Lyndhurst Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this school.

They told inspectors that staff will help them if they have any worries or concerns. Leaders place a high priority on pupils' mental health and well-being. Staff forge strong relationships with pupils and their families.

Leaders deal with any incidents of bullying effectively. This helps pupils to feel safe.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are happy in the school.

They make friends easily and get on well together. Pupils respond well to staff's high expectations of their behaviour. They are polite and courteous.

Pupils can explain the importance of the...ir school rules: 'ready, safe, respect'. They make every effort to fulfil them. They strive to be awarded a 'challenge star' each half term.

Leaders have high aspirations for pupils. However, they do not fulfil them for all pupils in all subjects. This is because, over time, pupils have not benefited from an ambitious curriculum that helps them to build a deep body of knowledge.

They are beginning to benefit from an improved curriculum, but there are some aspects of it that teachers do not teach well enough. This means that, in some subjects, pupils, including children in the early years, do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils enjoy many opportunities to develop as confident, young citizens.

They eagerly carry out the responsibilities of being, for example, reading champions, play leaders and members of the school council. They value the range of visits that staff organise for them. These include trips to the beach and different activities such as rock climbing, which enable them to challenge themselves.

They were keen to talk about the sports, choir, mindfulness and book clubs that they attend.

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

Leaders have designed a broad and ambitious curriculum for pupils in Years 1 to 6. For each subject, they have identified the important content that pupils need to know and remember and have ordered this carefully.

This provides clarity for teachers about what they should teach and when.

In some subjects, subject leaders provide support and guidance for teachers so that they can teach the content of the curriculum effectively. This helps these teachers to develop their subject knowledge.

As a result, they present information clearly and use assessment well when designing learning in these subjects. However, in some subjects, although the recently revised curriculums set out ambitious aims, they are not realising these aims. This is because leaders have not ensured that teachers receive the guidance and support that they require to develop their subject knowledge.

Consequently, some teachers are not equipped to teach these curriculums confidently and some pupils do not learn as well as they should.

In addition, in some subjects, including mathematics, leaders have not made sure that teachers teach the curriculum as intended. The checks that leaders make on how well teachers do this are not precise enough.

As a result, there is variability in how well they teach pupils. For example, some teachers do not teach all of the intended curriculum. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should because there are gaps in their knowledge.

Leaders place a strong emphasis on teaching pupils to read. Pupils develop a love of reading through exposure to high-quality texts. Older pupils spoke enthusiastically about their favourite authors.

Leaders have ensured that they have structured the early reading curriculum clearly. Staff have been trained to teach the programme using consistent routines and strategies. Pupils read books which match the sounds that they have learned.

Most pupils build up their phonic knowledge securely. Staff provide additional and effective support for pupils who fall behind.

The school is a calm and purposeful place to learn.

Learning is rarely disrupted. If pupils' behaviour falls short of leaders' expectations, staff help them to understand how to make better choices in the future.

Children in the Nursery and Reception classes learn to take turns and socialise well with their friends.

However, the early years curriculum lacks clarity. Leaders have not decided on the important knowledge and vocabulary that children need to learn. They have not given staff enough guidance on how to extend children's knowledge across the curriculum.

This means that the activities that staff design for children sometimes lack purpose. Children in the early years do not learn all that they should to prepare them for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum.

Leaders have strengthened systems to ensure that they identify pupils' needs early.

Pupils with SEND follow the same curriculum as their peers. Leaders use a range of external agencies to help pupils with SEND to get the help that they need.

Leaders provide a range of opportunities to help pupils to develop their character.

Pupils develop an understanding of their own locality and the wider world. They develop respect for differences between people.

Staff are proud to work at the school and feel that leaders prioritise their well-being.

Governors understand the aspects of the school that require further development. They challenge leaders appropriately.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make sure that staff undertake regular training so that they can stay alert to the signs which could indicate that pupils are at risk of harm. Staff have a clear understanding of how to report any concerns. The safeguarding team uses its expertise and local knowledge to arrange suitable support for vulnerable pupils and their families.

They are tenacious when following up and escalating their concerns if required.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy. They understand how to protect themselves online.

Older pupils also learn about issues in the local area and how to keep themselves safe outside school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, including mathematics, leaders' checks are not as effective as they should be. They have not identified or addressed inconsistent implementation of the curriculum.

This hampers pupils from achieving as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is taught consistently well across all subjects. ? In some subjects beyond English and mathematics, staff are at an early stage of teaching the school's recently developed curriculums.

They have not received the guidance and support that they require to develop the subject knowledge which these curriculums require. This means that some teachers are not equipped to teach these curriculums confidently. Leaders should help staff to teach all aspects of the recently developed subject curriculums well.

• The curriculum in the early years is not coherently structured or well designed. This means that staff do not effectively develop children's knowledge across all areas of learning. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum in the early years sets out the important knowledge and vocabulary that children need to learn and remember as the foundation for their future learning.