Oak Farm Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has faced some significant challenges over the last few years with changes of leadership, high numbers of staff leaving the school and a lack of professional development. This has disrupted pupils' learning across most year groups.

However, the new headteacher has evaluated the school's current position accurately. Action plans are already being enacted and priorities for development are clear. Staff are committed to driving improvements and the school is beginning to work well with parents and carers.

High expectations for pupils' behaviour and conduct are not embedded across the school. Most pupils are respectful and work hard during lessons, but some dis...rupt learning, choose not to take part in activities or lack motivation. Staff do not routinely use a consistent approach to address poor behaviour.

A range of clubs is on offer and the school is increasing the enrichment opportunities provided to pupils. Pupils participate in charity events and have some understanding of British values. At present, there are limited leadership opportunities to enable pupils to experience responsibility.

Pupils are safe and attend school well. There are reported incidents of bullying, teasing and immature behaviour, but pupils do respect difference and feel all are welcome in the school. The school is taking action to address poor behaviour more robustly and this is beginning to have a positive impact.

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

Following a difficult period of change, the school is now reviewing and developing its curriculum. This new curriculum sets out a broad range of subjects in sufficient depth to match the national curriculum. The precise knowledge that pupils need to know is still being identified in some subjects, with leaders beginning to sequence the curriculum so that it builds on previous knowledge.

There is clear ambition for what pupils should learn, starting from Nursery, but pupils are not yet receiving this curriculum in the classroom. Likewise, starting points for the curriculum are not always clearly defined.

Many pupils achieve well in mathematics and English by the time they reach the end of Year 6.

However, many pupils do not receive a rich curriculum in other subjects. This is especially evident for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The ambition for what pupils with SEND can achieve is not consistently high.

Some do not benefit from being fully included in lessons or having the adaptions they need in order to access the curriculum. This leads to gaps in their knowledge.

The school is making reading a priority and is increasing the range of high-quality texts studied.

The phonics programme is set out and sequenced in a logical way to build knowledge gradually and securely. However, some staff have not had sufficient training in how to deliver the programme effectively and there is some variation in how quickly pupils progress. Pupils take home books which match the sounds practised in class, but their progress is not carefully checked.

Oversight of early reading is not strong and those pupils who need extra support are sometimes not identified quickly. Additional time and support provided to weaker readers is variable in quality. These pupils, particularly those with SEND, are not learning how to read fluently or quickly, and therefore they struggle to access the full curriculum.

Teachers do not have consistently strong subject expertise and have not received up-to-date professional development to ensure that pupils benefit from high-quality teaching. Sometimes, it is not clear what pupils are expected to learn from activities. Similarly, teachers do not routinely check pupils' understanding or ensure that learning is embedded through practice and revisiting key concepts.

In the early years, while activities are meaningful and well resourced, children are sometimes not directed to them. Their learning is not routinely monitored and they do not learn the skills intended by staff. In some subjects, pupils do not demonstrate a love of learning and are not able to recall key knowledge.

Where this is stronger, however, pupils take an active role in their learning, and benefit from adult modelling and clear explanations.

The school is in the process of developing a new behaviour policy, but it is not yet applied consistently and fairly. However, leaders have addressed immediate concerns, and this is having a positive impact on conduct around the school.

Pupils are generally respectful and polite. In the early years, children play cooperatively and staff build their emotional and social skills. The school has been successful in ensuring that pupils attend school regularly and punctuality is improving.

Bullying and unkind comments still happen from time to time, however. Pupils are kept safe at school, and do feel they have a member of staff they can go to if worried, but leaders have identified that there is more work to be done here.

The school's offer to promote pupils' wider development is expanding.

There is a range of clubs on offer, particularly in sport and languages. Pupils take part in swimming lessons and some enrichment opportunities such as history workshops and visits to Kew Gardens. Pupils are excited about the new school council and the opportunity to take on more leadership roles.

Leaders are consulting parents and pupils about changes being made across the school, and this is creating a sense of community. Pupils understand how to stay safe, including online. The school delivers a secure personal, social, health and economic education curriculum and has begun to promote citizenship and charity work.

Leaders and staff are working together to improve the school. Senior leaders are mindful of staff well-being and workload and are implementing changes strategically and meaningfully. Leaders and governors recognise the need for additional professional development in the school and further support for those teachers who are at an early point in their career.

Governors fulfil their statutory requirements and now need to both support and hold leaders to account in the interests of pupils' education. Staff are dedicated to improvement and building ambition.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum in some subjects is not sequenced well enough to build sufficiently on pupils' prior knowledge. This means pupils' learning is not organised in a way that helps them develop and deepen their understanding. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum in these subjects is structured in a way that helps pupils to revisit and embed their knowledge.

• Pupils with SEND are not consistently receiving an ambitious or high-quality education. This means that their experience of the curriculum is sometimes limited and they do not make sufficient progress. The school should ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are met and that they have full access to the curriculum.

• Expectations and approaches to behaviour management are not yet commonly understood or clearly communicated. This means pupils do not understand what is required of them and there is low level disruption in class that impacts on learning. Leaders should ensure that expectations for pupils' conduct are consistently understood and that pupils consistently adopt a responsible and respectful attitude to each other and their learning.

• The school has not provided professional development for staff which enables them to lead on aspects of the school's work or deliver a high-quality education. Leadership at all levels needs to be developed and professional development put in place to ensure that teachers and support staff have both the subject and pedagogical knowledge needed to fulfil their roles. ? Leaders' work to support weaker readers and prioritise reading in the school is inconsistent.

Those pupils who are struggling to read are not routinely identified and given the right support to become fluent readers. This means they struggle to access the curriculum. Leaders should systematically identify these pupils and put meaningful interventions in place to ensure that pupils learn to read quickly and with fluency.

Also at this postcode