Prescot Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, staff, parents and carers value the welcoming family feel at Prescot Primary School.

It is a happy place full of smiles and laughter.

Pupils feel safe and value the highly supportive environment. They know that staff care about them.

Pupils trust staff to help them when they need support.

Children in early years enjoy an excellent start to their school life due the strong curriculum that is expertly delivered by staff. Throughout school every pupil, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is expected to achieve highly.

Staff are successful at making this happen. Pupils are keen learners who try thei...r best and enjoy their lessons.

Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour.

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Pupils know how to spot the different kinds of bullying. Pupils and their parents said that bullying is dealt with quickly if it does occur.

Leaders promote pupils' personal development well. Pupils enjoy taking on additional responsibilities such as house captains and digital leaders. Pupils love participating in a wide range of interesting clubs, for example archery, keyboard and photography clubs.

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

Leaders have thought carefully about what they want pupils to learn. They have ensured that the curriculum is well designed in almost every subject in key stages 1 and 2. The curriculum is broad, interesting and ambitious.

The curriculum in the early years is particularly well designed and delivered to ensure that children learn as much as possible by the time they leave the Reception Year. Children in early years achieve extremely well and are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps in education.

The key knowledge that staff must teach to pupils is clearly set out in most subject curriculums.

However, the curriculum is not as well designed in a small number of subjects. The knowledge that teachers want pupils to learn is not as clear as it could be. This sometimes hinders pupils from getting the most out of the curriculum on offer.

Despite this, pupils achieve well across most subjects. In the main, the curriculum prepares pupils from Years 1 to 6 well for the next stage in their education and for life in modern Britain.

Teachers' enthusiasm for the curriculum encourages pupils, and children in the early years, to engage fully in the activities that they prepare.

Teachers, including those in the early years, explain new ideas clearly. They are knowledgeable about the subjects that they teach. Teachers use technology adeptly to enhance pupils' learning experiences.

This includes innovative ways to help pupils to revisit and recap important learning. Teachers use a range of appropriate strategies to ensure that pupils make secure connections between new and previously learned concepts and ideas.

Teachers use assessment strategies well to establish what pupils know and can do.

They are mostly successful in using this information to inform the next steps in their teaching. For example, teachers appropriately check for gaps in pupils' knowledge and understanding before they introduce new curriculum content.

The importance of reading is a striking feature of the school.

The corridors and classrooms are filled with a huge range of good-quality books. Pupils love to read. Some pupils explained that reading helps you to learn, as well as firing your imagination.

Pupils get off to an excellent start with learning to read. Teachers deliver the phonics programme well. In the Nursery class, children love the stories that their teachers read to them.

In the Reception class, children quickly get to know letters and sounds and how to blend them together to make words. Pupils become increasingly confident readers by the time they leave key stage 1.

Pupils who struggle to read benefit from additional support from well-trained adults.

This builds their confidence and increases their fluency in reading. Adults help these pupils to catch-up quickly with their peers.

Staff identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND with precision and speed.

Pupils with SEND are given the high-quality support they need to access the curriculum and thrive, for example by spending time in The Hive. Leaders ensure that these pupils have the same opportunities to access the school's ambitious curriculum as their classmates.

Pupils behave well and they attend school regularly.

They are polite and courteous. They listen carefully in lessons and are keen to participate in all that the school offers. Learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour.

Pupils develop into respectful and responsible citizens. Leaders and teachers actively promote pupils' understanding of diversity and their human rights. Pupils have access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

External visits and trips bring the curriculum to life for pupils.

Leaders and governors have improved the quality of education since the previous inspection. Governors hold leaders fully to account for their work to improve the curriculum.

Staff feel well supported by leaders with their workload and well-being. Staff are extremely proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff and governors are well trained to identify and support pupils at risk of harm. The procedures in place for reporting concerns are well understood by all staff.

Leaders are strong advocates for vulnerable pupils and their families.

Where safeguarding needs are identified, support is timely. Leaders engage well with external agencies when needed.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including how to manage risks when online.

For example, pupils learn about cyber bullying and can clearly describe how to stay safe when on the internet. Pupils know what to do if they have a concern about their safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not given sufficient thought to the essential knowledge that pupils must learn.

Pupils do not achieve as highly as they could in these subjects. This is because some teachers are unaware of all the essential knowledge that they should teach and pupils should learn. Leaders should revise the curriculum content in these subjects so that teachers know exactly what knowledge pupils must learn and when this should be taught.

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