Park End Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Park End Primary School are happy and safe.

Leaders ensure that the school is at the very heart of the community. They understand the struggles that some families face and strive to remove as many barriers as they can for the pupils that are in their care.

Pupils enjoy coming to school.

Leaders ensure that children thrive in the first stages of their educational journey. Staff take every opportunity to bring delight and discovery into children's lives.

Park End Primary School is an inclusive school.

Leaders have designed a curriculum that prepares pupils for life beyond the school. Enrichment activities and therapies, such as speec...h and language support, are built into curriculum time to ensure that all pupils have opportunities beyond the academic. All pupils are given the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.

All pupils have singing lessons to develop their musical skills and their ability to perform in front of a range of audiences confidently. It is inspiring to see their determination and delight as they accomplish this.

Bullying is rare.

Pupils understand what it is and know which adults to talk to if they have concerns.

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

Leaders are determined that every pupil develops a love of reading. Early reading starts as soon as pupils begin in the Nursery Year.

Children sing and chant rhymes as well as starting on more formal reading when they are ready. Adults model excellent language and communication skills. Pupils respond well to the routine and demand of learning to read through phonics.

Well-trained staff use assessment to quickly identify pupils that fall behind. Those pupils are then supported to practise remembering their sounds and to read well-matched books. As a result, most pupils quickly develop the ability to read fluently.

Older pupils read effortlessly and enjoy talking about the books that they read.

Pupils flourish in the early years provision. Adults encourage children to develop independence and self-care.

There is a well-established routine of toothbrushing and handwashing around snack time that blends hygiene, counting and fun. Children know how to put on their own wellies and rain outfits and are given time to do this for themselves.

Leaders are developing subject coordinators to take ownership of their aspect of the curriculum.

Plans are well sequenced against the National Curriculum. Teachers check pupils' learning in all subjects. In some subjects, this assessment is not precise as the important knowledge is not clearly identified.

This means that pupils sometimes repeat content rather than deepen their knowledge of a topic.Leaders have improved the teaching of mathematics. Teachers ensure that pupils develop and practise problem-solving skills.

Assessment is used in class to identify gaps and support pupils that might be struggling. Support is given in class to ensure that those pupils keep up. Teachers ensure that knowledge builds from one lesson to the next, so that pupils develop a deep understanding of mathematics.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are quickly identified. Leaders provide detailed plans that help staff develop bespoke activities in class. For example, some pupils have specially designed workspaces.

This practice ensures that pupils with SEND are fully included in whole-class learning.

Pupils' behaviour in lessons is excellent. Teachers ensure that lessons are engaging, and pupils respond well to this.

On the rare occasions that lessons are not appealing, some pupils need help to retain focus. This is done by the adults in the room effectively. Pupils appreciate the rigour with which the school rules are applied.

They understand their role in the school to maintain a harmonious society. Pupils learn about relationships and the diverse world that they live in. They understand the need for tolerance and are encouraged to care for others.

Pupils behave well at lunchtimes and breaktimes. Pupil play leaders initiate activities at breaktimes and ensure that games run smoothly. Pupils play well together and make sure that everybody is included.

This is also modelled effectively by adults with the younger pupils. Every opportunity is seized to encourage curiosity, play and togetherness.

Leaders have effective strategies and rigorous procedures in place to help improve attendance.

This is reducing the number of pupils that miss school repeatedly.

Leaders are carefully held to account by the governing body. Subject coordinators, as well as senior leaders, are expected to have action plans in place for any key developments in school.

Governors are thorough in their scrutiny of these plans and regularly hold leaders to account for their progress.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are rigorous with safeguarding arrangements.

They ensure that staff have up-to-date knowledge about safeguarding through regular training and quizzes. Staff know what to look out for and how to report concerns accurately.

Leaders know their community well.

They know that some families struggle to cope. To keep pupils safe, leaders work with external agencies to ensure that pupils and their families receive the support they need. Leaders are tenacious in representing their pupils and challenging decisions made by health and care, when they need to.

Leaders carry out the appropriate recruitment checks on staff to keep pupils safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some newly developed subjects, such as history, key end points are not identified for every year group. As a result, teachers' assessments are not precise, and pupils sometimes repeat work unnecessarily.

Leaders should ensure that assessment arrangements are refined, and all plans have the same level of precision for each year group. ? Due to the broad key stage end point in some subjects, assessment is not refined enough to ensure that pupils' knowledge is deepened every year. Leaders should ensure that checks are aligned to the expected knowledge for every year.