Swinnow Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and caring in this school. Pupils have confidence that adults will help them if they have concerns or worries. Pupils enjoy playing cooperatively with each other at playtimes and lunchtimes.

Pupils behave well in lessons. They are eager to learn. Leaders have made recent changes to the curriculum that pupils are taught.

However, what pupils are taught in some subjects and how it is taught need development. The school does not have a clear picture of which areas of the curriculum this development needs to happen. Children get a positive start to their education in the early years.

This positive start is not then ...continued into key stage 1 and 2. Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in national assessments.

Staff ensure that pupils follow routines.

Pupils show independence and maturity when moving around school. Pupils who need it are supported effectively to make positive behaviour choices. Children in the early years are quickly supported to develop their independence.

Leaders ensure that all staff understand the importance of promoting a culture of positive attendance. Leaders ensure that swift and effective support is put in place when pupils' attendance is too low. Leaders and staff build positive relationships with families.

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

Leaders want pupils in the school to achieve well. This aspiration is not reflected within the ambition of the curriculum that pupils are taught. This is because there is variation in how well some subjects are taught across school.

Leaders have recently made changes to how some subjects are taught. For example, subjects such as history and design and technology are being taught in 'blocks' because leaders wanted pupils to build more subject-specific knowledge over time. This is beginning to have a positive impact on pupils' learning.

However, the school does not have clear systems in place to allow leaders to identify which subjects in the curriculum are being taught well, and which subjects in the curriculum need to be developed further. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not achieve as well as they should within the curriculum and at the end of key stages 1 and 2. The school does not clearly evaluate how well the support pupils with SEND receive is helping them to make progress within the curriculum.

The phonics curriculum is clear and appropriate. Staff have had some training to deliver the curriculum. The school has made recent improvements to the teaching of phonics.

However, the phonics curriculum is taught inconsistently. In some parts of school, strategies for learning to identify sounds within words and how to read words and sentences fluently are taught in different ways. In some year groups, the school has identified the parts of the phonics curriculum that pupils need help with.

However, in other year groups, the school does not have this clear picture. Leaders have recently introduced catch-up sessions for some of the pupils who need help with reading. This is beginning to make a difference.

However, across school, pupils who are behind in reading do not routinely get the precise support they need to become fluent readers and catch up with peers. This is because some phonics teaching is not in line with the school's chosen approach. It does not target the gaps in pupils' knowledge.

Pupils learn about important topics about life in modern Britain. Through the personal, health, social and economic (PSHE) curriculum, pupils are taught about the importance of physical and mental health and how to stay safe online. However, despite regular teaching about them, pupils have a limited age-appropriate understanding of the groups of people in wider society who may face prejudice and discrimination.

Pupils have some opportunities to contribute to their school community by doing 'monitor jobs'. Leaders are taking steps to widen the range of opportunities pupils get to benefit from these. Pupils in 'Oasis' and 'ABC' are skilfully supported by staff to develop their own sense of identity.

Pupils are beginning to consider the feelings and opinions of others around them.

In the early years, children get a positive start to their education. Leaders have prioritised building a curriculum that helps children to acquire language.

Staff skilfully teach children new vocabulary and link this to children's learning across the curriculum. Staff build positive relationships with families. Staff are knowledgeable about how young children learn.

They use this knowledge to teach children a curriculum that is carefully designed and ambitious. Children with SEND are quickly identified and supported by staff. Staff carefully identify the skills, knowledge and experiences that children may need more help with.

They put in subtle but effective support for them. Children develop a love of books and reading. They are excited about learning.

This prepares them well for the next stage of their education.

Governors understand their roles. They are beginning to offer more in-depth challenge to leaders about educational outcomes.

Some of this challenge is ensuring that school development priorities are focused on what the school needs to improve. Governors contribute to a culture of safeguarding in school by ensuring they are aware of patterns and trends around safeguarding incidents. Leaders provide regular training and development opportunities for staff.

However, the training staff receive is not yet having an impact on the teaching pupils receive in some parts of the curriculum. Staff speak positively about the ways that leaders support their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not have a clear picture of the gaps in pupils' phonic knowledge. The support some pupils get is not targeted closely enough to the parts of reading they find difficult. They do not catch up with their peers quickly enough.

The school should ensure that the assessment of early readers, and those who need help with reading, is accurate and used to inform the support pupils receive. ? Pedagogy in phonics lessons is inconsistent and sometimes not in line with the school's agreed approach. Strategies to teach pupils to read are not embedded across phonics groups or support sessions.

Some pupils do not learn to become fluent readers quickly. The support some pupils receive is not as effective as it could be. The school should ensure that staff understand the phonics approach and teach it consistently.

• The school does not regularly evaluate the impact of the support pupils with SEND receive in their learning. This means that the school does not have a clear picture of how well some pupils with SEND are achieving within the curriculum. As a result, support for pupils with SEND in lessons is not as successful as it could be.

The school should ensure that there is regular review of how well pupils with SEND are achieving in the curriculum and that support and targets are adjusted in response to this to give pupils with SEND the best chance of being successful. ? The school does not have a clear view of how well subjects are being taught and the impact of the curriculum on pupils. Inconsistencies in pedagogy and areas of the curriculum that need more rapid development are not identified quickly.

Pupils do not have opportunities to deepen their knowledge over time. The school should ensure that leaders have systems to clearly identify where the curriculum or pedagogy needs further development. ? The school has not checked that some elements of the PSHE curriculum are understood by pupils.

Some pupils do not have a well developed understanding of protected characteristics. They are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they could be. The school should ensure that the PSHE offer for pupils is taught consistently so that pupils develop their understanding of diversity in society.