Stapleford Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend a close-knit school, nestled in the countryside. They like how leaders and staff know them and their families well.

Pupils notice how staff encourage them to do their best. They are particularly pleased with the changes made to the curriculum. It is helping them to build up a rich store of knowledge, such as how to tell the time or learning facts about different countries.

Also, pupils dive into the high-quality reading books available in school.

Community involvement further enhances pupils' education. Forest school sessions on a nearby country estate, for example, teach valuable skills.

These include den-building, campfire starting an...d foraging. Pupils enthusiastically share experiences of making wild garlic pesto, campfire pizza and delicious s'mores.

Pupils get along famously.

Break- and lunchtimes are a hive of activity. Pupils perch on climbing frames, play games of football or dance around a maypole. Older pupils mentor younger ones.

They guide them through activities, such as how to navigate the dining hall at the start of the school year. Using the school's phrase, 'Stop it! I don't like it' helps pupils to understand and respect personal boundaries. Consequently, pupils feel happy and safe.

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

The school's curriculum has been developed well over the last two years. Staff appreciate the clear steer provided. They welcome, for example, how curriculum plans set out the key words, concepts and skills they should teach.

Staff are resourceful. They upcycle items, such as second-hand books. They also secure grant funding, using this to build an outdoor gym, for example.

The team effort ensures the resources and facilities complement a well-thought-through curriculum.

Mostly, staff teach the curriculum to good effect. It shows in pupils' workbooks and discussions with pupils where they capture all they have learned.

However, sometimes, staff struggle to notice and put right pupils' mistakes or when pupils' attention wanes. Suitable training for staff takes place. However, how leaders follow this up to check staff implement the training lacks thoroughness.

So, occasionally, shortcomings persist.

The early years curriculum and its delivery is working well. Staff understand the role they play in building children's language.

They sensitively correct children who may incorrectly name an object, for example. Parents report favourably on the information they receive about learning. They know which 'tricky' words their child will learn the following week, allowing them to introduce these at home.

Pupils mostly achieve well in reading. This is because there are a range of opportunities for older pupils to read and discuss high-quality texts with knowledgeable staff. The catch-up support pupils receive generally works well.

Staff ensure pupils practise reading the sounds they have been struggling to secure.Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) typically thrive at the school. Pupils' parents point out the patience and kindness staff provide as a strength of the school.

When needed, the school engages the services of external partners to ensure pupils with SEND receive the extra help they need.

Calm conduct and polite manners are the norm. Pupils learn to behave this way from leaders and staff.

Pupils are suitably enthused by the systems of rewards, such as achieving 'Star of the Week' or collecting gold stickers. Children in the early years show sound self-control. Staff aid this by arranging activities that capture children's attention, helping them learn to stick at and finish a task they start.

This readies them well for learning in Year 1 and beyond.

The school offers a wide-ranging personal development programme. It includes a variety of extra-curricular clubs like choir, football, and gardening, accessible to pupils of all ages.

Activities such as peer mediator training and international school partnerships enhance social skills. Events, such as singing carols around the Christmas tree and the school country fayre, promote strong ties with the local community.

Leaders, including governors, are committed to the school.

Well-trained governors ask searching questions that identify issues. For example, governors know that some pupils are persistently absent. The school recognises that some of these pupils are not achieving as well as they could.

They know too that this affects pupils' self-esteem, making some of them anxious about attending school. The approach used in recent years has not resolved this, so governors are supporting school leaders to address school absence with greater rigour.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, staff do not readily notice when pupils struggle to learn content or have misconceptions. This means that pupils sometimes remain stuck and disengage or get the wrong idea about a concept. The school should ensure that staff effectively use their training to improve their checks on pupils' learning, spotting readily when to adjust their teaching so pupils achieve well.

• Currently, the school's approach to improving attendance is not addressing the persistent absenteeism for some pupils. This means that some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. The school should revise how it identifies and addresses absence to ensure more pupils attend school regularly and benefit from all the school has to offer.