Priory Common School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Priory Common School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a happy, vibrant and safe place.

Pupils develop confidence through their strong and respectful relationships with the staff. The school strives hard to understand the needs of the pupils to ensure that they are supported well. Pupils know there is always someone to talk to if they have any worries.

Staff ensure that pupils are at the heart of everything they do. From the early years, children learn to work independently and be kind to others.

Pupils embody the school's mission statement of 'we take pr...ide, we care, we are successful'.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour and achievements. As a result, pupils achieve well and behave positively. Pupils take pride in their work and their school.

Pupils play together happily and show kindness to each other. They take on leadership roles with enthusiasm, such as distributing snacks, being door monitors and giving out lunchtime bands. Through these opportunities and others, pupils learn what it means to be thoughtful responsible members of their community.

Pupils appreciate the broad range of wider activities, including visiting a cinema, experiencing live theatre and travelling on a double-decker bus.

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

The school has high ambitions for its pupils. Pupils learn a broad curriculum that sets out the key knowledge pupils should know and remember in each subject.

Following a recent curriculum review, the school has made some well-considered changes to what is taught in a few subjects. However, some curriculum development is ongoing. The school has yet to check the impact of the curriculum changes to ensure that pupils are gaining deep levels of knowledge in all subjects.

The school promotes and develops pupils' communication and language skills effectively. Adults develop and support these skills by engaging pupils in discussions about activities, including asking open-ended questions, modelling spoken language and introducing new vocabulary. In the early years, staff model mathematical language effectively.

This helps pupils to learn number bonds to 10 through a variety of well-considered activities. The sharp focus on vocabulary, linked to nurturing relationships and established routines, engages and inspires children in their determination to achieve well. This approach fosters children's curiosity as learners who build confidence and independence.

For instance, in the role-play area that is designed as a restaurant, pupils prepare food, take orders and discuss various dishes.Pupils become confident and fluent readers. They benefit from effective phonics teaching.

Staff address misconceptions as they arise. Adults check to ensure that the books that pupils read match their phonics stage. The school swiftly identifies pupils who are falling behind.

It provides prompt assistance to help them catch-up and become confident readers. Pupils have access to a variety of high-quality texts, and they enjoy reading.Staff have high expectations for pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school swiftly identifies pupils with SEND and provides support to enable them to access the full curriculum. Teachers select learning tasks to develop pupils' knowledge and skills. In lessons, pupils have opportunities to revisit previous learning to help them understand how it links to new knowledge.

This allows pupils to make connections across different aspects of the curriculum.

Pupils behave well. They are engaged in lessons and are keen to succeed.

Pupils learn about the value of treating others with kindness and respect. The school promotes pupils' wider development effectively. Pupils are taught the difference between right and wrong.

They understand their responsibility to help others. For example, they create Christmas cards for people in hospital and support charities. They learn how to keep safe when, for example, using the internet.

Pupils develop an appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. The school provides a range of activities, including after-school clubs, to help promote pupils' interests and talents. Pupils learn how to stay healthy and active by participating in sporting events, such as mini-marathons and meeting a Paralympian.

The school is highly determined to provide all pupils the best possible opportunities to impact their education positively. Parents and carers are supportive of the school. Those responsible for governance have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development.

Staff appreciate the consideration given to their workload and well-being. The professional development opportunities enable staff to support pupils effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few foundation subjects, recent curriculum developments are still underway and not embedded fully. As a result, pupils do not always acquire the depth of knowledge that they need securely and consistently. The school should evaluate the curriculum changes carefully to ensure that pupils archive well across all subjects.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in December 2019.