Sidlesham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and their parents enjoy being part of this tight-knit community.

Pupils love their school, feeling safe and very well cared for by staff. Strong relationships exist between pupils across year groups. At break times, pupils socialise widely, including others in their games.

Pupils behave well and are polite and respectful. They enjoy being rewarded for their successes in weekly celebration assemblies. Diversity is valued with one pupil summing this up by saying, 'At Sidlesham we take differences as positives.

It would be boring if we were just the same.'

The school recognises that changes in leadership over recent years have had a negative imp...act on pupils' learning. The new headteacher has ambitious plans for improving the quality of education that pupils receive.

However, current weaknesses in how the curriculum is designed and delivered means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils take full advantage of the broad enrichment offer that the school provides alongside the academic curriculum. Many enjoy attending sports clubs or learning an instrument.'

Forest Fridays' are a highlight, where pupils value learning about the environment. Pupils develop a strong sense of responsibility through leadership roles, including school councillors, house captains and school librarians.

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

The school is emerging from a period of leadership instability.

The appointment of the new headteacher in recent months has brought greater stability. Leaders recognise the urgent improvements that are needed in the quality of education that pupils receive. They are highly ambitious for what pupils can and should achieve and are taking quick action to rectify problems with the quality of education that pupils receive.

However, while the new curriculum is being prepared, there is not currently clear oversight of how well pupils are learning across all subjects.

The school's curriculum is not designed so that all pupils will learn the full knowledge and skills that they should. This is because the curriculum has not been organised appropriately for the school's mixed year group classes.

Additionally, in some subjects, there is a lack of clarity in what pupils should learn and when. New leaders recognise this and are taking steps to ensure that the curriculum is more coherently planned and sequenced.

Despite low achievement in published reading assessments in previous years, the way that reading is taught has improved recently.

The school's chosen phonics scheme sets out clearly the sounds and words that pupils need to learn over time. Staff have the expertise to teach this effectively, providing many opportunities for pupils to recap previous learning. Those who need additional support to keep up with their classmates benefit from close support.

This means that pupils are now learning to read more confidently and fluently.Despite these improvements, pupils do not consistently achieve as well as they should in other subjects. The way the curriculum is taught is inconsistent.

While sometimes new learning is introduced effectively, this is not always the case and some teachers have not had the necessary training to help pupils to build secure understanding. For example, in mathematics teachers do not always explain key concepts clearly enough or check pupils' understanding systematically.

In early years, children are well cared for.

They are happy and have secure relationships with staff. Staff read to children well and introduce them to exciting and interesting stories. However, many of the activities that children learn from lack purpose and do not always help them to develop important understanding in readiness for key stage 1.

There is a calm and orderly atmosphere in the school where the support individual pupils need to behave and learn is identified. Staff establish clear routines for pupils' behaviour right from the start of the early years. As a result, pupils are able to focus on their learning.

The individual needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well known by the school. Personalised plans are skilfully designed in collaboration with parents. This ensures teachers have the necessary knowledge to adapt teaching effectively.

Attendance has improved recently. The school are working more diligently to address absence, to ensure the whole school community recognise the importance of regular attendance. In addition, the school are providing further support to those who find attending school more challenging.

However, there are still too many pupils who are persistently absent. This includes a significant number of disadvantaged pupils.

The school supports pupils' personal development well.

Pupils benefit from opportunities to debate and hear others' perspectives. This helps foster inclusive attitudes. Pupils develop a thorough understanding of healthy relationships.

They also learn how to keep themselves safe, including online. Pupils value the strong pastoral support available to them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not yet precisely identified and fully sequenced the detailed knowledge that they want pupils to learn in a number of subjects. This means that pupils are not systematically building understanding over time. The school should continue their work to explicitly identify what pupils should learn in all areas, including in early years, in readiness for the next stage of their education.

• There are inconsistencies in teachers' subject and pedagogical knowledge. This means that pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school needs to ensure that teachers deliver the intended curriculum consistently well to maximise pupils' achievement across all subjects.

• Persistent absence at the school is too high for too many pupils, including some who are more disadvantaged. This means that these pupils are missing out on too much of their vital education. The school should continue their work to intensify actions to secure better rates of attendance for those pupils who need more support.

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