Oakthorpe Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and benefit from a calm school environment where staff know them well.

Pupils behave well during lessons and at breaktimes. They are polite and respectful to staff and visitors. Pupils are safe and all know a trusted adult they can talk with if they have a worry or concern.

The school has high expectations of pupils' learning. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils work hard and try their best.

They achieve well from their different s...tarting points. By the time that they leave the school in Year 6, pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Pupils have a range of opportunities to develop their interests and talents.

They attend clubs, such as ballet, choir, football and gymnastics. Pupils learn to be responsible and develop their leadership skills through a variety of roles, such as library monitors, school councillors and house captains.

Through their positive attitudes, pupils demonstrate the school values of respect, creativity, responsibility, excellence and confidence.

Parents and carers praise the education that their children experience. One parent, whose comment was typical of many, said, 'This school is a force for good in the world.'

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum, which includes the essential knowledge and skills that pupils need to know.

This builds logically from the Reception Year through to the end of Year 6. Children get off to a strong start in the early years, where staff make effective use of language to help children learn about rhymes, number and mathematical patterns.

In English and mathematics, staff regularly check pupils' learning and use the information that they gather to adapt future teaching.

This enables pupils to achieve well by the end of key stage 2. Art weeks and displays around the school allow pupils to showcase their creative skills. However, in a few subjects, there are inconsistencies in checking what pupils know and remember.

In these subjects, on occasion, this hinders teachers in identifying and addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge.

The school has put reading at the heart of the curriculum. Staff deliver the phonics curriculum consistently well.

They make sure that the books pupils read are carefully matched to the sounds they know. Staff provide prompt help for any pupils with gaps in their reading knowledge. This helps most pupils to catch up quickly and become secure and fluent readers.

Older pupils speak with enthusiasm about their school library and how it fosters in them a love of reading.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND effectively. It provides all pupils with adapted support to enable pupils to access their learning successfully.

Staff support pupils in the specialist resource provision and any pupils with communication and language difficulties expertly.

There are clear and consistently applied expectations for pupils' behaviour. This ensures a purposeful and orderly atmosphere in lessons and around the school.

Pupils listen to their teachers and try their best. Pupils play well together at lunchtime and are caring towards each other.

The school has a varied programme to promote pupils' personal development.

Pupils learn how to be healthy and stay safe, including online. They enjoy a range of visits to enrich their learning. Year 4 recently visited the British Museum to learn about the Rosetta Stone.

Year 5 pupils learned raft and boat building skills on the nearby River Lea, and Year 6 pupils relish the opportunity to go on a residential trip. The school organises regular visits to local places of worship and invites in a range of diverse speakers to foster understanding and tolerance. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

The school places great importance on pupils' regular attendance. Pupils know that they need to be in school in order to learn. Recent work on improving school attendance is having a positive impact.

The school works closely with pupils and families to bring about improvements. However, attendance levels for some pupils remain stubbornly low. This means that they miss out on valuable learning and other important aspects of school life.

Governors fully support the school and are closely involved in its work. School improvement partners provide independent oversight and training. Staff are positive about working at this school.

They shared that the school takes their well- being and workload seriously when making decisions. Parents are positive about the school and feel part of its community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers do not take a consistent approach to identifying and addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge in the different subjects that they teach. In some subjects, pupils' misconceptions are not addressed and they do not build their knowledge as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff take a consistent approach to assessment across the curriculum in order to identify and address any gaps or misconceptions in pupils' knowledge.

• Some pupils, including some vulnerable pupils, do not attend school regularly. This means that they miss out on important learning. The school should continue to work with parents and external agencies to instil the importance of regular school attendance.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2019.