Peel Hall Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils' well-being is placed at the heart of Peel Hall. They are greeted by staff with warmth and positivity from the moment that they arrive. Pupils, including children in the early years, spoke highly of the care and support that they receive.

Pupils are very happy at this school.

Pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum. The school has strengthened pupils' learning in some subjects, including reading and mathematics, since the previous inspection.

However, many other subject curriculums are not designed and delivered as well as they should be. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not achieve as well as th...ey should.

Pupils understand the school's well-established rules and routines.

They behave well in lessons and at social times. For example, pupils line up beautifully in the dinner hall and respond quickly and politely to their teachers' requests.

Pupils enjoy contributing to the school and to the wider community.

They spoke proudly about their roles as pupil governors and how they look after the local environment as 'Peel protectors'. Pupils, including those with SEND, enjoy a range of extra-curricular activities such as football, tennis and gymnastics.

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

Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced considerable changes to its leadership and staffing.

The school has recently developed its curriculum to strengthen the breadth and depth of pupils' learning. It has considered staff's workload and well-being carefully when introducing these changes. However, some subject curriculums have not been finalised.

The important knowledge that pupils should learn in these subjects has not been identified clearly enough. Consequently, teachers are unclear about what knowledge pupils should learn and when it should be taught. This limits pupils' learning in these subjects.

The school has not checked that the curriculum, in subjects other than English and mathematics, is implemented as intended. Furthermore, it has not ensured that staff have the knowledge and expertise that they need to deliver the curriculum well. As a result, some pupils, including those with SEND, do not learn as effectively as they should.

In some subjects, the school has established effective assessment and monitoring systems. This enables the school to evaluate the impact of the curriculum on pupils' learning and to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge. However, these systems are not securely in place across the wider curriculum.

As a result, staff do not identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge as well as they should.

The school has ensured that reading is a high priority. Staff have been trained in the newly implemented phonics programme, which is delivered from the beginning of the Reception class.

Prior to this, children in the Nursery class enjoy listening to a range of books, stories and rhymes which prepare them well for learning to read. The school checks pupils' progress through the phonics programme carefully. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, who struggle with reading, are identified swiftly.

They receive appropriate support. This helps to ensure that most pupils become confident, fluent readers.

The school has strengthened its processes for identifying the additional needs of pupils.

Staff know pupils with SEND well and ensure that they receive appropriate support. This includes making suitable adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum so that pupils with SEND access the same learning as their peers.

Staff consistently manage pupils' behaviour well and ensure that learning is not disrupted.

Pupils enjoy their lessons and they work hard. They interact positively with each other at social times and are well mannered as they move around the school.

The school ensures that parents, carers and pupils are aware of the importance of regular attendance at school, including in the early years.

Staff liaise with families and other professionals to identify, and to overcome, barriers to pupils' attendance. The school's appropriate actions have reduced the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent.

The school supports pupils' wider development effectively.

Pupils are taught life skills including cooking and first aid. They learn about the importance of diversity and of respecting the views of others. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Governors have a clear vision for the school and fulfil their responsibilities well. They have worked closely with the local authority to ensure that the school has the capacity to improve.

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 curriculum does not clearly identify the knowledge that pupils should learn, or the order that this should be taught. This limits teachers' ability to help pupils to learn well. The school should ensure that the important knowledge that pupils will learn and the order that this should be taught is identified clearly.

• In some subjects, the school has not ensured that staff deliver the intended curriculum effectively. This hinders some pupils, including those with SEND, from learning as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to deliver the curriculum consistently well.

• In many subjects, the school has not established effective assessment systems to check pupils' learning. As a result, the school does not identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge sufficiently well. The school should ensure that all subjects have appropriate assessment systems that support teachers to identify and rectify gaps in pupils' knowledge effectively.