Tarleton Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Tarleton Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in this school. They said that they learn to treat everybody equally and with respect.

Pupils are determined to make sure that everyone feels like they belong. For example, they are proud of the sign that welcomes visitors in many different languages. Parents and carers appreciate the way that the values of acceptance and tolerance are threaded throughout school life.

For example, pupils learn about a diverse range of inspirational figures.

Pupils are happy at school. They are kind to each other and show consideration for other people's needs.
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Older pupils support their younger peers, for example sport leaders organise games for younger pupils at breaktimes. This helps to foster positive relationships between pupils of all ages.

Pupils enjoy their learning.

They strive to meet the 'green goals' which exemplify excellent behaviour. The school rewards pupils' positive behaviour with gold coins. The pupils belonging to the house with the most gold coins at the end of each week receive a reward.

This motivates them to behave well.

The school has high aspirations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have recently strengthened the curriculum.

Pupils achieve increasingly well.

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

The school provides an ambitious and engaging curriculum. This is enhanced through a range of trips and visits.

Pupils spoke with great enthusiasm about these experiences, such as a recent trip to France and Belgium.

Across all subjects, learning is carefully mapped out to ensure that it builds logically over time. In most subjects, the school has precisely identified the essential knowledge that pupils need to remember from the Nursery class to Year 6.

Teachers frequently check that pupils remember this important learning and they use this information to adapt their teaching. In these subjects, pupils achieve highly and children in the early years are well prepared for their learning in key stage 1.

In a few other subjects, the school is still in the process of refining the most important information that pupils need to remember.

This includes some areas of learning for children in the early years. In these subjects, teachers are not clear about the information that they should emphasise when revisiting and checking pupils' learning. This means that some pupils do not develop secure bodies of knowledge over time.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They use this to clearly explain new concepts to pupils. Where misconceptions are identified, teachers address them swiftly.

The school understands the important role that reading plays in helping pupils to access the curriculum. From the moment that they join the Nursery class, children are encouraged to love books. For example, they have 'reading buddies' in the form of cuddly toys to whom they retell their favourite stories.

Some older pupils act as reading ambassadors. They take responsibility for the 'reading barn', where pupils can enjoy books during breaktimes.

Children begin to learn the phonics programme from the start of the Reception Year.

Staff deliver phonics consistently well. They are quick to spot any pupils who are struggling with their reading knowledge. These pupils benefit from strong support to help them to catch up with their peers.

Pupils learn to read confidently and fluently.

The school has appropriate systems in place to ensure that pupils with SEND are identified quickly. Staff understand how to adapt their delivery of the curriculum so that these pupils learn well alongside their peers.

The school engages parents in supporting their children's education. For example, staff send out information about what their class will be learning each week. Staff in the Nursery class send links to the songs that children have learned so that they can practise them at home.

There is a calm atmosphere in the school. Pupils behave sensibly and respectfully. Starting in the early years, pupils form positive relationships with staff.

They quickly learn to follow routines that promote effective learning.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. For example, they can develop new interests including learning British Sign Language or sewing.

All pupils engage in outdoor learning to develop their understanding of nature. They spoke with great enthusiasm about activities such as pond dipping.

Governors are very well informed about the quality of education that the school provides.

They share leaders' ambitious vision for the school and support them to deliver it well. Staff value the way in which the school takes their workload into consideration, for example they are allocated time to work on curriculum design. Staff are incredibly proud and happy to work at this 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 a few subjects, curriculum thinking is still being finalised. In these subjects, the school has not fully defined the most important knowledge that it wants pupils, including children in the early years, to know and remember over time.

This makes it difficult for teachers in these subjects to help pupils to remember their learning in the long term. The school should provide clarity around the exact knowledge that pupils need to acquire in each subject so that pupils' learning builds securely over time.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2013.