall further behind with their learning.

Conversations with some pupils indicate an understanding of tolerance and equality. They understand, at an age-appropriate level, about protected characteristics such as different relationships and disability.

Leaders have promoted this through a series of visitors to school, including a deaf adult who taught pupils sign language, for example. However, there are some aspects of pupils' personal development that are less developed. In particular, pupils' understanding of other cultures, faiths and religions is not secure.

There have been small numbers of racist incidents and instances of inappropriate sexual language and behaviour from some pupils. Leaders deal with these incidents effectively.

Over time, the actions of the school and governing body have not been swift or precise enough to bring about the necessary improvements.

The school is reliant on external support to help it improve. Staff workload has increased due to the number of urgent improvements necessary. The school's use of funding to support the most vulnerable pupils has not been well spent.

Disadvantaged pupils' achievement in mathematics and reading, for example, is poor. Strategies to improve pupils' outcomes have not been successful.

Children in early years are inquisitive and keen to learn.

They are happy to access learning either with an adult or independently. However, the curriculum is not sufficiently well developed. There is insufficient consideration of children's needs within planning.

Tasks and activities are not planned to explicitly promote and reinforce children's learning. Children do not make the progress of which they are capable. This means that a large proportion of children are not ready for the next stage of their education.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities access the same curriculum as their peers. Teachers ensure that adaptations to tasks, scaffolding and additional support are in place. Where pupils are not able to access an age-appropriate curriculum, suitable support ensures that they are still able to access meaningful learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Some members of staff who work at the school have not received the required whole-school 'Prevent' training. Leaders took steps to address this during the inspection.

This has not left pupils at risk of harm.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not been sufficiently rigorous in their appraisal of the school's strengths and weaknesses since the previous inspection. The urgent improvements required have not been addressed swiftly enough.

This means that pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education. Currently, there is no capacity to improve matters. The school should ensure that there is capacity in the school to urgently identify and improve the significant weaknesses highlighted across the inspection and previously by the local authority and in December 2022 during the school's last inspection.

• Teachers' use of assessment does not identify and/or address gaps in pupils' learning effectively. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they might otherwise be expected to. Too many pupils are not ready for the next stage of education.

The school must ensure that staff use assessment consistently and effectively to identify and addresses gaps in pupils' learning. ? The curriculum, including the wider opportunities the school provides, does not develop pupils' understanding of other cultures, faiths and religions sufficiently well. This means that pupils are not well prepared for life in modern Britain.

The school should ensure that pupils' understanding of other cultures, faiths and religions is strengthened effectively. ? Some pupils exhibit disruptive behaviour. Learning is negatively affected by this disruptive behaviour and a small number of pupils occasionally feel unsafe as a result.

The school must ensure that pupils receive appropriate direction and support to manage their behaviour effectively, minimising the disruption to learning that affects pupils' concentration and, for some, how safe they feel in school. ? A significant number of staff do not feel well supported around managing behaviour or their workload. Staff morale is low in some quarters.

The school must engage effectively with staff to ensure that they feel supported and that their workload is manageable. ? The early years curriculum is not sufficiently well planned. The needs of children are not well met.

This means that too few children are ready for their learning in key stage 1. The school must ensure that provision in early years is carefully planned to meet children's needs so that more children are better prepared for learning in key stage 1. Pupil premium funding is not used effectively to ensure improved achievement for disadvantaged pupils.

The progress that disadvantaged pupils make in reading and mathematics is weak. The school must ensure that pupil premium funding is used effectively to meet disadvantaged pupils' precise needs so that they achieve far more than they do currently in these subjects.The school may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection.