Preston Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this inclusive and welcoming school. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong.

The school ensures that pupils can share any worries and concerns they might have. This helps to keep pupils safe. Pupils know that any concerns that they might have will be taken seriously and that they are well looked after.

Behaviour is calm and positive, with pupils following routines and engaging well in lessons. Staff know pupils well and create a supportive environment, where pupils feel valued and encouraged to succeed.

All staff have high expectations of pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
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Pupils rise to these high expectations and try hard with their learning. They achieve well.

Pupils benefit from a range of experiences that enrich the curriculum and help to prepare them for life in modern Britain.

This includes taking part in three residentials during their time at school, as well as an annual performance and a trip to the Houses of Parliament for the school council. Clubs are wide ranging and varied.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has made many positive changes to strengthen its curriculum.

The school has designed a broad, ambitious curriculum and provided staff with guidance to help them to deliver it. Staff are knowledgeable and present new information clearly to pupils. This is helping pupils with their learning.

For example, in science, pupils could talk extensively about the circulatory system and the harmful effects of smoking and poor diet. However, in a few subjects, assessment is not used effectively to check on pupils' understanding or to inform next steps. As a result, there are some gaps in pupils' knowledge and they do not retain knowledge from their prior learning as well as they should.

The school has a strong reading culture. Children start to read as soon as they start in the Reception Year. Well-trained staff support pupils in developing the skills that they need to read with confidence.

Books are chosen carefully to match the stage of reading that pupils have reached. For pupils who struggle to read with fluency, precise support is put in place to help them catch up with their peers. As pupils progress through the school, a love of reading is fostered through engaging class texts and activities that promote reading for pleasure.

Older pupils play a key role in encouraging younger pupils to read widely and often. Pupils speak enthusiastically about the books that they have read during their time at school.

In the early years, children settle quickly and learn well.

Children engage in activities that spark curiosity and collaboration, such as testing cars on a ramp and then designing a racetrack together. Staff model how to use specific vocabulary and encourage interactive discussions, stretching children's thinking and building their confidence. All children, including children with SEND, develop high levels of independence.

This is because activities are well planned.

The school has developed robust procedures for identifying the needs of pupils with SEND. Leaders have established strong working relationships with external agencies and engage with them regularly for advice and support.

At times, the tasks provided for pupils with SEND are not adapted successfully to enable pupils to learn the curriculum fluently. This means that some pupils with SEND become over reliant on support from adults.

Pupils benefit from clear and detailed plans for their personal development.

This sets out what key knowledge pupils learn each year. The school has enriched this provision with the 'No Outsiders' programme, which pupils speak confidently about. This programme supports pupils' understanding of tolerance and inclusion.

The governing body provides strong support and challenge. Members are knowledgeable about the school. This helps them to drive school improvement effectively.

Pupils are front and centre of all decisions that the school makes. Governors and school leaders ensure that staff feel well supported.

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, teachers do not use assessment effectively to check pupils understanding and inform future learning. This means that pupils have gaps in their knowledge which are not addressed consistently. The school should support teachers to use assessment effectively, so that pupils' gaps in knowledge are quickly identified and addressed.

• The tasks that teachers provide for pupils with SEND are not adapted consistently well to enable these pupils to learn the curriculum fluently. This means that some pupils become over reliant on the support that they receive from adults. The school should train staff to adapt tasks for pupils with SEND more consistently, so that these pupils learn the curriculum with greater independence.

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