Stambridge Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Stambridge Primary School. Children in early years settle into school life quickly.

All pupils across the school understand the high expectations for behaviour set for them. Pupils feel safe and happy.

Pupils uphold the school values of respect and responsibility.

Pupils contribute through the different leadership roles the school offers. These include running the library, acting as school ambassadors and being part of the eco-team. Pupils enjoy the wide range of opportunities offered to them, such as participating in visits to London, residential stays and local walks.

This ensures that pupils are confident, mature and wel...l prepared for the next stage of their education.

All pupils, including children in the early years, behave well and respect each other. Pupils of all ages are focused and purposeful in lessons.

Pupils feel confident that if they report a concern to a member of staff, it will be dealt with effectively.

The school sets clear boundaries for what is acceptable and unacceptable conduct. Pupils pride themselves on working within these.

They are also aware of the importance of keeping themselves healthy and safe, including when online.

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

The school is determined that all pupils achieve well. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from a well-organised curriculum.

This helps pupils to remember knowledge they need to be successful learners.

The school's curriculum starts in the early years. In each subject, leaders have broken down into small steps the most important knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn to deepen their understanding.

In most subjects, individual lessons are well planned and delivered. However, this is inconsistent. Some activities do not build on what pupils already know.

In these lessons, pupils do not understand what is being taught because it is not explained clearly enough to them. This hinders some pupils from fully developing the knowledge across all subjects that they will need in future learning.

Reading is prioritised.

Staff deliver the phonics programme consistently well, enabling pupils to develop fluency and confidence quickly. Pupils take home books that closely match their reading ability. Teachers carefully check that pupils can remember previously learned sounds.

The school helps parents to be effective partners in this programme. Skilled staff support pupils who struggle to read to catch up quickly. The school has cultivated a love of books in all pupils by ensuring they have access to and read a variety of different texts and stories.

Pupils particularly enjoy having stories read aloud to them by staff.

The needs of pupils with SEND are identified quickly and accurately from the moment pupils join the early years. Pupils are encouraged to work independently and to not become over-reliant on the adults who help them.

This continues as they move through the school. Staff provide pupils with SEND with well-planned support that enables them to access the same curriculum as their peers.

Staff use the clear behaviour systems consistently and fairly.

Pupils respond to this positively. As a result, there is very little, if any, disruption to learning.

The school promotes pupils' personal development effectively.

The personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is well designed. It ensures that pupils develop a sound understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and maintain positive relationships.

Pupils are well prepared for adulthood.

They learn about budgeting and financial skills, designing and building items for sale at the school events. Assemblies and careers weeks include visits from key members of the local community and the police. Older pupils are taught about the potential risks they may face in the future.

The school has put in place a deliberate plan, the 'HEARTS promise', which covers the wide range of experiences and visits every pupil will receive by the time they leave the school. As a result, pupils are enthusiastic and positive about their school experience.

The members of the local advisory board (LAB) know the school well.

They are well supported by the trust in identifying and tackling priorities for improvement. They check that staff have the training and resources they need to keep the pupils safe, and they ensure that pupils achieve well.

Staff feel that the school and the trust help them to keep their workload manageable.

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 constructed a well-sequenced curriculum across all subjects. On occasion, however, it is not implemented well enough.

This means that, in some lessons, the important steps of learning are not taught well enough in order to ensure pupils know more and remember more. Leaders need to check carefully and thoroughly how well pupils understand the planned curriculum, to ensure they develop their knowledge, vocabulary and skills. This will allow leaders to consider where further improvement can be made.