Monkhouse Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Monkhouse Primary School enjoy learning. They are happy and safe.

The school's values are at the centre of school life. Values such as courage and resilience support pupils to take risks, to do more and achieve well.

The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement.

The curriculum is ambitious and challenges pupils' thinking. The curriculum design enables pupils to gain knowledge about their local area and wider community through educational visits. The curriculum also supports pupils to understand the importance of strong physical and mental health.

For example, pupils learn about the importance of healthy eating and being physical...ly active.

There are clear expectations around behaviour. Pupils generally behave well in lessons and at breaktimes.

Bullying rarely happens. If it does, teachers deal with this straight away. Pupils have trusted adults they can talk to if they have any concerns.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of before- and after-school activities such as cookery, gardening and art. These activities are well attended. Pupils enjoy making a positive contribution to the life of the school by taking responsibility in a variety of roles, such as play leaders, eco-warriors, assembly monitors and playground buddies.

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

The school has a broad and interesting curriculum. In reading and mathematics, the curriculum is well organised. Teachers constantly check what pupils know and can do.

Pupils have same-day intervention to support any misconceptions and prepare them for lessons the next day. However, in some subjects in the wider curriculum, the series of lessons is not clearly sequenced. This leads to assessments of pupils' learning and follow-up lessons being less precise.

Where this happens, some pupils cannot recall fully what they have been previously taught.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) follow the same curriculum as their peers. Staff carefully adapt activities and resources to meet the needs of most pupils with SEND.

However, for some pupils with SEND, individual support plans do not accurately reflect the current needs of these pupils or describe how best to meet these needs. This is limiting how well staff are meeting the needs of some pupils with SEND.

From the moment children start school they are immersed in an exciting and engaging curriculum.

In the early years, routines and expectations are quickly established to support children in their learning. Children are introduced to early reading and mathematics through a variety of songs and games. Interesting learning areas are set up around the early years learning environment.

These areas promote children's early mathematical and enquiry skills. Children have many opportunities to develop their communication skills. Staff take every opportunity to make learning fun and purposeful.

The school has developed a culture where pupils are excited to read. All pupils, including pupils with SEND, read regularly. Most pupils quickly become fluent readers.

Pupils learn to be respectful of others. They understand, for example, that there are different types of families. Pupils learn about protected characteristics and how everyone should be treated fairly.

Pupils know how to stay safe online. While pupils learn about respect and equality, their knowledge about world faiths and different cultures is limited.

Governors know the school well.

They provide challenge and support to the school to ensure that leaders are held to account. Leaders at all levels engage well with staff. They provide regular training and take into account workload and well-being.

Staff say that they enjoy working at Monkhouse Primary School and feel well supported. Most parents speak highly of the school and feel their views are heard by the staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Plans to support some pupils with SEND are not specific enough and, sometimes, targets are unclear. This means pupils with SEND do not consistently get the precise support that they need. The school should ensure that plans for all pupils with SEND include specific targets so that staff are clear on how to enable them to access the same curriculum as their peers.

• Some wider curriculum subjects are not planned and sequenced effectively. This means that, in these subjects, pupils have limited understanding, and this hampers their readiness for the next stages of their learning. The school should ensure that the content and sequencing of the curriculum in all subjects is implemented and embedded consistently across the school.

• Pupils do not have a clear understanding of different cultures and religions. This does not prepare them sufficiently for life in modern Britain. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum includes essential knowledge that pupils need to learn about the different world faiths and cultures.

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