Tidbury Green School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Tidbury Green is a school where pupils work hard and are taught not to give up.

The school's values promote independence and honesty.

Pupils are courteous and kind to others. They behave well. If there are any incidents of off-task behaviour or bullying, then staff notice and help pupils sort it out.

The school's rules are fair, and pupils feel safe in school. Their achievements are celebrated at 'hot chocolate Fridays' and weekly 'tea parties' with the headteacher.

Pupils care for one another.

They also look after Pancake and Waffle, the school guinea pigs. Prefects help younger pupils, for example by organising play activities on the playg...round. School councillors enjoy debating school matters.

Team captains help organise sports events. All pupils learn the importance of taking care of others and their school environment.

Reading is at the heart of the school's work.

Pupils read every day and enjoy listening to adults reading to them.

This is an inclusive school where pupils flourish. All pupils have access to a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and events, including singing to a vast audience at Young Voices concerts.

Pupils achieve well and are well prepared for the next stage in their education.

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

Leaders and governors are ambitious for all pupils. They have prioritised the teaching of early reading and have made careful decisions about the books pupils read.

They ensure that books are a rich source of learning from the moment children join the pre-school or Nursery class.

From the early years onwards, children learn phonics. Staff support them to develop their confidence and fluency as readers.

The books that children take home are carefully matched to the sounds they are being taught. As a result, children get off to a speedy start as readers. Parents praise the way teachers share their passion for reading and bring out the best in each child.

Leaders set clear expectations about how all staff should support the delivery of the early years curriculum. In response, staff follow a consistent approach and ensure the early years curriculum is language rich. Leaders' ambitions to develop children's knowledge and breadth of vocabulary from the start are being realised.

Expert staff support children to thrive in a stimulating, caring and creative environment. Supportive early years leadership enables staff to do their best because they know what to prioritise in different areas of learning.

Building on from the early years, leaders have designed a curriculum that identifies what to teach at different points in the school year.

In mathematics, for example, teachers follow a consistent and effective approach that builds knowledge over time. They check that pupils can recall prior learning and apply it effectively to new learning. However, in a few other subjects, some teachers are not always sure about the best ways to help pupils know and remember important aspects of their learning.

Consequently, some pupils find it difficult to recall earlier learning or to see how it connects to new learning.

Leaders have effective assessment routines in place. This supports their systems for identifying and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

These systems are particularly effective in the early years and phonics. The school's pupil records specify individual targets for pupils with SEND and how staff can best help them. Nevertheless, some of these targets are not as precise as they could be.

This means that at times, teachers are not sure about the most important aspects of learning to focus on or how often.

Leaders ensure that regular attendance at school is celebrated. For example, weekly attendance is celebrated with fun activities when two school teddies 'Markus and Tickus' are looked after by the classes with the highest attendance.

There is a positive school culture where everyone is encouraged to work together for the benefit of all. Classroom recognition boards, for instance, identify an aspect of behaviour that a whole class is working on together. Pupils are proud of their achievements as a team.

They behave well in lessons and around school. If any off-task behaviour occurs, staff quickly notice and support pupils to refocus on their work.

The extra-curricular offer is an important part of school life.

A high proportion of pupils attend after-school activities, including sports, arts and computing. Pupils have a strong sense of belonging to the school community. Pupils look forward to exciting residential school trips in Years 5 and 6.

Leaders think carefully about the workload and staff's well-being. There is a strong partnership with parents and the local community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders understand the requirements for keeping pupils safe. They have established a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff know how to raise any concerns by following the school's systems.

Leaders respond promptly and follow things through. Leaders work well with external agencies to help pupils and their families access support.

Staff receive regular training to make sure they have the latest updates on safeguarding.

Records are maintained with care.

Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe. The curriculum teaches pupils about staying safe online.

Relationships are positive. Adults listen to pupils and take notice of what they say.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not use assessment information well enough to plan future learning for pupils with SEND.

Leaders should ensure that staff make better use of assessment information to plan next steps of learning for pupils with SEND. They should do this so that these pupils learn and achieve as well as possible. ? In a few foundation subjects, the implementation of the curriculum is not as effective as it could be.

Some teachers do not have enough subject knowledge or understanding of how to best teach some content. As a result, some pupils are not learning as well as they could. Leaders should make sure that staff have sufficient subject knowledge to teach these subjects well in order to maximise pupils' progress across the curriculum.