Richard Durning’s Endowed Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Richard Durning's aptly describes itself as 'a small school with a big heart'. It has a strong sense of family and community. Staff understand and nurture their pupils' individual personalities.

The school provides pupils with high levels of love and care. Pupils value the way that they all get along together and know each other well. They feel happy and secure.

Pupils have an abundance of opportunities to pursue their wider interests, be they academic, creative or sporting. A few of these many opportunities include individual and team mathematics competitions, poetry competitions and numerous sporting events. Extra-curricular clubs are plentiful and run throughout th...e school day.

These include rounders club at lunchtime and after-school clubs such as geography, art and craft, and singing clubs. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), consistently benefit from this rich offer. Pupils also have a wide range of opportunities to take on meaningful responsibilities around the school, such as being buddies for the children in the Nursery class and school council roles.

The school is ambitious for what pupils should learn. Many pupils achieve well across the curriculum. In some instances, pupils' knowledge is particularly strong.

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

The way that the school caters for pupils' personal development is exceptional. It is at the front and centre of all that the school does. The school has built strong connections to its local community.

For example, pupils recently manned the school's summer fair stalls and performed at the village fair. They also visit local farms to bring their learning about animals and agriculture to life. Pupils develop a secure knowledge of the fundamental British values.

They explicitly discuss them every week during their assemblies. The school's 'curriculum drivers' further reinforce important themes and values, such as respect, tolerance and independence. They develop a secure knowledge of how to look after their own mental and physical well-being.

The school has constructed an ambitious curriculum which is broad and balanced. In national curriculum subjects, the school has broken down curriculum content clearly, and into a logical order, across key stages 1 and 2. This helps staff to deliver new learning in a coherent way.

It also helps staff to design suitable learning activities that support pupils to acquire key knowledge. As a result, pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

The school has ensured that some parts of the early years curriculum are designed well, with the same level of specificity that can be found in key stages 1 and 2.

However, in some other parts of the early years curriculum, the school has not clarified the smaller steps of foundational knowledge that children should acquire over time. Sometimes, children do not encounter new knowledge in a coherent manner and the school is not as well placed as it could be to help pupils to build on what they already know when they move into key stage 1.

The school fosters a love of reading.

Pupils engage with a variety of literature. The school ensures that children begin to learn through its chosen phonics programme as soon as they start school. The programme is taught with fidelity by trained staff.

Pupils read books that are well matched to their early reading needs. The school provides additional support to help pupils to close their gaps in phonics knowledge. Most pupils become fluent readers by the end of Year 1.

The school uses a variety of assessment strategies to identify when a pupil might have misconceptions. The school uses assessment information appropriately to provide pupils with helpful guidance and support with their learning.

The school has effective systems in place to identify pupils with SEND early.

It makes appropriate adaptations to curriculum delivery so that these pupils can access their learning.

The staff are positive about leaders' actions to support their well-being and ensure a manageable workload. For example, staff spoke positively about the recent changes to their curriculum monitoring duties.

Governors fulfil their statutory duties well and play an active part in school life.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some parts of the school's early years curriculum are not clearly defined, nor are strong links made with key stage 1 content.

At times, this hinders children from building secure foundations for their future learning. The school should further develop its early years curriculum so that staff understand the smaller steps of knowledge that children should be taught. It should also ensure that there are stronger links with key stage 1 so that pupils can capitalise on what they already know and can do when they leave the early years.

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