Worth Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this school.

They told inspectors that staff are caring and that they are always willing to help them. Pupils learn that everyone should be treated with respect, regardless of any differences. They make friends easily and get on well together.

This helps pupils to feel happy.

Pupils are well mannered and respectful towards staff and each other. They look forward to weekly assemblies where they are keen to be nominated for the 'bucket of excellence'.

The school has high aspirations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, these aspirations are not fully realised. In many... subjects, the school has not been ambitious enough in designing the curriculum to enable pupils to build a deep body of knowledge.

This means that, in these subjects, pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils enjoy a variety of clubs, such as tennis, football and musical theatre. They learn to play musical instruments, including the cello and the violin.

The choir enjoy singing at concerts and to residents of a local care home. Older pupils spoke with excitement about exchanging letters with pupils from another country.

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

Worth Primary School is on an improvement journey.

Trustees have worked determinedly to steer the school through a period of significant turbulence. To some extent, they have minimised the impact of recent changes, for example, with regards to staffing. Trustees share the school's ambition to provide pupils with a high-quality education.

However, they have not carried out their roles effectively to address weaknesses in the quality of education.

The school has ensured that the curriculum is broad and balanced, and that it captures pupils' interests. In some subjects, such as mathematics and English, the most important knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught has been determined.

In these subjects, teachers design learning that builds on pupils' earlier knowledge. They use assessment information to identify and address any gaps in pupils' knowledge. In these subjects, pupils achieve well.

Curriculum thinking in many other subjects is not well developed. While the school has identified the overarching focus areas for each subject, it has not pinpointed the important knowledge that underpins these broad themes. This hinders teachers from designing learning that supports pupils to build their knowledge in these subjects.

The school has not provided subject leads with sufficient opportunity to check that these curriculums are being delivered effectively by teachers. This means that teachers do not gain from the training and support that they need to deliver subject curriculums consistently well. This hampers pupils' achievement in these subjects.

Reading is prioritised from the start of the early years. Pupils read widely and often in and out of school. Teachers read a range of stories and texts regularly to pupils.

Older pupils are proud to be buddy readers for younger pupils in the school.

The school has successfully introduced a structured phonics programme. From the beginning of the Reception Year, pupils learn letters and the sounds that they represent.

They read books that contain the sounds that they already know. This helps pupils to become confident and fluent readers in readiness for key stage 2. Staff help pupils who struggle to keep up with the pace of the phonics programme to catch up quickly.

Leaders quickly identify pupils with SEND. These pupils access the same curriculum as their peers. However, as is the case for other pupils, some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should due to weaknesses in some subject curriculums.

Children in the Reception class learn to take turns during play and socialise well with their friends. Pupils behave well during lessons and around school. They are eager to learn.

Pupils are proud of their leadership responsibilities, such as being members of the school council. They support charities through fundraising initiatives, including collecting food donations for people less fortunate than themselves. Staff teach pupils how to look after their own mental health and to also consider the well-being of others.

These rich opportunities help pupils to make a positive contribution to the school and to the local community.

Staff are positive about the actions that the school has taken to prioritise their workload and well-being during a challenging time. They feel supported and are provided with the time they need to fulfil their roles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In many subjects, including areas of learning in the early years, the school has not identified clearly enough the knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught. This hinders staff in designing learning and checking that pupils achieve as well as they should in these subjects.

The school should ensure that teachers are clear about the essential knowledge that pupils should learn and when. ? The school has not ensured that subject leads have been provided with sufficient opportunity to check that curriculums are being delivered effectively by teachers. This means that they are unclear about how well pupils know and remember the curriculum content.

The school should ensure that subject leaders are suitably supported and equipped to monitor the implementation of their curriculums. ? The school recognises that staff have not had access to subject-specific training for some subjects. This means that subject knowledge is not as secure as it should be.

This prevents staff from delivering subject content to pupils as effectively as they could. The school should ensure that staff are fully trained to have the subject knowledge that they require. ? Trustees do not have enough oversight of the quality of education.

They do not know how well pupils are learning across a range of subjects. This means that they are unable to hold leaders to account for the quality of education that pupils receive. Trustees should ensure that they have the information that they need to check how well pupils are achieving in all subjects.

Also at this postcode