South Wingfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like coming to this school and arrive promptly each morning.

They look after each other and get on well. Most parents and carers praise the school's nurturing environment, where everyone is valued. Parents like that staff know each pupil as an individual.

As one parent commented: 'The school is a safe, welcoming and encouraging place for my child to be able to learn, progress and develop.'

Pupils understand how they should behave. They know why it is important to 'be ready, respectful and safe'.

They like gaining rewards for doing the right thing. Disruption in lessons is unusual, and bullying is rarely an issue. As one pupil helpfully explai...ned: 'If people argue and fall out, it is resolved quickly.

However, it doesn't happen much.'

Pupils are keen to learn and want to do their best. However, the curriculum is not planned or implemented well enough in some subjects.

Promoting pupils' personal development and well-being is a high priority. Each child in the Reception Year knows that they can look after their toy mouse if they feel anxious. Older pupils learn to play a musical instrument.

Pupils talk excitedly about recent trips they have enjoyed and community events they have been involved in.

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

The school has made some notable improvements to the curriculum. These changes are starting to make a positive difference.

However, some subjects are still being reviewed to ensure that they are well planned and suitably ambitious. In these subjects, pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

The mathematics and English curriculums are well organised.

In these subjects, it is clear what pupils need to know and by when. However, there are some inconsistencies in how well these curriculums are taught. While pupils enjoy learning mathematics, some of them find the work too easy.

There are too few opportunities for them to explain how to solve mathematical problems. In English, a renewed focus is helping to improve pupils' writing skills. However, the purpose of each writing activity is not always clear enough.

In several other subjects, the school is still working on identifying exactly what it wants pupils to learn. The curriculum in some of these subjects does not cover the national curriculum. Pupils in key stage 2 learn information they should have covered in key stage 1, or pupils miss content altogether.

The order that pupils learn new knowledge in some of these subjects is disjointed. Even when the curriculum for a subject is fully planned, teachers do not always teach it as intended. They sometimes miss out important content.

This leaves pupils with gaps in their knowledge.

Staff are well trained to teach phonics. Children begin to learn letters and sounds as soon as they start school.

Frequent opportunities to practise their phonics help pupils to remember what they have learned and become more fluent readers. If any pupils fall behind, they get the support they need to catch up. Opportunities for pupils to read a range of different texts are threaded through the curriculum.

Pupils choose their own books to read from the newly stocked library. They enjoy listening to their teacher during 'super story time'.

Any pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly.

These pupils benefit from extra help. However, it is not always clear exactly what these pupils need to focus on to improve.

Children in the early years provision benefit from a rich variety of purposeful activities.

They love playing together as they 'choose it, use it and put it way'. While some paint pumpkins to learn about autumn, others imagine sailing their self-made boat through shark-infested waters. Most children enjoy singing songs and repeating rhymes such as 'Choppity chop chop'.

They are proud to collect a pom-pom for being kind.

Pupils know how to be fit and healthy. They learn about keeping themselves safe online, near roads and water, and in their own homes.

Pupils enjoy leadership roles, such as being school ambassadors, members of the pupil parliament and librarians. They are encouraged to have 'big dreams' for their futures. However, pupils learn too little about different faiths and cultures, and their knowledge of important British values is quite limited.

Staff enjoy working together as a team. They feel well supported and motivated to do a good job. However, while the school knows that the quality of education needs to get better, its improvement work is not always focused precisely enough on the key things that will make a difference.

Governors are committed to the school and the community it serves. However, they are not always sharp enough when checking the work to improve the school.The school benefits from guidance from the local authority about what needs to get better.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In several foundation subjects, the curriculum is still being developed. What pupils need to know in these subjects is sometimes not identified precisely enough or sequenced in a logical order.

When this is the case, pupils' knowledge of these subjects is not secure. The school needs to ensure that there is a well- planned curriculum in place for each foundation subject that fulfils the scope of the national curriculum. ? Teachers do not always deliver the curriculum in sufficient breadth or depth.

They sometimes miss out important information that pupils need to know. This leaves pupils with gaps in their knowledge. This is particularly the case in some foundation subjects.

The school needs to make sure that teachers deliver the curriculum as intended in each subject. ? The curriculum is not always adapted appropriately to meet pupils' needs. Some pupils complete the work with ease and do not move on to the next stage quickly enough.

Others, including pupils with SEND, do not always get the help they need. The school should ensure that the curriculum in each subject is suitably ambitious for all pupils. ? Opportunities for pupils to learn about different faiths and cultures, or about what it means to live in modern Britain, are too limited.

Pupils cannot easily recall values such as democracy or tolerance. They confuse what they know about different religions. The school should make sure that pupils gain a rich understanding of different faiths and cultures, and of British values, and why they matter.

• Leaders' work to improve the school sometimes lacks precise focus. It is not always clear exactly what needs to be done to bring about the improvements necessary. The school needs to prioritise the most important things that need to get better and identify specific measures against which it will know if the actions taken have been successful.

• Governors' oversight of the school is not as sharp as it should be. While they are knowledgeable about the school, they do not always question sufficiently well the work being done to bring about improvements. Governors need to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge and expertise to carry out their roles effectively.

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