Millbrook Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are united in their view that this is an exciting and happy school. Relationships are warm and respectful.

Leaders put the interests of their pupils at the heart of all they do. Disadvantaged pupils consistently benefit from the many opportunities that the school offers.

High expectations permeate this school.

This starts first thing in the morning, with the rallying cry of 'believe, achieve, succeed' echoing from hundreds of voices from the playground. This attitude continues all day. The school values of kindness and responsibility are the bedrock of its work.

Older pupils act as strong and inspiring role models. The 'kindness crew' look out... for issues to solve in the playground. The sports leaders ensure that all feel included.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. Classrooms are free of disruption. Pupils are polite and courteous.

They show their 'Millbrook manners' consistently well. Pupils love nominating their friends for showing strong learning behaviours, such as collaboration or perseverance in lessons. They are proud of each other's successes.

Parents too are complimentary of the school. One parent wrote, summing up the views of many, 'Millbrook's love and care really makes it like a supportive family that my child goes to every day.'

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

Leaders have transformed this school to one which pupils, parents and the trust are so incredibly proud of.

Pupils and staff alike love being part of 'Team Millbrook'. Staff feel valued as professionals. They are deeply committed to the vision and drive for future improvements.

Millbrook is a special place to work. Governance too is very effective, sharing the same ethos and high ambition. The trust regularly uses this school as a beacon of excellence to support and coach others trust-wide.

The school prioritises pupils learning to read extremely well. A love of reading and children's literature threads through all aspects of school life. Class story time is a highlight for pupils and staff alike, with pupils hanging off every word.

There has been much thought in ensuring pupils have access to a wide range of high-quality and diverse texts. These help to develop pupils' moral and cultural understanding successfully. Since the last inspection, the school has securely embedded their approach to teaching phonics.

From the word go in Reception Year, staff teach phonics with expertise and rigour. Pupils who need additional help with their reading receive targeted support to help them keep up.There is an ambitious curriculum in place.

At the core of this curriculum, the school has identified the most important knowledge for each unit of learning: 'the sticky knowledge', and the most important vocabulary to learn: 'the big six'. Pupils' learning is well sequenced, building carefully on what has come before, from Nursery to Year 6.Teachers help pupils to remember key content well, such as during the daily 'register and retrieval' sessions.

Teachers use the 'sticky knowledge' well to check that pupils have remembered key content. This is particularly successful in those subjects where teachers' subject knowledge is the strongest. The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) carefully.

There are clear processes in place to identify the needs of these pupils. Teachers make successful adaptions to their teaching. Pupils with SEND learn the curriculum well.

However, in a few foundation subjects, teachers' subject knowledge and approach to teaching is not quite as secure. Pupils do not learn as well in these subjects as they do in the best. The school has very suitable plans in place to support teachers further in these curriculum areas.

At the time of the inspection, the school had recently moved the Nursery into a different building. It has increased the offer to two-year-olds. This has brought with it some challenges in providing meaningful learning opportunities in the outside area.

Children demonstrate that they feel safe. They explore their surroundings confidently, including the two-year-olds. Staff prioritise communication and language development well.

The school is seeking to improve the learning experiences on offer for children when learning outside.Pupils' personal development is of very high quality. They are well prepared to be effective citizens of the future through the 'character and citizenship' award.

This bespoke award encourages pupils to challenge themselves by trying new experiences or being responsible and influencing others. Pupils make a positive contribution to the school and wider community. For example, pupils are planning their annual Christmas Cheer event.

They want to say thank you to the local library and local shopkeepers.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The aims of the ambitious curriculum are not yet realised fully in a few subjects and in early years.

Teachers' subject knowledge and subject-specific pedagogical knowledge is not as strong in some subjects as it is in others. Consequently, sometimes, pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should continue its work to monitor the implementation of the curriculum to ensure that it is highly effective in all subjects.

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