Sandfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Sandfield Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in this diverse and inclusive school. They learn that 'Everyone is welcome, everyone belongs and everyone is important.' There is a strong sense of community, as demonstrated by the flags hung in the hall to celebrate each country that pupils have links with.

Staff have consistently high expectations of pupils and inspire them to work hard. As a result, pupils are determined to try their best in all they do. They are proud of their school and staff encourage them to be proud of themselves.

Pupils value the wide range of opportunities they receive. Younger pupils lea...rn to appreciate the environment in forest school. Older pupils enjoy different outdoor learning challenges.

Staff ensure that these experiences give pupils opportunities to take safe risks and to strengthen their communication skills.

Staff support pupils to understand the school rules of 'Ready, Respectful, Safe'. This helps them to know how they are expected to behave.

Pupils from Reception onwards are respectful and polite. This ensures that all pupils can concentrate well in lessons. Bullying is rare.

Leaders work closely with pupils to resolve any concerns. Pupils trust staff to listen if they have any worries. This helps pupils to feel safe.

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

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to learn well and to develop as confident and kind individuals. Together with staff, leaders strongly promote pupils' personal development. They encourage pupils to celebrate diversity.

Pupils are helped to learn about inspirational figures from different countries. As one pupil commented, 'We are all unique in our own way.' Pupils are encouraged to have self-belief and to be aspirational.

Their enthusiasm to learn means they focus well in class. They respond positively to the praise from adults for doing the right thing. If needed, staff provide swift and effective guidance to help pupils maintain the high behaviour expectations.

Alongside pupils' personal development, leaders have strengthened the curriculum. Although a few areas still need refining, overall, this is well developed and effective. For example, to support the teaching of reading, Leaders have recently introduced a well-sequenced phonics programme and ensured that staff are trained well to deliver it.

Staff follow the scheme closely but some need to check pupils' learning more precisely so they quickly identify gaps in understanding. Pupils read books that are well matched to the sounds they have learned. Staff provide effective support for pupils who have fallen behind.

Teachers inspire children from the start of Reception to love books. Pupils enjoy the challenge of reading the recommended '100 books' for each age group. This exposes them to texts they might not otherwise read.

As well as reading themselves, pupils love listening to their teachers read a wide range of books to them, including those that promote equality and inclusivity.

Staff prioritise developing the vocabulary of pupils, including for those who speak English as an additional language and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff skilfully adapt their teaching and provide resources to quickly build pupils' confidence and fluency.

Leaders have made sure that other subjects such as mathematics are also well structured, building successfully on what children learn in Reception. In these areas, staff know the precise knowledge and skills that they want pupils to learn. They check pupils' understanding carefully before moving learning on and they help pupils to keep up if they have not understood something fully.

A few subjects need further refinement as the curriculum thinking in these is not clear enough. Leaders have not identified the essential content they want pupils to learn. This means that pupils are not helped to link new learning to what they have learned before.

Consequently, they do not recap key learning to help them remember it. Not all subject leaders have a secure understanding of what pupils learn in Reception and how this is developed in subsequent years.

The special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo) has introduced clear systems to help staff identify pupils' needs swiftly.

Staff carefully adapt their teaching and use additional adults and resources to support pupils to learn well. Leaders work effectively with external agencies to ensure that pupils with SEND get the support that they need. The SENCo has a strong oversight of how well pupils are learning in English and mathematics but less so in other subjects.

Governors and trustees have a strong understanding of the school's strengths and what needs to be developed. Trustees have successfully strengthened leadership. Staff appreciate the support to develop their skills and are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and staff know their pupils and families well. Staff develop positive relationships with them starting with the morning welcome at the gate.

This helps them to notice any changes that may indicate a pupil is at risk of harm. High-quality training ensures that staff clearly understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They report concerns promptly.

Trustees and governors take comprehensive steps to assure themselves that safeguarding is effective. This includes talking to staff and pupils and reviewing documents.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe from risk of harm.

This involves understanding how to stay safe online and in the local community.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in a few subjects. However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they are in the process of bringing this about.

Leaders need to complete the process of reviewing the curriculum in all subjects within their identified timescale. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. ? Some subject leaders do not have an accurate understanding of what children in Reception know and can do.

This means that as pupils move into key stage 1, some pupils' learning is hampered because activities are not closely linked to what they already know and can do. Leaders should ensure that all subject leaders know what children learn in Reception so they can build on this as pupils move up the school.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good/outstanding on 6 and 7 June 2017.

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