Queen Victoria Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have created a warm and welcoming environment, where pupils feel safe and enjoy being at school.

At whatever age pupils join the school, they settle quickly. Relationships between adults and pupils are strong and adults are caring. Staff know the pupils and their families well and parents are appreciative of the support they receive.

Leaders are making changes to improve the quality of education at the school. However, these have not yet had enough impact on pupils' outcomes. Parents told inspectors that communication between home and school is much better than it used to be.

The school is developing its vision to enable pupils to become 'Queen Victor...ia Pioneers'. This is encouraging children to develop positive attitudes, such as persistence and resilience with their learning.

The majority of pupils behave well at school and learn happily with one another.

Where lessons are less engaging, or expectations are unclear or too low, pupils sometimes lose concentration. Pupils say that this can disrupt their learning. Bullying is not tolerated and is dealt with swiftly.

Pupils enjoy the trips and clubs they can attend. Despite improvements, the school is not yet doing enough to teach pupils about healthy eating and fundamental British values.

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

Leaders are ambitious for pupils, and parents acknowledge this.

In English and mathematics, the curriculum is well sequenced. Leaders ensure that content is taught in the right order to help pupils learn. This is not the case in all subjects and pupils do not yet receive a good quality of education.

Children in the early years and key stage 1 achieve well. However, the progress of pupils in key stage 2 remains weak and attainment at the end of Year 6 is still too low. Some pupils have not achieved well because of staff changes and inconsistency in teaching.

Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are not as good as they should be. Leaders are addressing these issues, but it is too early to see the impact of their actions.

Mathematics leaders have identified correctly the areas that children need to focus on.

Lessons are structured in a sequence that helps pupils to develop pupils' mathematical fluency. Staff are well supported in knowing what to teach and when.

Leaders have rightly prioritised early reading and phonics.

Staff have strong subject knowledge and children make a good start to learning to read. Pupils talk enthusiastically about authors they know. Pupils enjoy adults reading to them because they read with expression and 'funny voices'.

In the early years, leaders have established good practice in planning for and assessing children's learning. Children are well cared for. They make good progress from their starting points.

Parents are very complimentary about how well children settle into the early years and how well the school communicates with them. The indoor learning environment encourages children to investigate and work things out for themselves. However, outdoor activities sometimes lack purpose.

This can lead to children running around and not engaging in any meaningful learning.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Teachers and teaching assistants are well trained and guided to provide effective and sensitive help.

The newly appointed special educational needs coordinator is ambitious for pupils and has worked effectively to identify what support pupils need. Leaders engage well with parents. They get extra help for pupils from external agencies.

Most pupils behave well. However, where teaching is less structured or less well-matched to pupils' abilities, pupils can lose focus and learning time is lost. At playtimes, adults do not always address boisterous behaviour quickly enough.

Pupils' absence is higher than it should be, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.

The curriculum includes opportunities for the personal development of pupils. Pupils enjoy and value activities such as visits to places of worship, residential trips, cycling proficiency and preparing charity boxes for the Gambia.

However, at present, pupils do not learn enough about some aspects of personal development such as healthy eating and their understanding of fundamental British values.

The leadership team has a clear understanding of the improvements required and has put in place the foundations for achieving these. The governing body holds leaders to account effectively and knows what needs to be improved.

The headteacher, who has been at the school for a year, has an infectious passion and ambition for the school, shared by staff and appreciated by parents and pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding at this school.

Staff work closely with parents and external agencies to keep children safe and they are tenacious in following up any concerns. Staff are very well trained to fulfil their duties and know what to do if they have any concerns about children's welfare. The record-keeping they maintain is detailed and stored securely.

Pupils feel safe in school and they know that they can share concerns with trusted adults who help them. Pupils know how to stay safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

The standards pupils achieve at the end of Year 6 are below where they should be.

Too few pupils are ready for their next stage of education. The work that the school has done so far to improve the quality of education and the curriculum in English and mathematics has had limited impact on pupils' outcomes. Work needs to continue to improve the delivery of the curriculum and to raise standards across key stage 2, particularly for those pupils who are disadvantaged.

. The headteacher and leaders have made sure that the school's curriculum is designed, planned and sequenced effectively in English and mathematics. However, in the foundation subjects leaders need to develop the curriculum further.

The curriculum is well designed for the foundation subjects and the intent is well thought through. This is not yet fully embedded so that it impacts on children's knowledge and skills over time. .

Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND do not attend school regularly enough. They are not making as much progress as they could because they are missing too many lessons. Leaders and staff need to support these pupils and their families to make sure that their levels of attendance improve.

. The behaviour of a small number of pupils is not good enough and this impacts on their learning and the learning of others. Leaders need to ensure that staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour and that they address poor behaviour quickly so that the negative impact on learning is minimised.

. Aspects of pupils' personal development are not yet secure. For example, pupils do not learn enough about keeping healthy or developing a wider understanding of life in modern Britain.

Leaders should ensure that opportunities for personal development are embedded across the school so that pupils develop an age-appropriate knowledge and understanding of these aspects of the curriculum. . In the early years, indoor classroom activities ensure that most children are focused on their learning.

However, the outdoor learning environment is not of the same high quality. This results in children not being challenged sufficiently to make progress and learning time can be lost. Leaders should ensure that the resources and the range of activities available outdoors are improved so that children have access to high-quality and purposeful learning experiences to develop their independence and skills.