Millbrook Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Millbrook Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have created an environment where pupils feel welcomed and valued. The strong relationships between school and home have a positive impact on pupils' learning.

Staff have high expectations of pupils. Pupils I spoke with understood teachers' expectations of being 'respectful, ready and safe'. Pupils behave well in lessons.

They take great pride in their work and achieve well.

Pupils I talked with said that bullying is rare. If anything happens, they feel confident that teachers would deal with it quickly.

Pupils say that they get on well togethe...r. They enjoy school and feel safe. They are aware of the dangers associated with the internet and social media.

Pupils' attendance has recently improved. However, a minority of pupils are still absent from school too often.

Pupils appreciate the wide range of after-school sports clubs they can join, such as football, boccia and fencing.

Pupils talk with great pride about singing at a local residential home for Christmas. Pupils support one another. Older pupils take on responsible roles such as play leaders, digital leaders and school councillors.

Pupils engage with charities as part of their work across the curriculum. This helps pupils to understand how they can contribute to society.

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

Millbrook School is well led and managed.

Leaders, including governors, know their school well. Staff are proud to work at the school. Leaders are mindful of teachers' workload.

Leaders have designed a curriculum that develops pupils' knowledge and skills well, across a broad range of subjects from Nursery to Year 6. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities, achieve well across a range of subjects.

Teachers promote a love of reading across the curriculum.

They choose books to read that make links with other curriculum subjects. The teaching of phonics and reading has a high priority in the curriculum. Phonics is taught in a logical order.

Well-trained teaching assistants provide support to help less-confident pupils to achieve well. Over time, the vast majority of pupils have met the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check. Pupils' reading books are matched closely to the sounds that children have been learning in class.

Throughout the school, teachers carefully choose the books they read to pupils. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the stories they have listened to. They often seek out books recommended to them by staff.

Pupils in key stage 2 enjoy a range of books linked to different subjects, such as history or science.

The mathematics curriculum is planned effectively. Pupils enjoy this subject.

Teachers revisit concepts to help pupils remember more over time. Pupils achieve well because new learning builds on what they already know. Teachers have a clear understanding of what they want pupils to know.

Training for staff ensures that they are up to date and skilled in teaching the subject. Pupils have many opportunities to practise their mathematics, including in other subjects. Children have opportunities to develop mathematical skills in the early years.

They explore numbers through play. Older pupils remember their mathematical knowledge. They enjoy the challenge in their work.

This includes how they use their mathematical knowledge to help them to solve problems.

In geography, teachers build on what pupils already know about the world. Leaders map out the key geographical vocabulary to be used.

This links to other subjects such as science and history. For example, pupils were able to say how their knowledge of South America helped them with their new topic about the Mayans. As a result, pupils have a strong understanding of the world around them.

Pupils know that they should treat everyone with dignity and respect. In classrooms and around school, pupils are kind to each other and display good manners. Pupils' behaviour is good and there is little disruption to learning.

The curriculum enables pupils to explore and learn about different cultures, religions, artists and musicians. Pupils leave the school well prepared for the next stage in their education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make safeguarding a priority. Leaders have ensured that staff receive relevant training. Staff are alert to any safeguarding concerns.

There are clear systems in school for recording and reporting these concerns. Leaders keep an overview of vulnerable pupils. The learning mentor and attendance officer are the main points of contact for vulnerable pupils and their families.

Parents commented on how the school has supported them and their children through times when they needed support. Staff work well with external agencies to make sure that these pupils receive the support they need.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

A minority of pupils are persistently absent from school.

This prevents these pupils from learning all that they could. Leaders should redouble their efforts to ensure that the attendance of this group of pupils continues to improve.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Millbrook Community Primary School to be good on 5 February 2015.

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