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They understand the school's values of 'love, courage and respect' and model these thoughtfully. Pupils learn to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy and know how to stay safe online. Pupils love to take on responsibilities, such as house captains and librarians.
They enjoy helping each other. Pupils know the importance of being kind and supportive within and outside of their school community.
Pupils learn the curriculum well.
Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have their needs identified quickly. The school adapts provis...ion for these pupils expertly.
Staff understand how to support the individual needs of different pupils effectively.
Pupils feel safe and know that they can turn to trusted adults if they are ever worried or have any concerns. At break times pupils share, take turns and play happily.
If any pupils find managing their own behaviour challenging, they receive the help that they need. Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour, but at times these expectations are not made clear for some pupils. Despite this, most pupils' behaviour and attitudes to learning are positive.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
Governors know the school's strengths and areas for development clearly. They support and challenge leaders effectively and have a sharp focus on school improvement and staff well-being. Staff are dedicated to their work.
They appreciate how they are supported by the school to manage their workload successfully. This helps staff to focus on their own professional development and improvements to teaching and learning. The school works in partnership with external agencies and the local authority effectively.
Where necessary, the school involves specialists such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists to support individual pupils and to develop and share staff knowledge across the team.
The school is ambitious for all pupils. The curriculum reflects this ambition.
The school has identified the key knowledge and skills that it wants pupils to learn. Lessons connect logically, to help pupils build their knowledge well. For example, in science pupils described how the brightness of a light bulb increases with the voltage of cells used in an electrical circuit.
Overall, by the end of key stage 2, most pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
Across the curriculum, staff have secure subject knowledge. In most subjects, staff check pupils' understanding and then adjust the curriculum appropriately.
However, in some subjects, staff do not check how well pupils have learned the curriculum as effectively. A small proportion of pupils do not build on their prior knowledge securely. As a result, these pupils have gaps in their understanding and do not achieve as strongly as they could.
Pupils love reading. The school rightly prioritises teaching phonics to help pupils gain the strong foundations in reading that they need. Staff deliver the phonics programme systematically.
Most staff model sounds precisely and are increasingly confident in how to help pupils learn to read. Reading books are matched closely to the sounds that pupils have learned. If pupils fall behind, they receive robust support to help them catch up with their peers quickly.
Most pupils become confident, fluent readers. They talk enthusiastically about the books they have read. Pupils enjoy sharing stories together from the beginning of Reception Year to the end of Year 6.
In the early years, children are very enthusiastic learners. Activities are planned carefully to help them to build their knowledge and skills effectively. Children are engrossed in their learning.
For example, some children took part in role play of an Arctic exploration on the playground, chipping ice to excavate model animals that had been frozen in the water. Others wrote about igloos and some explored colour mixing while painting ice cubes together. Staff ask questions and prompt the children skilfully to extend their vocabulary.
The school provides a wide range of trips and educational visits that help pupils to remember the curriculum. Local walks, visits to the library and residential trips support pupils in building their confidence and resilience. School clubs are appreciated, including multi-sports, football and netball, although some pupils say that they would like to take part in more.
Pupils learn about different cultures and beliefs positively. They are encouraged to debate challenging issues in balanced ways. Pupils engage well with the curriculum, including through texts that represent different faiths, beliefs and cultures from around the world.
Pupils learn to be respectful and responsible and how to care for the world around them.
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
What does the school need to do to improve?
(Information for the school and appropriate authority)
• At times, some pupils are not clear about what behaviour is expected from them.
As a result, some pupils' behaviour in some lessons does not meet the school's high expectations. Some elements of those lessons are not as purposeful as they could be. The school should ensure that the newly developed behaviour policy is implemented consistently and effectively, and that staff expectations for pupils' behaviour are made clear for pupils.
• In a small number of subjects, the school's assessment strategies are not used effectively enough to enable teachers to check how well pupils are learning the curriculum. This means that a small proportion of pupils struggle to apply what they have learned previously to new concepts. The school should ensure that teachers check pupils' prior learning effectively across the full curriculum.
