Penwortham Broad Oak Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Penwortham Broad Oak Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a nurturing environment that helps everyone feel happy and safe. There is a strong sense of community at Penwortham Broad Oak Primary School.

Parents and carers appreciate this.

Pupils behave well. They are polite, eager to learn and conduct themselves respectfully around the school.

Pupils know that leaders are determined that all pupils will succeed, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils live up to teachers' high expectations. They enjoy their learning and achieve well.

Pupils understand the i...mportance of treating everyone with respect, regardless of any differences. They know about the harmful effects of name-calling and bullying. Pupils appreciate being able to share their concerns freely.

Leaders deal with bullying effectively. Pupils trust that if bullying should happen staff will sort it out quickly.

Pupils appreciate taking on roles of responsibility.

These include being a school councillor, a sports leader or member of the eco club. Pupils said that these opportunities help them to prepare for the future.

Pupils love spending time in their beautiful and well-equipped outdoor areas.

There are plenty of activities for pupils to enjoy. Pupils spoke eagerly about the time they spend on outdoor activities in the forest. They enjoy a range of opportunities that develop their academic, creative and sporting prowess.

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

Leaders have carefully designed an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those pupils with SEND. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is broad and balanced. They have constructed subject curriculums so that pupils build logically on the skills and knowledge that they have learned in the early years.

They have ensured that the curriculum is designed so that pupils extend their vocabulary in each subject. This helps pupils, including those with SEND, to achieve well.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge.

They present information clearly. In reading and mathematics, teachers make regular checks to see how well pupils are developing their knowledge and understanding. They use this information effectively to address pupils' misconceptions and provide suitable support.

Teachers also provide opportunities for pupils to revisit previous learning, which helps them to recall what they already know and remember. However, in some subjects, teachers do not check effectively enough that pupils know and remember what they have learned. This prevents teachers from understanding how well pupils have taken in new knowledge.

Teachers do not provide opportunities to revisit previous learning. In these subjects, pupils' recall of their learning is not as strong as it should be.

Staff are skilled in identifying the needs of pupils with SEND.

Through the carefully planned support that leaders provide, pupils with SEND access all aspects of the curriculum and everything that the school has to offer.

Leaders have placed reading at the centre of the school's curriculum. They have thought carefully about which high-quality books pupils will read as they move through the school.

In the early years, children enjoy listening to stories and rhymes. Staff teach phonics effectively. Staff are skilled in being able to support children and pupils to build on their earlier reading knowledge and become confident and fluent readers.

As pupils begin to read independently, staff ensure that their reading books are closely matched to the phonics that they are learning in class. If pupils fall behind, staff give effective support to enable them to catch up.

Recently, school leaders have made some changes to how the curriculum is organised.

In some subjects, leaders check that teachers deliver these curriculums as intended and that pupils learn and remember earlier content. That said, in a small number of other subjects, leaders do not routinely check how well teachers deliver the curriculum. As result, they do not know how well pupils are achieving in a minority of subjects over time.

Children settle quickly into the Reception class. Children listen well, work happily together and enjoy learning new things. Across the school, staff support pupils' behaviour well.

Pupils understand the rewards and consequences at their school. Pupils said that it makes their parents proud when they do the right thing. Pupils work hard, in a calm and focused learning environment.

Leaders provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to develop personally. For example, pupils learn about their own community through visits to the local area, and access a range of residential visits. They enjoy learning about different cultures and religions.

Pupils know that differences between families exist and recognise the importance of tolerance and the benefits of diversity.

Governors are proud to be part of the school and understand their roles and responsibilities. They understand the school's strengths and weaknesses.

Staff said that leaders and governors are considerate of their well-being. For example, staff described how leaders have reviewed some of their policies to reduce their workload. Staff explained that they feel valued and appreciated by leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. They ensure that staff are trained well so that they understand how to keep pupils and children safe.

Leaders and staff know pupils and families well.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Effective systems are in place to keep pupils safe.

Staff know how to record and report any safeguarding concerns swiftly. Strong links between leaders and relevant agencies ensure that vulnerable pupils and their families receive appropriate support.

Leaders ensure that pupils learn how to keep themselves safe.

This includes teaching pupils about road safety and how to avoid the risks associated with using social media.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, teachers do not check regularly how well pupils understand and remember what they have been taught. This prevents pupils from building their knowledge securely on what they already know.

Leaders should ensure that all teachers use their checks on learning effectively to support pupils' next steps in learning. ? In subjects other than mathematics and reading, some pupils struggle to recall some of the knowledge that they have been taught previously. This is because teachers are not providing enough opportunities for pupils to revisit their prior learning.

This hampers pupils when learning something new. Leaders should ensure that pupils have opportunities to revisit learning so that knowledge is retained in their long-term memories. ? In a small number of subjects where leaders have made changes to the curriculum, they have not checked on how well these changes are being implemented by all teachers.

This means that, in these subjects, leaders are not clear as to how well pupils are achieving. Subject leaders should be suitably equipped to check that the agreed curriculum is being implemented as well as intended to ensure that pupils achieve well across all subject areas.

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 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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 in July 2017.

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