Victoria Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Victoria Primary School are polite and respectful. They celebrate the diverse nature of their school community.

Pupils learn about a range of faiths and cultures and show tolerance and respect to people's differences. They are accepting and understand the different needs of others.The school provides a calm and orderly environment for pupils.

Pupils behave well. Staff model the core values that they expect to see from pupils. In classrooms, pupils, for the most part, engage well and listen to their teachers.

This is particularly the case when the learning is closely matched to pupils' needs and abilities. Pupils say that bullying is very rare. They ...understand what bullying is and what it is not.

They know that they can talk with a trusted adult in school if they have any worries or concerns. Pupils play happily together on the playground, supported by staff who encourage them to take part in games and activities.Staff know the pupils extremely well.

As a result, relationships between staff and pupils are very strong. Parents and carers appreciate the lengths to which the school goes to support their children and themselves. These positive relationships are a key part of leaders' work to continue to improve the attendance of pupils.

Leaders support families to ensure that their children come to school every day and on time. They challenge any prolonged absences away from education.

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

The school has successfully put in place a structured reading programme.

This starts in Reception and continues to the end of key stage 1, or beyond when needed. Staff are well trained in delivering phonics. They regularly assess pupils and use this information to ensure that pupils get extra help when needed.

Additional phonics sessions are well planned and enable pupils to catch up. In key stage 2, pupils take part in regular reading sessions with their teacher. These enable pupils to build up the wider skills needed to become fluent and confident readers.

Pupils say that they have a good choice of books and lots of opportunities to read throughout the day.

Adults in the early years promote a love of reading as soon as children start in Nursery. This supports the strong focus on the development of language and vocabulary in the early years.

Children enjoy the books that are read regularly to them. They are eager to try and read these books for themselves and do so using the language that they have been taught. Leaders have made effective improvements to the provision and curriculum for children in the early years since the last inspection.

In mathematics, the school follows a clear curriculum, which outlines the knowledge that pupils should learn at each stage. This knowledge is broken down into small, manageable steps. There are opportunities within lessons for pupils to build on their previous learning.

Occasionally, pupils who need additional support do not always access the appropriate curriculum for their age and stage. Instead, teachers use these lessons to target specific gaps in pupils' learning. This is beneficial for some pupils and helps them to catch up.

However, for a few pupils, they continue to access a curriculum that is not as ambitious, even when they have made strides to catch up.

The school wants all pupils at the school to achieve well. However, in a few subject areas this is not yet realised.

In some subjects, such as history and geography, the school has clearly identified what they want pupils to learn and how this should be taught. In these subjects, knowledge is carefully broken down and is appropriate to the year groups it is planned for. However, in other subjects, such as science and design and technology, the precise knowledge that the school wants pupils to learn is not as clear.

This leads to some inconsistencies in how these subjects are taught. Learning activities are not always matched well to the intended knowledge that pupils are required to learn.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly by staff and those leaders who are responsible for SEND.

Actions are put in place to meet their particular needs. The school is tenacious in ensuring that pupils get the right support from external agencies.

The school places a strong emphasis on pupils' personal development.

Pupils take part in learning beyond the classroom. They talk enthusiastically about going on regular visits out of school. Pupils take part in events within the local community, such as gardening competitions.

They actively fundraise for both local and national charities.

Pupils enjoy taking on leadership responsibilities. These include being part of the junior leadership team, subject leader roles and eco-leaders.

Pupils have opportunities to develop independence and confidence. As leaders, they plan and deliver weekly assemblies, which are informative and celebrate the achievements of others.

Leaders are ambitious to broaden pupils' horizons.

The school has developed a focus on careers education. This is woven through curriculum opportunities and supported by visitors to school. Pupils are developing high aspirations for their future and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Leaders are in the early stages of carrying out regular checks on the wider foundation subjects. These checks are not yet fully effective. As a result, some inconsistencies in the teaching of some subjects remain.

Leaders do not use the information that they gather when making these checks to make the necessary improvements in a timely way.

Parents are positive about school leaders. They say that staff are approachable and swiftly deal with any concerns.

Wider stakeholders, such as local governors and trustees, have the appropriate skill set to continue to support and challenge school leaders effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not effectively checked how well the wider curriculum is being delivered.

As a result, leaders do not know whether pupils are learning the planned curriculum. Leaders need to check how well the curriculum is delivered so that they can make the necessary improvements in a timely way. ? In some subjects, such as science and design and technology, the precise knowledge that leaders want pupils to learn at each stage is not clear or well sequenced.

This leads to some misinterpretation and inconsistencies in how the subject is taught and delivered. The school should ensure that the precise knowledge that it wants pupils to learn is made clear at each stage in order to further improve the appropriate choice of learning opportunities provided in the classroom. ? A small group of pupils do not access an appropriately ambitious curriculum in mathematics.

This is because they are not moved quickly enough to their age-appropriate curriculum. This limits what some pupils can learn and achieve. Leaders should ensure that all pupils access an appropriately ambitious curriculum in mathematics in a timely manner.