Thornbury Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is an inclusive school where everyone is welcome. A richly diverse community of pupils learn and play together well. This starts in the early years where Reception children quickly learn to share and collaborate.

Older pupils treat each other respectfully. Pupils in the specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (specially resourced provision) enjoy learning alongside their peers. Everyone is encouraged to take part in all aspects of school life.

The trust works closely with the school to improve the quality of education pupils receive. However, the curriculum does not always ensure that pupils achieve well. Pupils... sometimes struggle to recall or apply what they have learned.

Many improvements are too recent to have had time to impact on published outcomes. As a result, too many pupils leave the school without the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their education.

Pastoral care is strong.

The school's culture of safeguarding is a strength of the school. Staff know the pupils and families well, which builds positive relationships. This helps pupils to trust adults.

They feel safe to share any worries and are confident that staff will listen and help them if needed.

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

The school has recently made necessary changes to the curriculum. It has chosen and sequenced the knowledge it wants pupils to learn.

In some subjects, this is identified more precisely than in others. For example, in art it has selected specific artists and techniques for pupils to explore and learn. Where this is the case, pupils build knowledge over time because teaching builds on what they already know.

In other subjects, the knowledge is not broken down as effectively. As a result, there is too much variation in how well pupils learn the curriculum. This prevents pupils from building secure, cumulative knowledge.

The school's curriculum begins in the Reception Year. For the youngest children, the curriculum is well matched to their starting points. As pupils start school, staff check what they know and can do.

This helps adults to match learning to individuals. Children enjoy whole-class sessions. They then have lots of opportunities to practise new learning in their play.

Adults know the children well. They use specific vocabulary and questions which build children's communication and understanding while playing.

The same checks on learning for older pupils are not as effective.

The school's chosen method of providing feedback to pupils and moving learning forward, 'RIDE', is not having the intended impact. Pupils and adults are not clear of its purpose or use. This is hampered by weaknesses in curriculum design.

Teachers' subject knowledge is variable. This means their expectations of pupils are not high enough. The learning activities given to pupils do not help pupils to think more deeply.

Pupils behave well in lessons, regularly meeting teachers' expectations of them. However, pride and presentation in their work are sometimes lacking. Consequently, pupils' experiences in some subjects do not result in them learning the intended curriculum as well as they should.

The school prioritises early reading. The phonics programme is well implemented. Current Reception children are familiar with the signals to help them segment words and blend sounds.

Adults quickly identify and support any pupils who need help to keep up, including older pupils and those from the specially resourced provision. The additional support given to these pupils is essential. This is because the whole class teaching which they experience is not always well matched to their individual starting points.

The reading curriculum beyond phonics has undergone recent improvements. Pupils enjoy the books they study which build their understanding of different cultures and diversity.

The school meets the needs of many pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well.

Bespoke provision helps pupils to learn alongside their peers. The school's work to develop 'rucksacks' for each unit studied means that pupils can focus on the vocabulary they need to know. This helps them to understand and use new language.

Pupils benefit from a range of enrichment experiences. Visits and visitors help to bring their curriculum learning alive. The rich range of clubs gives pupils opportunities to try something different or extend an interest.

Because some pupils in the resource base arrive by taxi, the school has made changes to club timings to enable them to take part in lunchtime clubs.

Governors and trustees challenge and support the school effectively. Their highest priority has been to recruit and train staff to best meet the needs of the pupils at the school.

Staff feel well supported. They acknowledge the importance of rapidly securing improvements to the quality of education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff's subject knowledge is not secure across the curriculum, including in English. This hinders staff from providing pupils with learning activities that match the aims and ambition of the curriculum. The school should ensure that staff have high enough expectations of pupils through the development of teachers' subject and pedagogical knowledge.

• The school has not fully identified the specific knowledge pupils need to learn in all subjects. This prevents pupils from developing a deeper knowledge and understanding in some subjects. The school must continue to identify the precise knowledge pupils will learn and build upon so that pupils know more, remember more and can do more over time.

The school is not always effective in accurately evaluating the impact of improvement changes on pupils' knowledge. As a result, it does not always know whether the actions taken are improving the depth of learning which pupils acquire. The trust should develop its monitoring and evaluation processes so that it has a clear understanding of whether the curriculum is ensuring pupils learn the curriculum well.

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