The Avenue Primary School and Children’s Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The Avenue Primary is an inclusive school.

Pupils are proud to be part of the school community and attend regularly. They are resilient and strive to be the best they can be. The school's values of 'respect, kindness and honesty' are lived and breathed by pupils and adults alike.

The school environment is warm, friendly and purposeful. Pupils are very polite and well behaved. When reminders are necessary, adults help pupils to make positive choices and learn from their mistakes.

Adults inspire all pupils to aim high and achieve their goals. Pupils show positive attitudes to their work and learn well. This means they are well prepared for the next stage of the...ir education, both academically and socially.

Provision for pupils' wider personal development is impressive. Pupils appreciate the rich and varied opportunities on offer. These help to develop their skills and interests in many areas such as woodland education, drama, music and sports.

Many parents are thrilled with the quality of education and care their child receives. They recognise and appreciate the way the staff support their child, keeping them happy and safe.

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

The school's work to resolve previous weaknesses has been quick, thorough and effective.

After the previous inspection, the school rightly focused on improving the curriculum. As a result of its work, the curriculum pupils receive is ambitious, exciting and motivates them to do their best. Pupils learn well across a wide range of subjects.

The curriculum is planned for all. This means there is equality of opportunity to enable pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to develop a broad body of knowledge. However, the school is aware that assessment is not consistently used effectively.

This means that gaps in knowledge remain for some pupils.

Reading is taught well across the school by highly trained adults. Children begin their phonics from the moment they start in school.

Children in the Nursery enjoy hearing stories and joining in with nursery rhymes. Pupils at risk of falling behind are identified quickly and get the additional help they need. This support helps them to keep up with their peers.

Adults encourage pupils of all ages to read books from a range of authors and themes. The 'Avenue 50' are books carefully selected by teachers for each year group. These books broaden pupils' reading experiences.

Older pupils read confidently and with enthusiasm, eager to discuss the content of their books. Consequently, pupils develop a love of reading.

Learning in the Nursery and Reception Years gives children a firm foundation on which to build.

Children learn how to socialise and to work independently, as well as develop their early reading, writing and mathematics knowledge. The school carefully considers the experiences children are offered to prepare them well for the demands of key stage 1 and beyond.

The resource base is very much part of the school.

Pupils who attend have access to learning that is carefully chosen to match the mainstream classes and meet their needs. This enables pupils to learn well and experience success. Reading is given a high priority.

Pupils gain fluency and confidence in their reading and enjoy books.

Opportunities to expand and develop pupils' interests are abundant and open to all pupils. Clubs on offer include origami, choir and a wide range of sports.

The resident artist is a firm favourite with pupils and, as with all clubs, is extremely well attended.Pupils talk with enthusiasm about the chances they have to develop their leadership skills. They relish the roles and responsibilities afforded to them, which include student leaders, eco-warriors and house captains.

Pupils learn how to become thoughtful young people who respect and appreciate the diversity of the world in which they live.

Trust leaders provide valuable support. The school welcomes and appreciates this guidance.

Trustees demonstrate a strong understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They rigorously hold the school leaders to account for the quality of education they provide for all pupils. A new academy council for the school has recently been put in place.

Consequently, academy councillors have not yet had the opportunity to show the impact of their role in supporting the school to improve further. The trust is proactive to ensure this happens.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessments are not always used effectively. This means that some pupils have gaps in their knowledge which are not always addressed. The trust needs to ensure that assessment is effective in understanding what pupils know and can do.

• The academy council is new. Therefore, it has not yet had the opportunity to show any impact. The trust needs to ensure that the academy council is able to carry out its role effectively and support the strategic oversight of the school's work.

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