Southern Road Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Southern Road Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this friendly, happy and welcoming school.

Staff know the pupils well and care for them. Pupils are kind and caring to each other.

The school's values of, for example, resilience are well understood by pupils.

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils relish their learning and work hard.

Pupils behave very well in class and during social times.

Pupils know who to talk to if they are worried about something. They can also use the 'Talk Time...' club. This means they feel happy and safe.

Parents and carers are very positive about the school.

Pupils appreciate the many opportunities to develop their talents and interests. All pupils learn to play the recorder in Years 3 and 4 and the flute in Years 5 and 6.

They can take on positions of responsibility, such as class ambassador, digital leader or junior librarian. Pupils also take part regularly in competitions against other schools, for example in dodgeball, mathematics and athletics.

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

The school provides a broad and interesting curriculum, which matches the ambition of the national curriculum.

In many subjects, the key knowledge pupils need to learn is chosen carefully. This helps pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding well. For example, in Year 3, pupils used their learning of place value to partition numbers confidently.

In Year 6 computing, pupils learn about algorithms and to program accurately. In a small number of subjects, the curriculum is not as ambitious. Leaders have not chosen as carefully the key knowledge they want pupils to learn.

As a result, pupils find it hard to recall important learning, making it difficult for them to grasp more complex ideas later in their study of these subjects.

Reading takes priority here. Staff read to pupils daily.

Pupils read widely and often. They visit the well-stocked school library and talk with enthusiasm about the books they are reading. This includes children in the early years.

They visit bookshops and the local library, and they can take part in reading projects and celebrations.

Children are taught to read from the start of Reception. Teaching staff are well trained in phonics.

This means they teach reading consistently well. Adults check pupils' progress in phonics regularly to decide what they need to learn next. Pupils, including those in Reception, read books that closely match the sounds they know.

They learn to read with confidence and develop fluency well. Pupils who find phonics difficult are given the extra help they need to catch up.

Pupils with SEND are well supported to access the curriculum, including in the early years.

Leaders and teachers know their pupils very well, and they are quick to identify any additional needs. Teachers make adjustments in class to help pupils to access subject content successfully. Pupils with the most complex needs receive extra support to help them develop important life and learning skills.

The school is calm and orderly. There is very little low-level disruption in lessons. Leaders work hard to develop pupils' sense of individual responsibility.

This happens successfully in early years. For instance, in Nursery, staff help children to develop their social skills, including listening and taking turns. Leaders are working hard to encourage regular attendance and to return attendance rates to pre-pandemic levels.

They engage effectively with families to identify any barriers to attending school.

Pupils talked excitedly about the wide range of after-school clubs, outings and visits at the school. For example, pupils can take part in 'STEM Club', chess club and many sports clubs.

They visit the theatre, the seaside and attend a music concert at the Barbican. Staff encourage pupils to follow healthy lifestyles. Year 6 pupils complete a canoeing course.

Parents highly value the wide range of sports opportunities available at the school.

Governors are committed to, and ambitious for, the school. They understand what the school does well and what it needs to do to be even better.

Leaders make sure that workload is manageable and that staff well-being is a priority.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of foundation subjects, the school has not embedded the important knowledge that it wants pupils to learn or decided how this can be retained in pupils' long-term memory.

As a result, pupils are not able to recall important knowledge in a few subjects. The school must ensure that there is a coherent curriculum intent for all foundation subjects that identifies the key knowledge that pupils must learn and the order in which they must learn it.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2014.