Oakhill Church School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is emerging from an unsettled time. Significant changes to leadership and staffing arrangements mean that leaders' expectations of what pupils can achieve have not been consistently high.

Until recently, the curriculum has not been well planned. Therefore, pupils have gaps in their knowledge across a wide range of subjects. Despite the school's strong aspirational vision, pupils do not receive a good quality of education.

Relationships between adults and pupils are positive. Pupils are safe, and staff care about their well-being. Pupils know that, if they have any worries or concerns, staff will help them to sort these out.

Many pupils recognise th...at behaviour and attitudes have improved markedly. Nonetheless, some pupils do not have positive attitudes to their learning, which causes disruption to others.

Pupils understand the importance of treating everyone fairly.

Pupils take on positions of leadership and responsibility. For example, older pupils are 'buddies' to younger children and help them at playtime. However, wider opportunities for pupils to extend their talents and interests are limited.

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

The school has begun to introduce a revised curriculum that sets out the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn in all subjects. While some pupils now experience a better grounding in some subjects, this work is in its infancy. Staff do not have the subject knowledge they need to meet the needs of pupils.

Therefore, the curriculum is not taught in a way that supports some pupils to build their subject knowledge over time. This, coupled with significant staffing challenges, has hampered how effectively this new curriculum has been put in place.

Children learn to read as soon as they start at school.

Books match the sounds they know. However, not all staff have sufficient training to provide effective support. This means that pupils do not develop the knowledge and skills they need to read confidently.

Once pupils have learned to read, there are opportunities for them to read for pleasure. Older pupils speak positively about their favourite authors and the books they have read. They enjoy listening to shared class reading books.

Children engage well with their learning in the well-resourced 'Roots' nursery provision. Children share books and join in with songs and rhymes. Staff know children very well and support children to develop new skills.

However, children in Nursery and in Reception Year do not learn well enough in all the areas important for their development. As such, they are not well prepared for Year 1.

The school works with external agencies to provide support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

This has been particularly successful in meeting pupils' emotional and social needs. However, the curriculum is not taught in a way that supports pupils to develop their subject knowledge.The school's behaviour policy, developed in partnership with the trust, parents and pupils, centres around the expectation that pupils 'be ready, be responsible, be respectful.'

This has had some impact on improving the way in which pupils behave. Pupils understand why these rules are important, and strategies have been implemented to help pupils adhere to these rules. For example, pupils use the 'Palm room' for reflection.

However, there is more work to do to ensure that behaviour expectations are understood by all pupils and that these are insisted on by all staff.

Pupils learn about cultures and religions that differ from their own. For example, pupils visit places of worship and learn from visitors to the school.

However, pupils do not develop an age-appropriate knowledge and understanding of the protected characteristics and why these are important for life in modern Britain.

The trust, the local governing committee and the school have identified accurately what needs to improve. The trust and local governors have the necessary expertise to support the school to remedy the areas that require improvement.

These actions have begun to have some positive impact on pupils' experiences.

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 subjects, the design of the curriculum is at an early stage.

Therefore, it does not support pupils to build confidently on what they already know or prepare for what comes next. The school and the trust need to ensure that the way in which the curriculum is organised supports pupils to build their subject knowledge securely. ? Staff do not teach the reading curriculum effectively.

This means that some pupils do not develop the knowledge and skills they need to read well. Such pupils do not receive the support they need to catch up when they fall behind. The school and the trust need to ensure that the reading curriculum supports all pupils to read confidently and fluently.

• Staff do not have the subject knowledge to teach the curriculum in a way that supports pupils to build a depth of knowledge. This hinders the learning of some pupils. The trust needs to ensure that all staff have the expertise to teach the curriculum in a way that supports all pupils to learn successfully.