Ralph Butterfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's motto of 'Imagine, Believe, Strive and Achieve' defines the vision of those who are part of the Ralph Butterfield family. Leaders have the highest ambition for pupils both in their learning and behaviour.

Pupils rise to meet these expectations. Pupils are safe, happy and enjoy coming to school.

Classrooms are calm and purposeful places.

There is clear respect and trust between adults and pupils. Pupils know that if they have a worry, there is always a trusted adult they can talk to.

In lessons, pupils are eager to participate.

They listen carefully to their teachers and display a high degree of self-control. Children in early ye...ars show an enthusiasm for learning from the outset. This allows them to thrive, flourish and succeed.

Pupils are supportive of one another. They display positive attitudes to learning and, through the school's ambitious curriculum, they achieve well.

Leaders have developed positive relationships with parents and carers.

One parent stated, 'The staff make a difference. They look after our children.'

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

Children get off to a flying start in the early years.

The well-thought-out provision promotes effective learning through a hive of activity. The environment is welcoming. Adults create rich and varied learning opportunities that enable children to learn about the world around them.

Open-ended activities promote discussion. Adults challenge pupils to extend their learning. The curriculum in early years prepares children well for year 1.

Leaders have created a culture where reading is a priority and celebrated. From the early years, children are introduced to nursery rhymes, songs and stories. The prevalence of books stimulates a love of reading.

From Reception, pupils learn letter sounds and words in a structured and planned sequence through the school's phonics programme. As pupils develop their phonics knowledge, they are provided with books that carefully match the sounds that they know. Pupils quickly gain the knowledge and skills to become confident, fluent readers.

Extra support is put in place from highly trained staff to enable them to catch-up quickly. Pupils talk confidently about books they enjoy.

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum starting from early years.

The curriculum ensures that children are ready for the next stage of their learning. The school's values of respect, ambition, determination and integrity weave throughout it. The curriculum sets out the essential knowledge and key vocabulary pupils need.

Where the intended curriculum is taught well, pupils build on prior knowledge and apply this to new learning. In some subjects such as history and mathematics, pupils' misconceptions are not consistently addressed.

The school is an inclusive place to learn.

The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) extremely well. Staff provide one-to-one support where required and appropriate adaptations to the curriculum are made. Staff have high expectations for pupils with SEND.

The curriculum is not narrowed or unnecessarily simplified. Pupils with SEND are challenged and expected to access the same curriculum as their peers. As a result, these pupils thrive and achieve well.

Pupils' personal development is at the forefront of the curriculum. Pupils access a range of opportunities and experiences to develop their confidence, character and resilience. Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe.

There is a strong sense of equality across the school. The school offers a range of clubs for pupils to attend, with further enhancement through school visits and residential trips. Pupils have a secure understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics.

They embrace leadership opportunities, such as being on the school council or well-being ambassadors. This is a role that is taken very seriously by those involved.

Leadership and the continued drive for improvement go hand-in-hand at Ralph Butterfield.

Governors are a strength of the school. They hold school leaders to account for school performance through support and challenge. The determination for all pupils to be successful is a priority shared at all levels of leadership.

There are extensive training opportunities on offer for staff. The consideration given to staff's well-being and workload is far-reaching. Staff enjoy working at the school and feel valued.

They describe the school as a caring, encouraging and happy place to work in. One staff member stated, 'We're called the Ralph Butterfield family for a reason.'

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, such as mathematics and history, some teachers are not quick enough to identify and address pupils' errors and misunderstandings as they arise. At times, this means that some pupils make mistakes that go unchecked. The school should support teachers to use assessment in lessons consistently well to help pupils to learn as effectively as they should.

Also at this postcode