Oakham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone is made to feel welcome at Oakham Primary School. The school's motto of 'succeeding together' is evident to see throughout. Staff build strong relationships with pupils and actively celebrate their achievements and successes.

Pupils behave exceptionally well. In lessons, pupils show a keen desire to learn and complete tasks willingly. At social times, pupils play together happily and are keen to share their enjoyment of school with visitors.

Pupils feel safe in school and know who to speak to if something is worrying them.

Pupils benefit from a rich array of different experiences at school. Many older pupils take on leadership roles such as play and ...sports leaders, lunchtime helpers and well-being champions.

Pupils also enjoy the range of residential trips they can attend such as an outdoor learning centre in Year 2 and Snowdonia in Year 6. Pupils are active citizens in their local community. They enjoy raising money for a guide dog charity and singing and performing at a local care home.

Parents and carers are overwhelming positive about the school. One parent represented many when saying, 'The teachers and staff go above and beyond for every pupil. Oakham Primary School is just fantastic.

A pleasure to have my child attend there.'

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

The school prioritises the teaching of early reading. As soon as children join Nursery, they begin to learn initial sounds and letters.

The school's phonics programme is well designed so that children progressively learn to blend sounds and identify words with increasing confidence. The school ensures that the books children read are well matched to their phonics ability. Children enjoy reading and are keen to share their love of books with adults.

Staff regularly check how pupils are progressing. This helps to identify pupils who need additional support so that they can catch up. By the end of key stage 1, the vast majority of pupils can read fluently and are ready for their next stage of learning.

The curriculum in mathematics is well structured and sequenced. Teachers carefully explain tasks and use questioning effectively to check pupils' understanding. Teachers use resources well to help pupils develop a secure grasp of number.

However, in some lessons, teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to develop their reasoning or problem-solving skills. As a result, some pupils are not as secure in their mathematical knowledge as they should be.

In other areas of the curriculum, the school has effectively set out the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn over time.

Alongside this, the school has identified the steps of learning that are needed to help pupils understand more complex tasks and ideas. In many areas of the curriculum, the school has also considered the key subject vocabulary that pupils need to learn and how this will support their understanding of each topic. The school has begun to put in place steps to assess pupils' learning in the foundation curriculum.

However, this information is not always used effectively to adapt lessons or close gaps in pupils' knowledge.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported extremely well. The school's 'Den' provision ensures that pupils receive tailored interventions and can access lessons with their peers.

Staff review learning plans regularly so that they accurately reflect pupils' needs and the targets they are working towards. The school engage effectively with outside agencies and ensure that pupils with SEND are fully part of school life.

The school's personal development offer is exceptional.

A comprehensive personal, social, health and economic programme ensures that pupils develop a strong understanding of age-appropriate relationships and how to stay safe, including when online. Pupils' understanding of fundamental British values is extremely strong. Pupils learn about values such as democracy through class debates, creating their own political manifestos and electing house captains.

Pupils have a multitude of experiences to develop their cultural understanding. There are visits from local theatre companies as well as learning about different religious festivals such as Diwali, Eid and Advent. The school goes above and beyond with the trips, visitors to school, and extra-curricular opportunities they offer to pupils.

Governors are highly committed to the school. They have a secure understanding of its many strengths. Governors provide effective support and challenge to school leaders and fulfil their statutory duties diligently.

Leaders have an accurate view of the school. They recognise that there is further work to do to strengthen teaching knowledge in the foundation curriculum.

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school.

They appreciate the support they receive for their workload and well-being. They are unanimously proud to be part of the 'Oakham family'.

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 mathematics lessons, pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills. This means that some pupils are not as secure as they should be in their mathematical knowledge to tackle more complex ideas and concepts. The school should ensure that all pupils are given appropriate opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills to strengthen their mathematical understanding further.

The school is still in the process of developing its assessment procedures in the foundation curriculum. This means that assessment information is not being used as effectively as it could be to help strengthen the curriculum and address gaps in pupils' knowledge. The school should further develop their use of assessment in the foundation curriculum so that it helps deepen pupils' knowledge and understanding in these subjects.

• In some foundation subjects, teachers' subject pedagogical knowledge is less well developed. This means that teachers are not fully aware of how best to teach content of different subjects in the most effective way. The school should support all staff to enhance the teaching of the foundation curriculum.