Longroyde Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school that pupils are proud to attend. The school has high expectations of pupils.

Pupils demonstrate respectful behaviour. Warm professional relationships between adults and pupils are evident across the school. The school supports and nurtures pupils.

Consequently, pupils feel safe.

Pupils enjoy attending a range of clubs such as gymnastics, gardening club and library club. The school provides several opportunities for pupils to develop skills in leadership.

Reading ambassadors, school councillors and school values champions contribute well to the life of the school. Assemblies and visitors to the school develop pupils' knowledge and und...erstanding of topics such as equality and diversity.

The school has experienced a period of change in recent years.

The school is united in its ambition for all pupils to achieve well. Several improvements made to the school are having a positive impact on pupils. The school has high expectations for what pupils will learn in the curriculum and this is seen in the curriculum plans for most subjects.

Despite the positive steps forward, some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. They miss out on important learning and wider opportunities.

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

The school ensures pupils study a broad and engaging curriculum.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the same curriculum as their peers. In many subjects, the school has effectively designed the curriculum to help pupils remember important knowledge and build on previous learning. For example, pupils enjoy learning mathematics and build confidence in using a range of strategies to calculate.

Children in the early years learn how to count through the meaningful activities they engage with.

In other subjects, the school's sequence of learning is not specific enough. This leads to some gaps in pupils' knowledge.

The school has refined its systems to support pupils with SEND and most pupils have precise support. However, the school does not routinely check if the strategies that it uses to support pupils are having the impact on learning that they need to.

The school supports pupils effectively to be able to read.

It provides suitable additional learning for those who fall behind in the reading programme. Children at the earliest stages of learning to read benefit from reading activities in the early years. Children enjoy the opportunities adults give them to learn through stories.

Reading is a high priority. Pupils enjoy reading a wide range of books and recommending these to their peers in the inviting book corners. Pupils take books home that match their reading ability.

This helps them to practise what they have learned. Over time, pupils read with increasing fluency and accuracy.

The school has implemented a new behaviour policy.

This has impacted positively on pupils' behaviour in school. As a result, behavioural incidents are reducing. The school has developed a clear system for supporting pupils to regulate their behaviour if they struggle to do this.

Disruption in lessons is rare, but sometimes pupils move off task where learning is not well matched to pupils' need. Staff in the early years have ensured that children settle into school life quickly. Children know the routines and engage with different activities positively.

The school understands the importance of pupils coming to school regularly. This includes the wider benefits beyond learning, such as developing and sustaining friendships and knowing how to stay safe. There have been some recent improvements in overall attendance rates.

However, the school's analysis of this and the impact of those actions are not as clear. This means that attendance is not improving as quickly as it could.

The personal, social, health and education curriculum teaches pupils important knowledge to prepare them for life beyond school.

Pupils benefit from the additional opportunities the school provides to support their broader development. Visits to museums, theatres and local places of interest enrich pupils' learning. The school provides a range of extra-curricular clubs.

These are generally popular with pupils.

The school provides regular and comprehensive updates to the governing body about changes in the curriculum. However, they give less consideration to the impact of school's actions on pupils' learning and broader development.

Most parents speak positively about recent improvements to the school. Some consider that the school needs to improve its communication.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. As a result, they miss out on important learning and opportunities to build relationships with their peers. The school should improve its analysis of attendance to ensure the strategies it uses when working with pupils and their parents lead to improved attendance.

• The school does not routinely check that actions taken, such as providing interventions for those pupils who have gaps in their learning, are having the intended impact. This means that the school does not have sufficient oversight of which actions are effective or not. The school should ensure that it checks the impact of any action it has taken to improve pupils' learning.