Knollmead Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this school. All pupils feel welcomed and cared for.

Pupils know that their teachers expect them to work hard and do well. They also know that teachers do not mind if they make a mistake so long as they have had a go. Pupils, parents, carers and staff are proud to be part of the school.

This is a calm and orderly school. Pupils understand how to behave without the need for elaborate systems for rewards and sanctions. They rarely misbehave.

Pupils said that bullying hardly ever happens. If it does, teachers deal with it.

Staff want pupils to show fairness and respect.

Pupils are kind and considerate in turn. They told u...s that everyone is treated the same. One pupil said, 'We are not the same, but we are equal.

It's not a bad thing to be different.'

Pupils attending the specialist provisions are fully included in the life of the school. Pupils with different learning needs work and play alongside one another.

One pupil summed up the ethos beautifully: 'Some children get help to do extra work so they can do what we all can do. It always feels like the teachers want to see us improve.'

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

Leaders want pupils to be fluent and effective readers, writers and mathematicians.

They make these aspirations a reality through the quality of the curriculum.

Pupils learn many subjects, including some taught by specialists from the trust. Pupils in Year 3 play the ukulele and those in Year 4 play the djembe as part of their music studies.

All pupils have summer term swimming lessons in the school's outdoor pool.

Teachers help pupils develop their knowledge and skills over time and help them to remember what they learned in previous lessons. Pupils in Year 6 discussed different periods of history with inspectors.

They knew which civilisations pre-dated others. They explored deeper questions, such as why the Mayans and the Romans believed in so many different gods. Pupils in Year 4 explained how they calculate problems using four-digit numbers.

Planning for some subjects, such as geography and design and technology, is not at the same stage of development.

Pupils learn to love reading. Teachers read to pupils every day, either in lessons or during story-time.

In the early years, staff plan interesting activities that help children to learn the sounds that letters make. Children in the early years and pupils in Years 1 and 2 take books home to read so that they can practise new words and sounds. Weaker readers sometimes need more help when choosing books.

Leaders invest in suitable books for older pupils who need to practise their phonics skills.

Pupils learn many new words and how to use them in context. For example, pupils in Year 2 learned 'wonderful' and 'powerful'.

They read the words, spoke them aloud and practised using them in writing. This deepened their understanding. Pupils in Year 4 learned about 'flock' as a noun and a verb.

They discussed the use of 'flocked' and 'flocking' in real-life contexts. This helped pupils to remember these words and use them in their own conversations.

Strong leadership ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn and improve across all subjects.

Equally strong leadership in the early years helps children to settle, to explore and try out new activities in a calm and well-organised space. In the specialist provision, lessons are planned to help all pupils learn new skills and practise old ones. Throughout the school, pupils with SEND receive the help they need to learn well alongside their peers.

Pupils enjoy attending after-school clubs. Pupils learn about children who do not live lives as safe and comfortable as their own. Leaders' plans include further opportunities to promote pupils' understanding of other cultures.

Parents and staff praise the headteacher and his leadership team. They told inspectors about how well their children are welcomed into the school and how quickly they settle in the early years. Staff appreciate that leaders have taken practical steps to reduce their workload.

Staff also appreciate the quality of training they receive.

Governors and trustees support and challenge leaders to focus on the quality of education. Governors understand the school community well.

Trustees support the school to improve. For example, they provide training and formal professional qualifications through their teaching school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff know what they must do to keep children safe. Leaders make sure that staff are well trained and that their knowledge is regularly updated. Adults are vigilant.

Leaders work well with external agencies and families to support pupils who need help.

Pupils learn ways to keep themselves safe when online. They also know about risks such as road and rail safety due to the school's proximity to a busy road and railway line.

Leaders work closely with the police to teach pupils about risks and how to keep themselves safe from harm.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Leaders should make sure that there is coherent planning and sequencing of knowledge in all subjects. This is so that the content of all plans matches the quality of that in reading, writing, mathematics, science and history.

. Transitional statements have been applied because the curriculum plans for some subjects are not as complete as in other subjects. Leaders have a detailed action plan.

They have begun to implement these arrangements, including further planned opportunities for cultural development. . Leaders have successfully developed a reading curriculum but should provide closer guidance for pupils who are beginning to choose books independently.