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Larkholme Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils are cared for at this nurturing school. They are greeted warmly by calm and caring staff as they arrive at the start of the school day. Pupils are happy.
They feel valued and accepted.
The school has high expectations of pupils' learning. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Pupils try their best. They achieve well from their differing starting points. Pupils are prepared well for the next stage of their education.
Pupils behave well in lessons and at p...laytimes. They are respectful to one another. They enjoy the rewards and the 'golden tickets' that they receive for behaving well and working hard.
The school provides many opportunities for pupils to take on positions of responsibility. This includes being members of the school council and sports leaders. These opportunities enable pupils to demonstrate the school's values of 'responsibility' and 'resilience.'
Pupils value the range of opportunities on offer beyond the academic curriculum. They spoke excitedly about visitors to school and the vast array of clubs on offer. Pupils benefit from outdoor learning in the school grounds.
This helps pupils to learn more about the natural world and to develop their teamworking skills.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school has undergone numerous challenges since the last inspection. Following a period of turbulence, the school is now in a position of greater stability.
Staff speak very positively about the school. They praise the support that they receive to reduce their workload so that they can be more focused on pupils' learning. They are proud to be a part of the school community.
The school has reviewed and revised the curriculum in all areas, including in the early years. The curriculum reflects the school's ambition for all pupils to receive a high-quality education. The key knowledge and skills that pupils should learn are identified and carefully ordered to help pupils know and remember more over time.
In most subjects, staff regularly check pupils' learning and use the information that they gather to adapt future teaching. However, in a few subjects, where the curriculum is relatively new, the school is in the process of developing its approach to checking what pupils know and remember. In these subjects, on occasion, this hinders teachers in identifying and addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge.
Reading is a priority. Staff are well trained to support pupils with learning to read. They quickly identify when children in the early years, and pupils in key stage 1, do not keep pace with the phonics programme.
Staff give pupils the help that they need to catch up. Pupils read books that match the sounds they know and have learned. This helps them to read with increasing fluency and confidence.
Staff get to know pupils well, which means that they are alert to their individual needs, including pupils with SEND. These pupils benefit from the support that they receive. This ensures that they can access the same curriculum as their peers.
Staff are well informed about the best ways to help pupils with SEND thrive in all aspects of their development.
The school places great importance on pupils' regular attendance. Pupils know that they need to be in school in order to learn.
This has ensured high rates of attendance for the large majority of pupils. For those pupils who do not attend school regularly, the school offers effective support to families to reduce absence levels.
Pupils show positive attitudes to their work.
Staff support children in the early years to learn the school's rules and routines from the start. Staff respond quickly when pupils forget to be kind or need guidance, so that unwanted behaviour is addressed effectively. This helps pupils to learn and play cooperatively alongside each other.
Pupils' broader development is well- considered. Pupils are taught about faiths and cultures that may be different to their own. They visit places of worship and speak confidently about the importance of respecting others.
Pupils learn about healthy relationships and how to stay safe. For example, they learn about the risks that they might encounter while online and when sitting around a campfire.
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
What does the school need to do to improve?
(Information for the school and appropriate authority)
• In some subjects, assessment strategies are at an early stage of development. As a result, teachers sometimes do not identify gaps in pupils' learning or adapt their future teaching to help pupils overcome these deficits in knowledge. The school should ensure that teachers are suitably equipped to check pupils' learning across the curriculum.
Background
Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.
This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.
We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 good for overall effectiveness in July 2019.
