Rectory CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years make a positive start to school. They learn important routines that support them to work and play together well.

The school prioritises pupils' mental well-being effectively. Pupils are kind and caring to each other.

Pupils and staff are positive about the school's new approach to how behaviour is managed.

Most pupils display positive attitudes to their learning. They typically behave well and feel safe in school.

The school has high expectations for what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), should learn in some subjects, including English and mathematics.

The curricul...um in most other subjects is new. Many pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge owing to weaknesses in previous subject curriculums. Pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage in their education as they should be.

Pupils value learning in the outdoors. This is an exciting part of the school's provision. Pupils have a growing number of opportunities to take part in trips and visits.

However, the range of clubs on offer to pupils is limited. This means that pupils have too few opportunities to develop their talents and interests.

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

The school has worked at pace to improve its curriculum.

It has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including pupils with SEND. The school's decisive actions are beginning to make a difference to pupils' learning. Even so, much is new, and teachers are still grappling with recently developed curriculums.

Currently, pupils' achievement across different subjects is uneven.

In some subjects, the school has broken down its broad curriculum expectations into smaller, logical steps of learning. Teachers have benefited from focused training.

This is helping them to deliver revised subject curriculums with greater confidence. Teachers are more adept at pinpointing the gaps that pupils have in their knowledge in these subjects. They carefully design learning activities to address these gaps.

Pupils are starting to build a secure body of knowledge in these subjects.

In several other subjects, the school is at an earlier stage of identifying the specific knowledge that pupils need to know. Consequently, teachers do not have enough guidance on what they should teach.

This limits their ability to build well on what has come before and to address some of the gaps that pupils have in their knowledge. This limits pupils' progress through the curriculum.

The early years curriculum provides children with a secure foundation for their later learning.

Staff in the early years interact skilfully with children and engage in high-quality discussions with them. This encourages children to deepen their thinking and to develop their imaginative play. Children are well prepared for Year 1.

Children in the Nursery Year enjoy learning about letter sounds. This gives them a strong start when the phonics programme is introduced in the Reception class. Children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 who need additional help with reading benefit from well-tailored support to help them to catch up with their peers.

The school quickly identifies the barriers to learning that some pupils with SEND face. Staff support pupils well in the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision). Staff meet pupils' individual needs so that they achieve success in their learning.

Pupils with SEND, including those in the specially resourced provision, are fully involved in the wider life of the school.

Pupils know how they are expected to behave. The school's recently introduced rewards system motivates pupils to do the right thing.

Pupils who require additional support get the help that they need to manage their emotions. Disruption to pupils' learning is rare.

Pupils learn how to keep safe online.

They know how to eat healthily and what it means to have a positive relationship. Pupils are beginning to deepen their knowledge about different cultures and religions. However, the school does not make sure that pupils benefit from a broad range of experiences beyond the classroom.

For example, pupils seldom take on leadership roles. The school provides them with limited opportunities to experience communities beyond the local area. Pupils are not as well prepared for their adult lives as they should be.

Governors fulfil their roles effectively. They offer well-informed support and challenge to help the school improve the quality of education. The school understands the extra workload that can be placed on staff in a small school and when undergoing considerable change.

Staff are well supported and enjoy working at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not identified the key knowledge that pupils should know and remember in several subjects.

This means that teachers are unclear about what pupils should learn. Pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge in these subjects. The school should complete its curriculum development work so that teachers have clear guidance on what they should teach, so that pupils overcome gaps in their learning and benefit from the subject curriculums.

• Some aspects of pupils' personal development are not well developed. Pupils miss out on rich experiences to explore their talents and interests and to deepen their understanding of what it means to be a citizen in modern Britian. The school should ensure that its work to strengthen the curriculum extends beyond the academic to enhance pupils' broader development.