Worth Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Worth Primary School is a small, village school characterised by caring and nurturing relationships.

Parents describe how their children 'thrive' in an environment that makes them 'excited to go to school every day and tell me about the things they have been learning'. The small class sizes and positive relationships mean that pupils are known exceptionally well and, as a result, their needs are met rapidly, both in terms of academic support and stretch, as well as their emotional and well-being needs.

Pupils are proud to be members of this school community, knowing that their values of 'teamwork, confidence, respect, honesty and empathy' are essential so that everyon...e is happy and well cared for.

Pupils behave exceptionally well and treat one another with kindness and respect. Pupils aspire to be members of the 'pupil parliament', and having roles such as 'ministers' of sport, events, learning or even the Prime Minister. Here, pupils have a voice and a vote, contributing to the life of the school, whether that is the redesigning of the school playground, the fund-raising events they undertake, or being role models for the youngest pupils in the school.

This includes leading play or the 'wake up shake up' physical activities that the whole school does together each morning.

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

The school has compiled a curriculum which carefully sequences the important information that pupils need to know. This is fully inclusive of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

This is planned effectively from the early years upwards. However, there is room for the connections between the early years and Year 1 upwards to be more explicitly mapped so that all staff can explore and model these connections to support pupil learning.

Teacher subject knowledge is strong.

In most lessons, but especially those of mathematics and reading, teachers make careful checks to identify how well pupils have understood what is being taught, making adaptations as they need to. In some foundation subjects, however, this is not always done as consistently, meaning that staff do not have the same precise awareness of what pupils have understood, or what they have remembered in the longer term.

Early reading is taught well.

Staff are well trained and know not only how to pick up on errors in reading but how to support children in segmenting and blending these words. This gives pupils the skills they need to become increasingly confident readers.

In the early years, children are highly engaged and enthused by their learning.

This is an environment rich in high quality interactions, where every opportunity is taken to model vocabulary and talk. As a result, children are confident communicators, and thrive in the many and varied opportunities they have to develop their knowledge and skills. In Reception Year, and indeed across the rest of the school, relationships between staff and pupils are strong and founded on respect.

Behaviour across the school is similarly exceptionally strong. Pupils are keen to interact with one another and play well together. They, along with staff, have high expectations of one another's conduct and take clear responsibility for ensuring that they all do the right thing.

When a peer needs more support to behave well, pupils reflect on how this helps them all to become better learners.

Though a small school, the range and breadth of opportunities for pupils to develop their wider character is impressive. Pupils are taught about the importance of relationships and how to keep themselves healthy and safe.

This includes a strong understanding of online safety, as well as safety in the wider world through their annual 'Elf and Safety Day' during the festive period. Assemblies are well used as opportunities to offer pupils a real chance to reflect on the importance of their values and how to keep themselves happy and safe. They embrace these readily and understand the impact of their conduct on others.

As well as the leadership responsibilities they aspire to have, pupils get to access a regularly changing rota of clubs, which have included football, 'active life' club, and art club. Pupils also contribute to their wider community, whether this is through growing vegetables at the local allotment, visiting the local farms, or the village hall and church.

Leaders are caring and nurturing, with the pupils and their community at the heart of the plans they make to continually develop their school and make it better still.

They regularly reflect, measuring the impact of the steps they take to ensure it is having the impact they want it to. Staff are well supported and feel part of this special community where every child flourishes.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment is not yet as well embedded across some foundation subjects. As a result, staff do not routinely use this information to inform the next steps of teaching in these subjects, nor do they know how much knowledge pupils have remembered over time. The school needs to ensure that all foundation subjects have a systematic approach to assessment, such as that evident in mathematics and reading, so that pupils have clear understanding of their next steps and that teachers can make precise adaptations to their teaching to support all pupils in doing well.