Silverdale St John’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thoroughly enjoy being part of this close-knit and nurturing school community. This is a friendly school where pupils flourish and feel safe. Pupils act out the school's values of faith and community.

This helps everyone to feel included. Staff forge strong relationships with pupils and get to know their families well.

Pupils know that teachers want them to do their best.

They work hard during lessons and respond positively to the school's high expectations for their achievements. Pupils behave well across the school. During breaktimes, pupils play happily using the adventure equipment and taking part in team sports, such as football and badminton.
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Pupils benefit from the many clubs on offer, including art and gardening. They learn to respect and care for the environment. Pupils enjoy various leadership roles in school and in the community.

These activities help to prepare pupils to be caring citizens.

The school is committed to providing pupils with experiences that take them beyond their immediate community. For example, younger pupils learn about the world around them from their visit to a farm.

Older pupils have opportunities to learn how to sail and how to be safe when near open water. Pupils value these experiences. They benefit from sharing their learning with others.

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

The school has thought carefully about how to organise pupils' learning across mixed-age classes. It has designed an ambitious curriculum which meets pupils' needs and interests. The knowledge that pupils should learn, from the beginning of the early years to the end of Year 6, is broken down into small, well-ordered steps.

The school develops staff's expertise through useful training and support. This means that staff have the knowledge and confidence to deliver the curriculum effectively. Teachers explain new knowledge clearly.

They select appropriate learning materials and activities. This ensures that pupils progress through the subject curriculums well.

Teachers use assessment strategies effectively to identify what pupils can remember from their previous learning.

As a result, staff are able to adapt new learning to build on what pupils already know.

In some subjects, the school gathers a range of information to check how well the curriculum supports pupils' learning. This provides the school with a clear understanding of how well pupils are increasing their knowledge over time.

However, in other subjects, this process is less well developed. This prevents the school from fully understanding the impact of the curriculum on pupils' learning. It also hinders the school from making necessary amendments to the design and delivery of the curriculum to make sure that pupils remember all that they should.

Staff in the warm and welcoming early years focus on building children's communication and language knowledge right from the time that they join the school. This sets firm foundations for the phonics programme, which begins in the Reception Year. Staff are well trained in teaching early reading.

They check that reading books contain the sounds that pupils already know. Staff provide additional help for pupils who struggle with reading. This ensures that pupils read with confidence and fluency by the time that they leave key stage 1.

Across the school, pupils have opportunities to read each day from a range of different types of books.

The school identifies and assesses the additional needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. It liaises with external specialists to ensure that staff have detailed information about pupils' needs.

However, at times, some staff do not adapt their delivery of the curriculum to meet these additional needs well enough. This means that at times, the support that pupils with SEND receive is not as effective as it should be.

Pupils know that it is important to come to school each day.

They attend regularly. Pupils show positive attitudes to their work. They are polite, caring and respectful towards others.

They behave well during lessons and at breaktimes.

The school supports pupils' personal development well. Pupils take on important roles, including being sports leaders and members of the school council.

These responsibilities help them to understand that they can make a positive contribution in school and to society. This is supported through pupils' endeavours in the community, such as litter picking, fundraising and serving 'bacon butties' at the local arts festival.

Governors know the school well.

They check the impact of the school's work against the areas that have been identified for development. Staff know that the school takes their workload into account when making any decisions or changes to its provision.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the school's work to check on the impact of the curriculum is at an early stage. As a result, it does not have a clear enough understanding of how well the curriculum is helping pupils to know and remember more. The school should ensure that in these subjects, it gains a stronger oversight of the curriculum so that it can make any necessary amendments to ensure that pupils build their knowledge securely over time.

• Some staff are unsure of how to best meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This sometimes limits the learning of these pupils. The school should make sure that teachers are supported to improve their delivery of subject curriculums to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.