Upton Heath CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the strong relationships that they have with staff and each other at this large and welcoming school. They said that having good friends makes them happy at school.

Pupils are attentive during lessons and, typically, play together cooperatively at breaktimes.

They value the support that they receive for their mental health and well-being, including spending time with the school dog, Buddy, and being able to attend the lunch club. Pupils trust adults to keep them safe. They know that they can talk to adults if they are ever worried.

The school has high expectations of pupils' achievement. These aspirations include pupils with special educational n...eeds and/or disabilities (SEND). Most pupils achieve well across a range of subjects and they enjoy learning.

They love to share their learning with others, including parents and carers, through the regular exhibitions of their work.

Pupils are enthused by the new approach to the delivery of the curriculum. Pupils appreciate the range of clubs on offer, including those for bench ball, musical rock group and self-defence.

These ensure that pupils can develop their talents and interests, either before or after school.

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

The school has a secure overview of its strengths and the refinements that it needs to make to develop the quality of education further. The school has revitalised the design and delivery of the curriculum in recent times.

The curriculum has been thoughtfully devised to meet the needs of children in early years through to pupils in Year 6. The school has carefully identified the specific knowledge that it wants pupils to learn and the order in which this information should be taught. The design of the curriculum helps pupils to make links between what they are learning now and what they have learned in the past

Teachers are well supported to deliver the curriculum effectively.

Staff present new information clearly and provide suitable opportunities for pupils to revisit learning. This helps pupils to remember what they have been taught. As a result, pupils build a secure body of knowledge over time.

The strong emphasis on language and communication benefits pupils, including children in early years, greatly. The key vocabulary that pupils should know is clearly identified and taught effectively by staff. As a result, pupils use a range of different words, including subject-specific vocabulary, confidently in their discussions and play.

Teachers check on pupils' recent learning to identify any gaps in their knowledge. Teachers then adapt their teaching to help pupils overcome these deficits in their learning. This helps pupils to keep pace with the curriculum content.

However, in a few subjects, teachers' strategies to check pupils' earlier learning are not as effective. This means that teachers do not spot when pupils have not remembered concepts that have been taught in the past. This hinders some pupils from achieving as well as they should in these subjects.

The school prioritises reading. It aims for all pupils to read fluently. To secure this ambition, it ensures that staff receive regular and relevant training.

Teachers are clear about the sounds and words that children in early years and pupils in key stage 1 should be able to read by the end of each term. Those pupils who struggle to keep up receive effective support so that they can keep pace with the phonics programme. This extends to pupils who arrive at school at different points during the academic year.

Most pupils become confident and fluent readers by the end of Year 2.

The school has improved its systems to ensure that it effectively identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND. Staff have received the training that they need to make sure that pupils can learn well.

The school works with other agencies, schools, parents and carers to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils effectively.

Pupils behave well and they trust staff to provide support when it is needed. Pupils work well together.

In early years, children play together cooperatively, and there is a sense of partnership in how they learn alongside their classmates and with their teachers.

Pupils attend school regularly. The school takes swift and effective action to tackle absence.

It works productively with parents to make sure that pupils do not miss out on learning.

The school provides a broad range of opportunities to support pupils' wider development. For example, pupils take on leadership roles such as those of junior safety officers, playground monitors and school parliament representatives.

They are proud that they make a difference. Pupils also learn how to keep themselves safe, including when online. Pupils learn about the wider world and they gain an understanding of the differences between people.

This prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

The trust and the local governing body support the school well. They have made a valuable contribution to recent improvements to ensure that pupils receive a good quality of education.

Those responsible for governance support the school in taking account of staff's workload when change is introduced.

The school has experienced a period of change since the previous inspection. Parents and pupils are appreciative of the improvements that have been made.

Parents value being involved in their children's learning.

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 small number of subjects, the school's checks on pupils' retention of key knowledge over time are not as effective as they are elsewhere.

This means that teachers are not clear about the gaps that some pupils have in their knowledge. This hinders pupils' progress through the curriculum. The school should ensure that teachers are equipped with suitable assessment strategies in these subjects so that they can identify and address gaps in pupils' learning.

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