Stoke Park Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Stoke Park Primary School.

Staff encourage pupils to live out the school's values of 'be kind, be proud, strive for success'. Pupils are eager to demonstrate this through their daily interactions with peers and adults. Adults know the pupils and families well.

As a result, relationships are respectful and positive.

Adults expect pupils to behave well. Pupils respond positively to this.

Children in early years follow the daily routines and expectations. There is a strong emphasis on this by all adults. Pupils are kind and caring towards each other.

A few pupils who need additional help to manage their own behaviour are ...supported effectively by adults. At playtimes and lunchtimes, pupils of all ages play well together. They enjoy the range of activities available to them, such as basketball and the climbing frame.

Pupils talk enthusiastically about the 'enrichment passport'. This gives them opportunities to support others in the community through fundraising events, to play a musical instrument and to learn about their own personal safety. All of this supports pupils' character development.

Parents and carers are effusive about the support and care the school provides. They are complimentary about the enrichment offer, as well as the communication from school.

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

The school is aspirational for all pupils.

It has designed an ambitious and broad curriculum that supports pupils to build knowledge well. In mathematics, teachers regularly check pupils' understanding to ensure that they know and remember more of the intended curriculum. The reading curriculum supports children in the early stages of reading and older pupils to read well and develop comprehension knowledge that is appropriate to their age.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities successfully access the curriculum alongside their peers. This means that the quality of education that pupils now receive is much stronger than is evident in the most recent published outcomes.

Teachers make sure that pupils revisit previous learning before they move on to new concepts.

For example, in history, pupils recap the life of the Anglo-Saxons in order to learn about the Heptarchy kingdoms. However, in a few subjects, the curriculum is not yet fully embedded. Consequently, pupils struggle to remember what they have learned.

For example, in science, pupils can identify different types of rocks and use precise scientific vocabulary to name them. However, they struggle to explain a fair test and the importance of variables and controls.

From the moment children start in Nursery, there is a strong focus on developing language and communication.

Children enjoy the stories staff share with them. This helps children in Reception Year to use ambitious vocabulary, including 'nocturnal' when describing animals.The school ensures that staff have the expertise they need to teach children to read well.

Children in Nursery learn to listen and recognise sounds. When they start in Reception Year, they learn to read. Adults quickly identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind.

They receive the help they need to catch up. The books that pupils read match the sounds they know. This helps them to become fluent and confident readers.

Older pupils enjoy class reading. They read a wide range of diverse texts by different authors. Pupils use accurate vocabulary to respond to questions, for example when discussing the United States civil rights movement.

However, expectations for the presentation of pupils' work are not always high enough. As a result, the work in some pupils' books does not reflect their learning or the ambitious curriculum.

The school has a clear curriculum for behaviour.

All adults use the behaviour policy in the same way. Pupils say that the behaviour system is fair. They understand the expectations and respond well to these.

For example, adults ask for 'star' sitting from all pupils. This supports pupils to focus on their learning. From Nursery Year onwards, children learn how to move around the school, including in corridors.

As a result, the school is orderly and calm.Pupils benefit from a well-designed personal development curriculum. This enhances pupils' opportunities and broadens their experiences.

They develop their leadership skills as a 'green bean' or as school council representatives. Pupils learn about the importance of choice and consequences. The school celebrates pupils' individual achievements both inside and outside the school.

All of this supports pupils' character development.

Pupils learn how to be a responsible citizen. They talk about the 'buddy' system that helps pupils who seem sad or lonely.

Pupils understand the importance of inclusion. They say that everybody is welcome in their school. Through the curriculum, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe.

They learn about cyber-bullying and staying safe when online, as well as staying safe in the home.

Staff appreciate the ongoing support the school provides. They are proud to be part of the team.

Teachers appreciate working with other teachers from across the trust. The trust provides an appropriate balance of challenge and support to the school.

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 wider curriculum subjects, the curriculum is not yet fully embedded. This means that pupils struggle to remember what they have learned. The trust needs to ensure that the curriculum supports pupils to build knowledge well in all subjects so that they know and remember more.

• Expectations of pupils' presentation are not high enough. The work in some pupils' books does not match pupils' learning or the ambition of the curriculum. The trust needs to ensure that expectations are raised so that all pupils produce high-quality work.

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