Stepney Park Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring school where everyone is made to feel welcome.

Pupils are welcoming, courteous and accepting of others, too. Pupils work and play alongside one another, regardless of differences or needs. Leaders encourage respect for ambition, and pupils' enthusiasm to learn.

Leaders have high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Pupils are excited to discover more.

Leaders make their expectations for pupils' behaviour and attitudes clear.

Throughout the school, pupils behave well and classrooms are calm, including in early years. Pupils know what is expected of them in terms of conduct and are proud when they are rewarded for their behaviour....

Pupils are encouraged to build confidence and resilience through residential trips, including camping overnight, talent shows and competitions, performing to audiences and presenting their work.

They gain new experiences through visits linked to their learning. Pupils take on leadership roles in the school council or as eco-champions. They raise money, and make decisions about the charities that should receive funding.

Leaders organise opportunities to develop pupils' talents and interests through music, art and chess clubs.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum, including in early years, and in many subjects, this is securely embedded. They have high aspirations, and have clearly mapped out what they want pupils to learn and when, and in what order it should be taught.

The knowledge and skills that leaders intend pupils to learn build up systematically. Pupils build on what they know over time. This helps them to remember more.

In early years, children practise their skills independently and with others in the well-structured indoor and outside spaces.

Teachers explain new learning clearly and have secure subject expertise in the subjects they teach. In most lessons, pupils revisit and practise what they already know.

This means most pupils recall and develop their knowledge effectively over time. Pupils have positive attitudes and are keen to learn new things.

Leaders are knowledgeable about how children learn to read, and prioritise the teaching of reading.

Staff are well trained, and enhance their skills through further training. Books are matched to pupils' reading abilities, and pupils have opportunities across the day to practise reading. This helps pupils to develop their reading fluency and further enhances their enjoyment of reading.

There are systems in place to identify any pupils who are falling behind and support to help them to catch up and keep up. Occasionally, pupils make errors which are not checked or corrected by staff.

Leaders and staff, including those in the early years, have the knowledge to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

For many pupils with SEND, leaders make sure that the right support and adaptations to teaching and resources are in place. This means pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum alongside their peers. For some pupils with more complex needs, leaders' curriculum thinking is not as clear in setting out the essential content that pupils need to know.

Learning the curriculum is not disrupted by behaviour in class. Adults support pupils to manage their emotions well. In the early years, working relationships between adults and children are nurturing and positive.

Leaders have thought carefully about pupils' personal development, and encourage pupils to become responsible and respectful citizens. Pupils are taught the importance of following rules, and introduced to the concept of democracy to help prepare them for life in modern Britain. Leaders deliberately choose texts and experiences that encourage respect for others and different cultures.

Pupils are taught about faiths, and visit places of worship in their community.

The governing body supports school leaders effectively. It holds leaders to account and assures itself of the school's development through a range of checks.

Staff said that leaders are supportive and mindful of workload. They value opportunities for training and work closely with other schools, the local authority and other experts to develop professionally.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and the governing body fulfil their statutory duties. They complete the necessary checks when recruiting new staff and ensure that all staff have the relevant training and knowledge to safeguard children. This means they know their safeguarding responsibilities, and raise concerns when needed.

Pupils are taught about online safety and how to keep themselves safe. Leaders and school staff know their pupils and families well. They understand the wider local, contextual safeguarding needs of the school.

Leaders and staff work closely with the school community and deliver important information to parents and carers about keeping themselves and their children safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• For some pupils with SEND who have complex needs, the essential knowledge that leaders want pupils to know and remember is not clearly defined or made explicit. This results in some pupils with SEND missing key components of knowledge or skills.

Leaders should ensure that the breadth of curriculum thinking specifically sets out what they want all pupils to know and be able to do. Occasionally, in phonics, adults do not check accuracy or correct pupils' errors quickly. Leaders should make sure that all adults check routinely and systematically phonics reading accuracy and address any mistakes.