North Mundham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

North Mundham Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to this school. They feel safe and cared about.

Pupils behave well. Strong, respectful relationships exist between all members of the school community. In Reception, children learn important social skills that enable them to collaborate effectively in group activities.

Furthermore, when taking part in discussions, older pupils listen well to each other, taking time to hear what their peers have to say.

At breaktimes, pupils benefit from an extensive range of outdoor activities. These help... to make play times fun and keep everyone busy.

Pupils learn to socialise with children of different ages, to problem solve and to keep physically active.

The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well. Pupils are keen to learn and enjoy the wide variety of opportunities available to them.

They relish talking about the many interesting topics they explore, explaining their ideas with clarity. Generally, pupils learn well, developing detailed knowledge, and confidence in a range of skills. Beyond academic learning, pupils learn important life skills, such as how to take different forms of public transport.

They also enjoy a wide range of physical pursuits, including canoeing, swimming and riding bikes.

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

Achieving the very best for pupils is clearly at the heart of this school's work. The school has responded swiftly to the disappointing 2024 provisional key stage 2 national assessments by making thoughtful and carefully considered changes to the curriculum for English and mathematics.

Staff provide effective support for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to help them remember their learning successfully. For example, staff have provided more opportunities for pupils to revisit and apply their knowledge to help build their understanding successfully. In addition, pupils with SEND benefit from thoughtful, bespoke strategies, such as electronic dictation devices to support writing and careful use of staff's specialist knowledge.

Teaching pupils to read is a strength of the school. Pupils learn essential phonics knowledge using a well-structured programme. Expert staff deliver this programme with high levels of consistency.

Pupils who need additional help with reading receive regular, well-planned interventions. These enable pupils to develop confidence and fluency in reading and catch up quickly.

Pupils learn a broad curriculum.

In lessons, teachers explain new ideas clearly. They use a variety of strategies to develop and deepen pupils' understanding over time. For example, in many subjects, teachers skilfully demonstrate how to use subject-specific vocabulary when explaining new concepts.

They then ensure that pupils understand and use this language in their work. However, sometimes the work that is given to pupils does not focus sufficiently well on the exact knowledge that pupils need to remember securely. When this happens, pupils do not learn as well as they could.

The school aims for pupils' understanding to be checked regularly. Teachers are clear about what knowledge they need to check and when they need to check it. Mostly, teachers identify effectively what pupils do not know and cannot do and address gaps in pupils' knowledge swiftly.

However, on a few occasions, teachers do not ensure that all pupils have understood their learning before moving on to the next step.

Most pupils attend school regularly. Furthermore, the school has taken positive and effective steps to improve the attendance of those pupils who do not attend as well as they should.

This includes, for example, providing motivating and inclusive curriculum resources and introducing lunchtime clubs requested by pupils.

Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. The have many meaningful opportunities to learn about and appreciate the diversity of British society.

For example, pupils take part in anti-racism workshops and in history, they learn about the impact of immigration policies on people's lives. In addition, through events such as culture day, pupils learn about the many different cultures that make up their community. Furthermore, careers events and activities help pupils to learn about the world of work.

This gives them a sense of aspiration for their futures. All pupils also benefit from a wide range of leaderships opportunities, such as reading ambassadors, play rangers and school councillors.

All leaders, including governors, work well together to continue to improve the school.

A diverse and wide range of training opportunities develop staff expertise effectively, including about how best to support more vulnerable pupils, including those with SEND. Staff feel well equipped to achieve their very best for all pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers' pedagogical knowledge is not consistently strong. On occasion, the tasks that pupils complete do not enable them to learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that the work given to pupils enables them to learn the intended curriculum securely and achieve well.

• Ongoing checks to make sure that all pupils have secured the knowledge and skills they are learning are not done consistently well. This means that sometimes pupils' gaps in understanding are not addressed before new concepts are introduced. The school should improve how well teachers check pupils' understanding and address misconceptions before they move pupils on to new learning.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 second ungraded inspection since we the judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2015.

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