Silchester Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This school is a happy and harmonious community. In the last year, there have been many changes in the school. The school has high aspirations for all pupils.

Pupils feel that staff listen to their worries and help them to feel safe and secure at school. Pupils now achieve much better than they did because the school teaches them well.

Pupils behave well.

Pupils of all ages are curious and enthusiastic, and they try hard in lessons. From the start in Reception, the school has high expectations of children's capabilities and behaviour. Lessons are calm and focused.

Pupils are proud to explain what they learn and remember from previous topics.

...>The school promotes a keen sense that everyone has a part to play in creating such a positive community. The warm, friendly atmosphere in school is testament to the school's vision and values.

Pupils' conduct around the school is polite and respectful. Pupils appreciate the range of opportunities to understand more about the world around them. These opportunities include visiting local museums and places of worship.

Pupils display empathy by organising and leading litter picking in the village.

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

The school has a strong ambition for all pupils to achieve well. The governing body is effective, and it challenges, supports and checks all aspects of the school's work.

The school has been mindful of staff well-being as improvements have been made. The school ensures that staff have the knowledge and skills they need to teach effectively.

The school sets out the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn at each stage, including in the early years.

However, in some subjects, systems to ensure that pupils can build on previously taught knowledge have not been established. This means that pupils in these subjects do not achieve as well as they could.

The school quickly identifies pupils' individual needs.

Adaptations in lessons for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are precise in reading, writing and mathematics. In wider curriculum subjects, the curriculum is newer. Adaptations are improving in these subjects as staff expertise grows.

This means that, overall, pupils with SEND achieve well.Staff have strong subject knowledge. This helps them to explain and model ideas well to pupils.

In many cases, the checks the school completes identify how well pupils have understood what has just been taught. Staff support pupils to address any mistakes or misunderstandings they may have. However, sometimes, these checks are not carried out carefully enough.

This means that some pupils' mistakes are not identified and addressed as quickly as they could be.Reading is a top priority. Children in early years learn phonics as soon as they start school.

Knowledgeable staff teach pupils the sounds that letters make. Pupils read fluently by the time they reach the end of Year 2. Pupils particularly enjoy listening to their teachers reading to them.

They discuss important vocabulary and events in the stories that they have read and what they have learned from them. Consequently, pupils have a strong understanding of what they have read and what it means.In early years, adults engage children in positive and constructive conversations.

Carefully chosen activities develop and deepen children's knowledge and skills across all areas of learning. These help children to communicate increasingly well. Children enjoy reciting rhymes and poems.

This helps them improve their communication skills.

The school uses initiatives and clear strategies effectively to encourage pupils to attend school regularly. Pupils enjoy being at school and attendance rates are high.

Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning. They try hard and low-level disruption is a rarity. Children in the early years show sustained levels of concentration.

They learn to share and collaborate well with each other.

There is a strong emphasis on promoting pupils' character, individuality and personal development. There are many opportunities to nurture pupils' talents and interests and for pupils to display them, for example through clubs such as choir and netball.

Pupils learn to be good citizens and develop an understanding of democracy through opportunities such as being junior road safety officers and eco-leaders. Pupils display tolerance towards each other and celebrate differences.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, the school does not consistently make sure that pupils have fully understood what has just been taught. As a result, some misconceptions are not always identified and addressed as quickly as they could be, which can slow pupils' learning. The school needs to refine its strategies to ensure that all pupils' misconceptions are identified and addressed as they arise.

• The school has not yet fully established systems of checking how successfully pupils remember key knowledge in a few subjects. Consequently, teachers do not always have the strategies to check pupils' understanding, so there are gaps in pupils' knowledge in these subjects. The school should ensure that there are effective systems in place for checking how well pupils are remembering the most important knowledge and that teachers are confident using them.

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