Redbourn Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Redbourn Primary School embody the school's 'THRIVE' values.

These are: teamwork, healthy, responsible, innovative, valued and empathetic. Leaders' regular assemblies teach pupils what these mean and how they may show them, in and out of school. For example, older pupils happily help around school.

They support younger pupils in the dining hall, tidy away play equipment at the end of lunchtime and operate the technology during assembly.

Pupils meet staff's high expectations for behaviour to help them focus on learning. Pupils know teachers aim to make learning interesting.

For example, teachers captivate pupils through expressive storytelli...ng when reading aloud to the class. Pupils like the way the system of rewards involves working as a team to achieve a privilege. Working together fosters kind relationships.

The well-sequenced relationships education ensures pupils learn to be respectful of others. Therefore, bullying rarely happens. Pupils know vigilant staff will resolve it fast.

Consequently, pupils feel safe in their school.

Pupils appreciate the extra experiences available to them. Visitors encourage pupils' aspirations.

These include historians, poets and members of sports teams. Residential trips offer a chance for pupils to be independent. They get to take part in exciting outdoor pursuits they may not otherwise experience.

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

Most school leaders and governors are relatively new to the school. Together, they have identified and prioritised improvements sensibly. They rightly knew to resolve historic issues with staffing and with pupils' behaviour.

Now, dedicated staff are in post and pupils are ready to learn. Leaders know that further change to the curriculum and how staff teach it will help maximise pupils' achievement.

The reading curriculum is not working as well as it could.

Staff identify pupils' barriers to reading. However, they do not resolve these efficiently. They may identify the sounds pupils do not know, but their teaching is not tightly focused on getting pupils to learn them.

This shows itself in the weakest readers struggling to read fluently. Though leaders have plans to address this, they have yet to take effect.

Leaders are developing the curriculum, setting out the specifics pupils will learn.

With this, they are deciding what shared approaches would be best for assessment. Where it works better, for example in mathematics, content is clearly sequenced. Training means teachers teach concepts well.

Rehearsal helps pupils remember key facts and vocabulary. For example, children in the early years regularly practise counting. This readies them for number work in Year 1.

Staff use questioning and 'in the moment marking' to quickly correct any misunderstanding. Consequently, pupils generally keep up with the pace of the programme.However, there are subjects that lack this clarity.

Teachers cannot be sure what pupils learned before. They may repeat content without building on it to further pupils' understanding. Pupils then have gaps in knowledge they should know.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are subject to the same issues in the curriculum. Still, there remains much to celebrate in how leaders inspired staff to improve the additional support these pupils receive. Staff work wisely and patiently to arrange appropriate adjustments.

These help pupils to focus and learn. For example, staff provide a pupil with tactile resources that meet their sensory needs. Plans for these pupils include specific, time-focused and measurable objectives.

These help efficiently review provision. Parents greatly appreciate the clarity in the revised systems. They understand how the support helps their children.

Staff cater for pupils' personal development well. Pupils adopt healthy lifestyles through physical education. This includes a range of after-school sporting opportunities.

Staff encourage pupils' musicality, teaching them to play instruments like the recorder and the ukulele. Pupils learn to celebrate what makes them and others unique. They recognise their school as a place where it is acceptable to be different.

Leaders ensured pupils' behaviour improved immensely over the last year. Leaders embedded a culture whereby staff recognise behaviour as communication. Supportive relationships between staff and pupils mean pupils feel safe to 'have a go' in lessons.

Staff now work sensitively to put in place suitable support to help pupils follow the 'golden rules'. It helps pupils to treat others kindly, as well as to focus on their learning. Staff in the early years quickly settle children into routines, so children happily share and work together to solve problems.

The strengths in pupils' behaviour outweigh the issues with their attendance. Still, the current system for monitoring attendance lacks rigour. A pupil's attendance falls too low before robust action occurs.

It is then difficult to improve the attendance to an acceptable level.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Skilled governors and dedicated leaders oversee suitable checks and training for staff.

Staff understand their role in sharing concerns to help leaders arrange timely support for pupils. Leaders appreciate the importance of maintaining clear, comprehensive records. These demonstrate their tenacity in keeping pupils safe.

Pupils are very well versed in how to stay safe on and offline. They refer to guidance given in assemblies, lessons and on school trips. Pupils, too, trust staff to notice when their behaviour has changed.

Staff will quickly check in with pupils to identify and resolve a concern.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff have not received suitable training or access to resources to teach reading well. As a result, reading lessons do not help all pupils to learn how to read with fluency and accuracy.

Leaders should put in place a rigorous reading programme and provide suitable training and resources for staff to teach reading confidently and well. ? In some subjects, the curriculum is at an early stage of development. The specific concepts and vocabulary pupils will learn are not set out in a clear, logical sequence.

As a result, teachers struggle to plan lessons that build on what pupils already know to strengthen their understanding. Leaders should ensure new subject leaders receive the training and support they need to introduce teachers to the specifics pupils should learn. Leaders should also support the monitoring of curriculum changes, ensuring any issues are identified and resolved efficiently to maximise pupils' achievement.

• Leaders monitor attendance, but their response to attendance concerns is not improving rates of persistent absence for some pupils. The more time pupils are away from school, the greater the gaps in their knowledge of the curriculum. Leaders should review their systems for monitoring and responding to attendance concerns, ensuring there is a systematic approach to resolving attendance issues and making sure pupils catch up on missed learning.

Also at this postcode