Stoke Row CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from attending this safe and supportive school.

Parents are eager to share how much their child has flourished since joining the school. Pupils know and are proud to show their school's values of kindness, courage, excellence, perseverance and respect. They have positive and trusting relationships with adults in school.

Pupils know that these adults want the best for them. Due to this, pupils strive to meet the high expectations that adults have for how they will behave and learn.

The small school environment means that all pupils and staff know each other well.

Consequently, staff meet the personal and learning needs of pupils effecti...vely. Pupils behave very well in all areas of the school. The school playground is a joyful environment where pupils treat each other and adults with kindness and respect.

Staff make sure that pupils have a range of activities during playtime and help pupils to take part in them. Therefore, pupils learn important social skills such as sharing and taking turns.

Pupils value the range of leadership opportunities they are given.

Whether as school councillors, class monitors or mentors to younger children, pupils learn to be responsible members of their community.

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

The school has a broad and ambitious curriculum. Most subjects have been well sequenced to map out what pupils will learn and when.

In these subjects, what pupils will learn has been ordered from Reception onwards. This means that children in Reception gain the knowledge they need to be ready for learning in Year 1. Some foundation subjects have not yet been precisely sequenced.

The school has thought about what pupils need to know by the end of the year in these subjects. However, the school has not yet thought about the small steps in learning that will help pupils achieve this knowledge or how this learning will be checked. Therefore, in these subjects, teachers do not consistently plan ambitious activities which precisely match what all pupils, including those in Reception, need to learn.

In most lessons, activities are engaging and help pupils to learn. Teachers have secure knowledge of what they teach. They make effective changes to lessons to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Due to this, pupils achieve well through most of the curriculum. From Reception onwards, pupils gain secure knowledge of mathematics and English. Children in Reception learn to read as soon as they arrive in school.

Staff who teach pupils to read are expert teachers of phonics. They use information from assessments to spot when a pupil might have fallen behind in their reading. Staff put in place extra activities which fill gaps in pupils' reading knowledge.

This has led to pupils becoming confident and fluent readers.

Pupils consistently show positive attitudes towards their learning and their school community. Classrooms are purposeful places where pupils are eager to achieve their best.

They enjoy their lessons and do not disrupt the learning of others. Pupils know the rules and routines of the school and independently follow these. This is seen in Reception class, where children calmly follow the instructions of their teachers well.

There has been a sharp focus on attendance in recent months. There has been a decrease in the levels of persistent absence as a result. However, whole-school absence remains high.

This means that pupils miss learning time and do not benefit from the support that the school offers. The school is refining the strategies that have been put in place to improve this.

The school provides activities that develop pupils' character.

This includes key stage assemblies where pupils discuss and debate global topical issues and events. This helps pupils to develop reasoned views and respect the thoughts of others. Whole-class reward points are given when classes collectively show the school's values.

Earning these points assists pupils to recognise the positive impact of working together. Pupils have visits from local people who come to talk to them about their different faiths. From this, pupils build understanding of the cultural influences which shape their community.

The school has experienced turbulence in leadership over recent years. All stakeholders have worked well with the new leadership team of the school to ensure stability. This has resulted in the rapid implementation of a strong and ambitious vision for the school.

Staff are inspired by school leaders and know they will be supported. All staff work together well to provide pupils with a valuable educational experience.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Whole-school absence is high. Subsequently, not all pupils benefit as well as they could from the learning and wider opportunities that the school offers. The school should continue to embed and develop the strategies it has recently implemented in order to improve pupils' attendance further.

• The school is still refining the overall sequencing and assessment approach of some foundation curriculum areas. This means that in these subjects, the expectations for what pupils will learn are not as ambitious as they could be, and teachers are not able to precisely identify pupils' specific gaps in knowledge. The school should make sure that teachers have the knowledge they need to precisely sequence learning and to have clarity on how they are assessing pupils across the entire curriculum.

• Changes to the curriculum in Reception are not yet complete. As a result, some activities are less well designed than others, and children do not always learn as well as they could. The school must ensure that ambitious intended outcomes are identified and shared with staff in Reception so that planned activities lead to children in Reception achieving highly.

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