Oakfield Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring, nurturing and happy school. Leaders and staff have high expectations of all pupils. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), form strong relationships with adults and each other.

This has a positive impact on their learning.

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They feel safe and make friends easily.

Children in the early years settle into school life quickly. This is because of the caring and supportive staff.

Leaders and staff ensure that pupils' behaviour never interrupts learning.

Pupils' behaviour around school is exemplary. They understand what bullying is. They told inspectors that... adults in school would help them to sort out any worries or concerns about bullying.

Pupils value diversity. They understand how to treat people with different values and beliefs with respect. Pupils are kind, cooperative and caring towards each other.

Pupils benefit from a range of clubs and activities. The pupils that inspectors spoke with enjoy clubs such as reading, judo and archery. Leaders ensure that all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, are fully included in these activities.

Pupils can be a subject ambassador on the school council. They encourage their peers to do well in their lessons.

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

Leaders, staff and governors share a common, ambitious goal for all pupils to become well-rounded and educated young citizens.

Leaders and governors have ensured that the curriculum is relevant, well organised and gives pupils the knowledge that they need to succeed. The curriculum meets the needs of pupils who are part of the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision) particularly well.

Teachers deliver the curriculum well.

Curriculum plans help pupils to build increasingly complex knowledge as they move through the school. In many subjects, pupils revisit key knowledge often. As a result, pupils can recall this knowledge easily.

Teachers check on pupils' learning. However, these checks do not focus well enough on the essential knowledge that pupils must remember for later learning. As a result, teachers are unsure if pupils have learned key knowledge.

At times, this halts pupils' progress because they do not have secure subject knowledge on which to build.

Staff promote a love of reading across the school. In the early years, well-trained staff support children to develop their vocabulary and listening skills effectively.

When the time is right, teachers introduce pupils to phonics in a logical way. This helps pupils to learn to read well. Even so, some pupils read books, and take books home, that contain sounds that they have not yet learned.

This causes some pupils, especially those at the earliest stages of reading, to lose confidence and focus.

By the time pupils reach Year 6, they read with confidence, fluency and expression. Teachers ensure that any pupils who fall behind get the help that they need to catch up quickly.

Pupils are enthusiastic readers. They especially value their teachers reading to them from a range of exciting books.

Most subject leaders have the knowledge and skills that they need to check how well teachers deliver curriculum plans in their areas of responsibility.

However, this is not the case for all subject leaders. Some subject leaders do not have the expertise to help teachers improve their subject-specific knowledge.

Everyone is welcome at this school.

Leaders make sure that pupils with SEND receive highly effective care, support and education. The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) works closely with a range of specialists. This helps leaders to identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Staff have a detailed understanding of how to meet the needs of pupils in the specially resourced provision who have speech, language and communication needs.

Staff manage pupils' behaviour exceptionally well, including pupils with complex SEND. Pupils are respectful, polite and proud of their school.

They behave very well in class and play sensibly together at social times. As soon as children start in the Nursery Year, staff set high expectations for behaviour. Children listen attentively to their teachers and follow classroom routines well.

These high expectations continue through the school.

Leaders provide pupils with many opportunities to become well-rounded citizens. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Pupils, including children in the early years, learn about healthy relationships. They have a detailed understanding of respect and tolerance for people's differences. Leaders and governors are committed to supporting staff and pupils' well-being.

They are mindful of staff's workload. Governors have a good insight into what is working well at the school and the priorities for improvement. They provide suitable support and challenge to a range of school leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors have safeguarding as their top priority. Staff know pupils and the community extremely well.

Well-trained staff spot any signs of concern quickly. Staff monitor pupils' attendance particularly well. They understand which pupils need additional help to attend school regularly.

Leaders work closely with external agencies to ensure that pupils and their families get additional help when needed.The curriculum provides pupils with many opportunities to learn how to stay safe. Pupils build strong relationships with staff.

This encourages them to raise concerns if they need to. Pupils learn what a good friend is, and how to stay safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some subject leaders do not have the subject-specific knowledge they need to check that the curriculum is making a difference to pupils' achievement.

This means that leaders do not know how well teachers are delivering the curriculum, nor are they able to offer useful advice to develop the subject knowledge of teachers. Leaders must ensure that subject leaders are suitably equipped to lead their areas of responsibility, so that teachers are confident to deliver all subjects in the curriculum. ? Teachers' checks on pupils' learning do not provide sufficient information about what pupils know and remember.

This is because the assessment strategies used do not always check whether pupils have remembered essential knowledge. Leaders should review their assessment systems, including those in the early years, so that teachers can build more effectively on what pupils already know and can do. ? At times, leaders do not ensure that pupils read books that are closely matched to the sounds that they securely know.

This causes some pupils to lose confidence. Leaders should ensure that the books that pupils read are more carefully matched to the sounds that they know well. This will help pupils at the early stages of reading to gain confidence and fluency.