Summerfields Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to recommend their school to others. They want everyone to feel like they belong. As one pupil commented, 'it's ok to be yourself'.

The values of, 'Achieve, Belong and Care' stretch well beyond a strapline and are the lived experience of those connected with the school. Staff care deeply about pupils, who know they will be listened to and supported if they have any problems.

Leaders' have high aspirations for pupils' achievement and conduct.

These expectations are known by the pupils who desire to live up to these. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They try their best in lessons and achieve well.

Pupils behave well. Routine...s are established from the early years, where children develop important social skills that help them learn well alongside their peers. Pupils are keen to help each other.

They are empathetic, understanding their friends may have challenges different to their own. Older 'buddies' are proud to be positive role models for their younger peers.

The school provides a range of opportunities, such as a visit to the Sealife Centre at Portsmouth, to both broaden pupils' experiences and bring learning to life.

Most pupils enjoy attending school and feel safe.

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

Following a period of change, leaders have raised expectations, making positive changes that has improved the quality of education for all pupils. The curriculum is having a demonstrable impact on pupils' current achievement but is not yet evident in some of the school's most-recent published outcomes.

Since the previous inspection, the school has restructured its curriculum. It is now well designed, starting in the early years. The key knowledge and vocabulary that pupils are to learn has been identified and sequenced well in nearly all subjects.

Refinements to the mathematics curriculum prioritise learning important fluency and reasoning skills. These changes are having a clear and positive impact on pupils' application of number.

Assessment information is used well in most subjects to adapt future learning, identify gaps in knowledge and provide help for those pupils at risk of falling behind.

The identification of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is accurate and appropriate plans are in place to support them, enabling most to achieve well.

In most subjects, teachers explain ideas clearly. They present materials in a manner that reinforces key learning.

Strategies such as 'I do, we do and you do' are used consistently, alongside group and paired tasks, to ensure pupils understand their learning. Across most of the curriculum, pupils' work demonstrates their deepening understanding. However, in a small number of subjects, the knowledge pupils are to learn has not yet been fully specified.

Consequently, teachers do not consistently plan activities to help pupils remember and recall important facts as well as they should.

Leaders have prioritised reading. Starting in the early years, children access a comprehensive phonics programme.

Staff have been well trained and deliver the programme with fidelity to the chosen scheme. Pupils practise their reading using books that closely match the sounds that they have learned. Those pupils who struggle to keep up in reading receive useful extra help from staff.

The focus on fluency ensures pupils are given the skills they need to access increasingly complex texts. Across the curriculum, reading materials inspire and increase pupils' desire to read. The school library is maintained by pupil librarians who keenly organise the treasured range of books available.

Pupils' personal development programme is well planned. It deepens pupils' understanding of faith and the wider world. Pupils talk about different relationships with maturity.

They know the importance of healthy food choices and keeping fit and active. A range of planned sporting events provide all pupils, irrespective of ability, with the opportunity to proudly represent their school. Pupils keenly take on leadership roles such as head boy or head girl.

They understand the importance of being active participants in their community. For example, sports leaders help run the school's sports day. This desire to help others extends to their local community, where pupils' help with gardening or singing performances that bring joy to the local elderly community.

Attendance remains a high priority for leaders. They work closely with families and have clear procedures for managing attendance and punctuality. Despite this, there are a small number of pupils who do not attend school as often as they should.

Governors ensure they know their school well. Through regular visits and challenging questions, they work well with leaders to maintain high standards. Staff welcome the recent improvements to the curriculum.

They value the training they have received so far and appreciate the steps taken to ease their workload.

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 still being refined.

The key parts of knowledge that pupils need to learn are not always clear to them and their teachers. As a result, teachers do not always plan activities that build on prior learning. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum sets out precisely what they want pupils to know and be able to do, so that pupils learn even more effectively across the full range of subjects.

• A minority of pupils do not attend school often enough. This has an adverse effect on their learning. The school needs to ensure that current work to promote the importance of good attendance leads to improvements over time for those who need them.

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