Salfords Primary School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The inclusive and nurturing environment at Salfords Primary School ensures that all pupils feel safe and secure. Pupils say that their teachers are the best thing about their school.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for every child. The curriculum, particularly in English and mathematics, has been developed to ensure all learners, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well.

Behaviour in the school is exceptional.

Pupils are highly motivated to learn. They understand and live by the school's core values of kindness, respect, courage and excellence. Pupils showing these values are recognised and celebrated th...rough the school's house point system.

To support them in their learning and to prepare them for the wider world, pupils are supported to develop their leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication ('LORIC') skills and behaviours. Pupils are confident in staff and say they would quickly resolve any instances of unkind behaviour.

Parents are very supportive of the school.

They feel that remote education provision, which is still in place for any pupils who need to self-isolate, is excellent. They say their children are very happy at school. One parent commented that their child was disappointed each Saturday when she realised it was not a school day.

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

Since their arrival in 2018, the co-headteachers have worked to transform the school and the quality of education that pupils receive. A nursery for two-, three- and four-year-old children was opened in January 2020 and a new leader was appointed. The curriculum for early years has been redesigned to overcome any barriers to achievement.

Leaders have carefully identified the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the development of some children and have adapted the curriculum to address this, for example to provide additional opportunities to learn, practise and develop small and large muscle skills. Staff in the early years work closely with the special educational needs coordinator to ensure that they quickly identify those children with SEND.

With support from within the multi-academy trust, leaders have introduced a well-sequenced curriculum in mathematics that begins in Nursery.

Steps of learning are carefully broken down so that all pupils can learn successfully. Pupils who do need more support benefit from the school's 'sneaky peak' approach, through which they are introduced to key vocabulary and concepts ahead of each lesson so that they feel more confident to engage and participate in the lesson. Pupils say that they enjoy the challenge of mathematics.

Phonics is now taught very well, right from the start of Reception. Pupils who are at risk of falling behind immediately receive additional support so that, wherever possible, they keep pace with their peers. A new whole-class approach to teaching reading comprehension has been introduced for all pupils.

Sometimes, teachers rely too heavily on text extracts and pupils do not get enough opportunity to read and experience books in whole-class reading sessions. Work to develop children's love of reading is underway but is at an earlier stage. This work is further developed within the early years where children have frequent opportunities to hear high-quality stories, poems and rhymes being read with enthusiasm and expression.

To improve the quality of education within the foundation subjects, leaders have introduced a new curriculum for each subject. Leaders have carefully considered how each subject will build upon what children learned in the early years. In many subjects, these curriculums are well thought out and sequenced.

In a small number of subjects, curriculum thinking is not as well developed. This has an impact on how well children learn in these subjects. For example, in history lessons, pupils are expected to engage in historical enquiry without the subject knowledge that they need to be successful.

Senior leaders have established a team of leaders whose focus has been on improving teaching across the school. Their work has primarily been focused on developing the teaching of English and mathematics. Teachers are positive about the support they receive.

Over time, a much greater sense of consistency in these core subjects has developed. Senior leaders know that their next step is to develop a programme of continuing professional development that is aligned to the full curriculum and the knowledge and skills in each subject that leaders want pupils to learn.

Pupils get the full benefit of the curriculum and the wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer because they behave exceptionally well and demonstrate high levels of commitment to their education and school life more widely.

This is because leaders have carefully considered the positive behaviours that the youngest children need to learn to be successful and planned how these will be developed and built upon as pupils move through the school. Older pupils are calm and self-regulating throughout their day, including at less structured times.

Local governors know the school extremely well.

Along with leaders, they have a very clear understanding of the school's local context. They are very supportive of staff and leaders but are clear about how they challenge to ensure that pupils receive the best possible offer. Trustees have established clear systems that enable them to ensure that work at school level aligns with their vision and ethos.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders of safeguarding are knowledgeable and determined in their work to safeguard children. They ensure that staff are well trained to identify those who might be at risk of being harmed.

Their work to secure appropriate help for these children is rigorous. External referrals are made appropriately, not only to children's services but more widely, for example to the school nurse service and children's mental health services. Leaders are confident in navigating the complex landscape of external services to ensure that agencies work together effectively, and children get precisely the right help.

Senior leaders ensure that safer recruitment procedures are consistently followed.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils at the school say that they enjoy reading. However, pupils find it difficult to discuss their reading preferences.

Some pupils find it hard to name a favourite book, story or author. Leaders need to continue their work to develop a reading curriculum that sets out the core books that pupils will read within the curriculum, along with the themes and vocabulary that teachers will emphasise as they read these books with pupils. Leaders should also ensure that they provide teachers with further training to deepen their knowledge of children's literature and how to support pupils' developing love of reading.

• Teachers are very positive about the support they have received in developing their own teaching practice. However, outside the core subjects, leaders have not yet focused on developing teachers' subject-specific knowledge across the subjects that they teach. Leaders now need to ensure that the continuing professional development programme for teachers and staff is aligned with the curriculum so that, over time, it develops teachers' subject knowledge and teaching content knowledge in every subject that they teach.