Michael Faraday School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Michael Faraday School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well mannered, friendly and respectful at Michael Faraday School. In lessons, they listen to their teachers, follow instructions and work together well. At playtime, pupils enjoy playing with friends on the climbing frame, building structures in the forest area and chatting under the trees in the orchard.

Bullying is uncommon. When it does happen, leaders deal with it swiftly and it does not reoccur. Pupils feel safe here.

Leaders have high aspirations for pupils' academic and personal development. Pupils achieve positive outcomes in their learning. They also take part i...n a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

For example, they play in the brass band, knit and crochet, and represent their school at sports and arts events. The school aims to teach pupils how to be good citizens. Pupils learn how to collaborate with others, debate and problem solve and to be resilient.

They develop positive attitudes to learning and feel prepared for secondary school.

Pupils, staff, parents and carers enjoy being part of the school community. Parents described the school as being a happy place where people care about each other.

They spoke highly of the commitment and support of school leaders.

School staff build strong working relationships with parents. This helps to support the school's work in ensuring that pupils attend regularly.

Leaders identify pupils who are at risk of non-attendance promptly. They provide support for them at the earliest stage.

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

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum for pupils, weaving in carefully selected opportunities for pupils to learn about and reflect on the local context and diversity of the school community.

For example, in history, this breadth and diversity is clear in the significant historical figures and periods that pupils study, ranging from Mary Seacole in Year 2 and Benin, West Africa, in Year 5. In each subject, the school has set out the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils need to know. Teaching focuses on helping pupils to develop and use a rich vocabulary across subjects.

For instance, in Year 3, teaching introduced pupils to the words 'plummeting' and 'shimmied' in the book 'The Wild Robot'. In some subjects, the school made curriculum changes recently. Because of this, pupils have not currently developed the full body of knowledge that the school expects in these subjects.

Leaders promote a love of reading from the moment children start school. Teachers choose the books that they read with care, considering how these complement pupils' learning across the curriculum. In Year 6, for example, pupils study the book 'The Windrush Child'.

They use their knowledge of what they have learned in history about the Second World War and immigration to help them understand the book.

Staff follow a structured phonics programme to teach pupils to read. They teach phonics lessons daily for those pupils who are learning to read, including in early years.

Pupils have books that match the phonics sounds that they know. They take these books home so that they can practise and learn to read them fluently. Pupils also enjoy being able to choose books from the school library to read at home with parents.

Staff quickly identify pupils who find learning to read difficult. These pupils receive extra support to help them to catch up.

Leaders have developed clear approaches for assessing what pupils have learned and to help them to remember key knowledge.

For example, in history, pupils begin lessons with a quiz on key concepts about the historical period being studied. Staff also encourage pupils to use their 'Big Ideas' sheets to remind them of prior learning. They check what pupils understand and correct any misconceptions.

Most pupils develop their knowledge well across a range of subjects. Sometimes, expertise in the delivery of the curriculum is not developed enough to help all pupils to understand the planned learning. This leads to gaps in the knowledge and skills of some pupils in these subjects.

The school has considered how the early years curriculum enables children to develop a foundational understanding of important concepts. In mathematics, for example, children in Nursery develop a sense of number by counting and grouping objects in the setting. In Reception, children build their understanding further, for example, by learning how to divide groups of objects.

For example, children enjoyed practising sharing a set of buttons equally between 'gingerbread men'.

Leaders identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) accurately. They make sure that teachers know how to support these pupils.

Pupils with SEND study the same subjects as their peers.

In lessons, routines to support learning are clear and established. Relationships between staff and pupils are kind and supportive.

They know they can talk to a trusted adult if they have any concerns. There is rarely any disruption in lessons. The school makes sure that all pupils are able to access a wide range of enrichment activities.

Pupils visit the British Museum and the Houses of Parliament, for example. They also take part in adventurous residential trips, such as learning to surf in Cornwall.Staff members appreciate how leaders are mindful of workload and prioritise the well-being of staff and pupils.

Governors understand their specific roles, including in relation to safeguarding. They provide effective support and challenge to leaders. They know the school well and are committed to its community ethos.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has recently finished developing the curriculum. In classrooms, the school is still growing the teaching expertise needed to deliver this curriculum consistently well across all subjects, and in turn ensure that pupils remember key knowledge fluently over the long term.

Sometimes, pupils struggle to recall the knowledge and skills that they have learned previously. The school should embed its new curriculum thinking so that pupils' learning is consistently strong across all subjects.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 2014.