Newlands Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Newlands Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel proud to belong to this school. The school's values, which include 'respect' and to 'be ready and safe', underpin pupils' everyday actions. Pupils appreciate the kind, caring nature of staff and their peers.

The school has high expectations for all pupils to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The vision of 'no child left behind' is at the centre of the school's highly inclusive work. Pupils at the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND move seamlessly between the base and mainstream classes as all staff support t...hese pupils well.

Pupils behave well. They are responsible and considerate of each other. There is little or no disruption to lessons or day-to-day school life.

Pupils are attentive in lessons and they work hard. Pupils feel safe and happy. They value the support that they receive from adults when they need it.

Pupils are also keen to help others by becoming 'global ambassadors'. The school chooses the wider experiences pupils experience carefully. For example, pupils visit museums and have artists who come into school to inspire pupils' artwork.

Annual visits to a local university also aim to inspire pupils to attend higher education in the future.

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

The school has prioritised reading. Staff expose pupils to a wide range of high-quality books, including stories, poetry and non-fiction texts.

Staff teach the school's chosen phonics programme well. They ensure that pupils begin to learn to read accurately and fluently from a young age. The books that pupils take home to read are usually matched to the letter sounds they recognise.

Overall, pupils make very good progress with their early reading. However, some pupils who require additional support do not always make the rapid progress they could. This is because the support they receive is not always fully effective.

The school's curriculum ensures that teachers deliver content in a sensible order. Teachers provide significantly effective opportunities for pupils to develop their language and mathematical skills. Staff teach pupils valuable knowledge, skills and vocabulary in all other subjects.

As a result, pupils enjoy learning. They take pride and care in their work. The school checks pupils' learning effectively.

This has led staff to realise pupils do not always remember their learning in the depth they could. This means pupils do not always build their knowledge over time in all subjects. As a result, the school is refining the curriculum further to decide the vital knowledge pupils should learn and remember.

The school makes sure that disadvantaged pupils get the right support to achieve well. The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND early and precisely. Staff work with wider professionals to ensure that pupils have the support they need.

The school regularly monitors the individual plans to ensure that these pupils achieve well over time.

Behaviour around the school and in the playground is generally calm and orderly. Children learn the behaviour routines from the early years.

For example, they cheerfully share paints and toys. They learn to concentrate and persevere. Through the school, pupils develop a camaraderie.

Pupils feel confident to speak to trusted adults or use the 'worry boxes' to raise any concerns they might have. Attendance is a high priority. While most pupils attend school regularly, a few pupils do not.

Where this is the case, the school provides extra help and support to improve attendance.

The school supports pupils' wider development and well-being effectively. Pupils flourish in their various roles and responsibilities.

Pupils enjoy taking part in other opportunities and clubs. These include singing in the choir, being a role model as a prefect or helping to enable active playtimes. The school's understanding of the community helps pupils be ready for their next stages in development.

Pupils know and understand how to keep themselves safe in the local area. They are vigilant to dangers they might face as they get older. This includes online safety.

Governors carry out a range of activities to assure themselves that the school's systems are working well. This has helped them to ensure that the quality of education continually improves. When making decisions, the governing body and the school consider the impact on staff.

This makes for a happy staff team whose members feel supported and proud to work at the school. Parents and carers are very positive about the school. One view, which reflected the thoughts of many parents, was: 'My son is always eager to attend school.

The members of staff at the school are giving their best to motivate the children.'

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some areas of the curriculum, the school has focused too much on covering a wide breadth of content at the expense of pupils' depth of knowledge.

This means that pupils do not develop a greater depth of understanding over time. The school should further refine the curriculum and prioritise the key content that it wants pupils to learn. ? A few pupils who need extra support in early reading are not always given the additional help that they require.

This means some pupils do not catch up as swiftly as they could. The school should make sure that pupils' needs are met consistently well when learning to read.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2018.

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