Nightingale Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this vibrant, caring and friendly school.

The school values of courage, compassion and curiosity are well understood and demonstrated by pupils. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and nurturing. They know who to talk to if they are worried about anything.

Bullying is rare but when it does happen pupils are confident that adults will deal with it. Pupils are happy and safe.

Leaders ensure that all pupils follow a broad and balanced curriculum.

They are ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils behave incredibly well in class and around the school. The...y engage fully in lessons and work hard.

They enjoy their learning and progress well through the curriculum.

The school provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests. Pupils can attend after-school clubs in debating, coding or sewing.

Recently, all pupils took part in the 'Big Me' Action Aid Day, where they learned about different careers. Pupils can also work to achieve their 'Pupil Experience Passport'.

Parents, pupils and staff are all extremely positive about the recent improvements to the school.

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

The school has invested in and developed a curriculum that reflects the scope and ambition of what is expected nationally. The curriculum is carefully designed from Nursery onwards to ensure pupils build up their knowledge and vocabulary over time. For example, in mathematics, children in the Nursery practise counting through singing number songs.

This helps them later to learn about addition and subtraction. Similarly, in music, pupils' understanding of notation builds from using different hand signals in early years to increasingly sophisticated and formal musical notation in key stage 2.

Reading is prioritised at Nightingale.

In the Nursery, pupils listen to songs, rhymes and stories daily, which prepares them well for learning to read. Children begin to learn phonics from the start of Reception. All staff receive regular training to help them deliver the programme well.

As a result, sounds are introduced and modelled clearly. Pupils who find reading difficult are identified quickly and well supported to catch up. Books are well matched to the sounds pupils have learned.

As a result, pupils learn to read with increasing accuracy, fluency and confidence.

Pupils with SEND receive the support they need to be happy and successful in school. Leaders identify pupils' needs swiftly.

Teachers make skilful adaptations to activities, enabling these pupils to learn the same curriculum as their peers and achieve well.

Effective training supports teachers, including those new to their careers, to develop strong subject knowledge. This helps them to explain clearly to pupils the key knowledge that they are learning.

Pupils learn well overall. However, sometimes the tasks teachers select, do not help pupils to practise and embed the important knowledge they need to secure. In these instances, some pupils struggle to understand new ideas because they have gaps in aspects of their prior learning.

Assessment is not used consistently well to check if pupils have understood what they have been taught. This means, some pupils have not secured the knowledge and vocabulary they need before moving on to more complex ideas. This particularly affects those pupils who find learning more difficult.

Pupils, parents and staff all agree that behaviour at the school is excellent. Pupils behave very well in class and around the school. They regulate themselves well even when playing competitive games in the playground.

This starts in early years, where children learn to share and take turns. For example, they are taught how to recognise their feelings and can record how they feel on 'bubble time' charts. The school works very hard with parents and external agencies to ensure that pupils attend school regularly.

Attendance is monitored closely, and swift action is taken if needed. As a result, pupils' attendance is high.

Pupils' wider development is exceptional.

The curriculum has been carefully designed and structured to ensure pupils learn about important ideas. For example, pupils are taught about consent in an age-appropriate manner, including completing the NSPCC 'Speak Out Stay Safe' programme. Pupils learn about other faiths and viewpoints in religious education lessons and through visits to places of worship.

There are carefully planned opportunities for pupils to perform. For example, all Year 3 and 4 children perform in an opera, supported by the Royal Opera House. Year 6 recently completed a performance of 'Romeo & Juliet'.

School councillors lead class assemblies and are trained to support their peers with any concerns they might have about bullying. Similarly, sports leaders are trained to support younger pupils to play games in the playground.

Leaders have brought about significant improvements in the school over the past 18 months.

Governors are very committed to the school. Staff feel well supported. They appreciate the trust placed in them.

They know that leaders listen to them and consider their well-being and workload. The school engages well with parents, and this is valued.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment is not used systematically to check pupils' understanding. This means that some pupils do not secure the knowledge they need to make sense of new content later on. The school should ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding systematically across the curriculum.

• Teaching in some subjects does not consistently support pupils to remember long-term what they have learned. As a result, pupils' understanding is sometimes fragile as they develop gaps in their knowledge. Teachers should ensure that activities in class support pupils to practise and embed in their long-term memory the knowledge and vocabulary they have learned.

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