Scotter Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, parents and carers, and staff think highly of this school.

There is a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Pupils are polite and readily demonstrate their good manners. They behave well and show respect to adults and their peers.

Pupils are happy and feel safe. They appreciate that staff are kind and care about them. The school's values of honesty, respect and friendship help to develop pupils' character.

Pupils are proud of earning house points when they display one of these values.

Pupils know that staff want them to achieve well. However, in some subjects, the curriculum is not organised or delivered sufficiently well.

Pupils with speci...al educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not always get the support they need. Checks on how well pupils learn are not precise enough.

Pupils know the importance of being physically and mentally healthy.

They know that they can talk to staff if they are worried. Many pupils enjoy attending netball, football and choir after-school clubs. They were proud to represent the school at a recent singing event.

Most parents are positive about the school. One parent, typical of many, said, 'There are wonderful staff at the school who work hard to ensure that children have a positive experience.'

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

Much work has taken place to revise the curriculum in order to ensure that it is ambitious.

However, the quality of the curriculum is variable. It is not clear in all subjects what knowledge pupils need to learn and when. In some subjects, the curriculum does not always build on what has gone before.

There is no consistent approach to checking how well the curriculum is planned or delivered.

In some subjects, teachers focus too much on the activity they want pupils to do, rather than on what pupils need to know. They do not consistently ensure that pupils develop the knowledge they need to be able to build their learning over time.

Teachers' checks on what pupils know are not consistently effective. These checks do not routinely inform what pupils will learn next. While pupils can often recall what they have learned recently, some struggle to make connections with what they already know.

This limits their ability to build their understanding over time in some subjects.

There is variability in how well teachers adapt their teaching to support pupils with SEND. While in some classes these pupils receive the support they need to access the learning, this is not the case across all classes.

The support that pupils with SEND receive outside the classroom is not planned carefully enough. Some do not receive the right support at the right time. On occasion, they miss important learning to get extra support.

This can lead to pupils falling behind.

The school has prioritised reading. Pupils love to read and talk confidently about their favourite books.

Children in early years learn to read as soon as they start school. Staff are experts in teaching phonics. They provide effective support to pupils who need help to catch up.

The books pupils read match their phonic knowledge well. Pupils are well supported to become confident and fluent readers.

Children in early years get off to a flying start.

They are keen to listen and they engage eagerly in their learning. The early years environment is rich in vocabulary. This supports children with their communication and language skills.

Staff's interactions with children are positive. Children talk confidently about what they have learned. They are proud of their achievements.

They happily follow well-established routines. Children show respect and kindness to each other. They are well prepared for their next steps.

On the whole, the school is calm and orderly. Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning and like coming to school. They know that they need to work hard to be successful.

They have high aspirations for themselves.

Pupils' personal development is important in this school. Pupils know that it is important to understand people's differences.

They learn about British values and know how these link with their own lives. The junior leadership team includes online safety officers, road safety officers and reading ambassadors. Team members enjoy these responsibilities and like to help others.

The pupil council makes a positive difference in school, for instance by raising funds for a 'buddy bench' in the playground.

Staff enjoy working at the school and feel well supported.

The school ensures that pupils are at the heart of any decisions made.

However, it does not always identify the most important priorities for improvement, including to ensure that the quality of education is good enough for all pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not ensured that all pupils with SEND get the support they need.

Teachers do not always take these pupils' needs into account when planning learning. They do not always identify accurately what is working well for these pupils, or what needs to improve. Outside lessons, these pupils do not always receive the right support at the right time.

As a result, not all pupils with SEND achieve as well as they should. The school must ensure that all pupils with SEND receive the right support to help them in their learning. ? Both in and across the different subjects, there is an inconsistent approach to the use of assessment, including to identify the next steps in pupils' learning.

As a result, the work that pupils complete does not always enable them to build their learning over time. The school should ensure that the use of assessment is consistent and allows teachers to identify what they need to teach next, so that pupils are secure in their understanding. ? The approach to checking how well the curriculum is planned and delivered in each subject is not consistent.

As a result, there is inconsistency in how well some subjects are taught. The school should ensure that checks on the delivery of the curriculum are precise and allow for the necessary consistency in how pupils are taught and assessed. ? The school's focus on improvement does not always identify the most significant priorities.

There is not always the necessary challenge to ensure that the provision gets better. Pupils do not always benefit from a quality of education that is consistently strong. The school needs to ensure that the work to improve the school is precisely and rigorously focused, so that all pupils benefit from the very best provision.