Oakwell Rise Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Oakwell Rise is a school where everyone is welcome. Pupils enjoy the start of their day at school. They like talking with their friends and enjoy choosing what to eat.

They say that 'breakfast club is cool!' The 'Oakwell promise' helps them to do their best and live happily together.

Relationships are strong in this school. Pupils say they feel safe and that adults listen to them.

They know who they can speak to if they are upset and trust the adults in school to sort out problems straight away. During circle time, pupils learn about bullying. They say that it sometimes happens but that adults always act when they know about it.

Parents are proud tha...t their children attend Oakwell Rise Primary Academy. Families feel well supported. They say that the school has got better and better.

Leaders want all pupils to learn as much as they can. Pupils enjoy their learning and listen well. In some subjects, pupils build on what they have previously learned.

However, pupils do not always recall important knowledge or understand how it helps them to learn more.

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

Pupils, parents and staff say that the school has been transformed. At the beginning of the day, pupils enter the school calmly.

They listen well in lessons. Most of them conduct themselves sensibly around the school building. Playtimes and lunchtimes are enjoyable social times.

Children settle quickly into the early years. Staff teach them how to share and take turns. They tell children to 'use your words' and encourage them to explain what they want to say.

Children learn the names of emotions to describe how they feel. Adults help children to learn new words when they are playing in the mud kitchen or racing toy cars. Children learn to choose different healthy snacks and help each other.

Leaders want every child to be able to read fluently. Children get off to a quick start by learning phonics straight away. They practise the sounds that they are learning.

They use these sounds to decode new words. Adults support them well. They make sure that the books that pupils read closely match the sounds that they know.

Older pupils use their knowledge of phonics when they think about the right way to spell a word.

In some subjects, pupils use what they have learned before to help them when they meet new things. In mathematics, pupils explain 'the more we practise, the better we get'.

Teachers spot when pupils have not understood something. They make sure that pupils grasp new knowledge. However, in some subjects, leaders have not identified precisely what they want pupils to learn.

Pupils do not consistently get the chance to recall and practise important knowledge.Staff feel that leaders support them well. Staff say that they can manage the amount of work that they have to do.

Staff value the way that they work together and say that this helps them to become better teachers. Teachers appreciate the support that subject leaders give them. This helps them to build their subject knowledge.

Subject leaders' expertise is growing. However, not all of them have checked that pupils are learning what teachers have planned.

Pupils are delighted to be going swimming again.

They understand that they need to be active and keep fit. They enjoy their 'Wild Days', when they learn together outside and find out more about the world around them. Pupils choose 'well-being warriors' from every year group.

They think how they can make a difference, for example through sending cards to the local care home when visits could not take place.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the help they need. Leaders and teachers work together to pinpoint precisely what pupils with SEND need to learn next.

They listen to parents and pupils to check whether the extra help is making a difference. Pupils with gaps in their learning get the help that they need to catch up quickly. Leaders make sure that all pupils, including those with SEND, have the chance to explain what they want to do in the future.

Staff use this information to plan new experiences for pupils.

Pupils value the roles and responsibilities that are open to them. They are proud of the way they elect representatives to the 'Members of the Democratic party'.

Leaders consult with this group to make sure that they listen to pupils' opinions.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders act quickly when concerns are raised.

They make sure that everyone is working together to keep pupils safe. Governors check that staff understand their safeguarding training and are doing the right things at the right time.

Staff understand the different dangers that pupils face.

They make sure that pupils learn about them and know what to do. They teach all pupils how to keep themselves safe online, starting in the early years. Pupils know how to ask for help and can explain when a situation might be risky.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in some subjects. However, it is clear that leaders have already taken action to develop the curriculum and train staff in how to deliver it. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.

• Leaders have not always identified, with precision, the knowledge that they want pupils to gain. In some subjects, the curriculum is not sequenced so that pupils get the chance to practise what they are learning. In these subjects, pupils do not remember important knowledge or build on it.

Leaders should refine the curriculum in some subjects to ensure that there is a clear sequence in place. They should make sure that pupils have the chance to revisit and recall knowledge.

• Some subject leaders are at an early stage of developing the curriculum for their subjects.

In some subjects, the curriculum is not well embedded. Subject leaders do not have the knowledge that they need to check how the curriculum is being implemented. Leaders should ensure that subject leaders are supported in knowing how to check the effectiveness of the curriculum in their subject.