Park Spring Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Park Spring Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Park Spring Primary School is a caring, friendly and welcoming school. Leaders are ambitious about what pupils can achieve and staff have high expectations.

Teachers make lessons interesting and fun. Pupils said that they enjoy coming to school because: 'I have improved my handwriting and I am very proud of that,' 'I love maths and know all my times tables,' and 'Everyone is kind and helps you.' Parents said: 'This is a caring school that goes the extra mile for every child and family,' and 'This is a school that cares about their students.'



Pupils are happy, respect...ful and smiling. The school is calm and orderly and pupils behave well. In lessons, pupils try their hardest.

Pupils told the inspector that they feel safe. Bullying is rare, and pupils know there is an adult they can go to if they are worried about something. Pupils know how to stay safe, including when they use the internet or social media.

Pupils take on various roles of responsibility, such as school councillors, 'sport crew' and 'food ambassadors'. This helps them to develop their confidence and resilience while helping others. Pupils' voice is heard in the school and they enjoy sharing their ideas and opinions.

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

The school continues to offer pupils a good quality of education. School leaders, including governors, know the school very well. They are ambitious about the school and want every pupil to achieve their best.

The headteacher, deputy headteacher and her senior team know exactly how to improve the school further.

Leaders have worked hard and have designed a strong and ambitious curriculum, starting from the early years. Pupils study the full range of subjects of the national curriculum.

They build up their knowledge and understanding in each subject as they move through the school. Pupils remember key knowledge because they revisit previous learning regularly. For example, in art, pupils in Year 5 can explain how learning about shading and blending in previous years has helped them in creating designs influenced by botanical art.

In mathematics, pupils in Year 3 can explain how learning about halves at the beginning of the year has helped them to learn about quarters and thirds later on in the year. However, the content in some subjects is not yet carefully linked to knowledge from other subjects. As a result, some pupils do not routinely use wider prior knowledge when learning something new.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the support they need to take a full part in lessons. Teachers identify any learning needs early and adapt the curriculum to meet each pupil's needs. Teachers use assessment to identify gaps in learning accurately.

This means that pupils get the help they need to catch up.

Leaders have ensured that reading is of high priority in this school. Leaders have introduced a new programme for the teaching of phonics.

Adults teach phonics well. Books are carefully matched to the sounds that pupils know. Because of this, pupils quickly learn to read with fluency and accuracy.

In key stage 2, pupils develop a deep understanding of a wide range of texts. All pupils spoke enthusiastically about their favourite books and authors of this term. New resources have been added this year.

Story time at the end of each day is engaging. Pupils read regularly in school but not routinely for pleasure at home.

In early years, daily phonics sessions help pupils learn their sounds quickly and combine the teaching of reading with the teaching of spelling.

Any pupil who falls behind in their reading gets extra support. Language development and communication constitute a high priority for the school. The early years curriculum is planned coherently in all areas of learning.

Nursery and Reception classrooms are vibrant, safe and exciting places to learn. Adults are caring and welcoming. The curriculum allows children to thrive.

Adults use the outside space very creatively and children have fun while learning. As a result, children are well prepared for Year 1.

The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities, such as cooking and football.

Parents and carers are complimentary about the leaders and staff at this school. Leaders have established a school environment where morale is high and staff feel valued. Leaders organise exciting events linked to pupils' learning, such as visits from authors and theatre visits linked to reading books.

Pupils are excited to see a book brought to life on a theatre stage. The curriculum supports pupils' social and emotional development well. Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe and how to be healthy.

They have a good understanding of other faiths.

Leaders, including governors, show great consideration for the well-being of everyone working in the school. Staff workload is considered in every decision senior leaders make.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make sure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. Pupils know how to stay safe at school and at home.

They also know who to go to if they have any concerns. Staff can easily access the system in place to record any concern. Leaders follow up concerns quickly and work effectively with external agencies.

Staff remain vigilant. Staff receive appropriate safeguarding training, including weekly updates. The school carries out all the required recruitment and other checks to ensure that anyone working at the school, or visiting, is safe to work with children.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school curriculum is ambitious and well planned and content is logically sequenced across all subjects. As a result, pupils' knowledge builds up over time. However, pupils do not routinely use wider knowledge when learning something new.

Leaders need to continue to refine the interconnected curriculum so that knowledge in each subject is also linked to other subjects to support pupils to better integrate new learning. ? Leaders have ensured that reading has a high priority in the school from the early years through to Year 6. Leaders have put in place a wide range of initiatives to foster a love of reading, in school and at home.

However, not all pupils read regularly at home. Leaders need to continue their intensive work with parents to ensure that all pupils read more often at home.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2013.