Atlas Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a warm and nurturing place for pupils to learn and grow.

Pupils and staff glow with pride when describing their school. Pupils are unfailingly polite and respectful towards adults. They model tolerance and understanding.

Excellent relationships with teachers ensure that pupils feel safe.

The school has high ambition for pupils' achievement. Pupils study a curriculum that interests and challenges them.

They learn with determination and successfully build knowledge over time. Pupils are focused in lessons and produce work of a high standard. The environment across the whole school supports effective learning.

In the early years, pupils... experience exciting days of thoughtfully designed learning and discovery. They benefit from well-established routines and staff who focus on language development and have high expectations in all areas of learning.

Pupils are thoughtful and kind towards each other.

Their behaviour in lessons and around school is exemplary. There is a calm sense of purpose. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their many leadership opportunities and contribution to the life of the school and the wider community.

They enjoy many opportunities to play games and attend clubs. Pupils are clear that they are all equal, and that difference is valued at this school.

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

School leaders and governors, in partnership with the Priestley Academy Trust, have ensured significant improvement since the last inspection.

They have focused on reading, the curriculum, teaching and attendance, which is rapidly improving.

Curriculum thinking is ambitious, precise and relevant to the pupils in school. Learning flows from Nursery to Year 6.

Pupils learn essential knowledge and skills over time and have a deep understanding across the curriculum. In lessons, pupils revisit prior learning. They talk confidently about their learning and remember important knowledge.

Teachers check pupils' understanding skilfully to identify any gaps in learning and ensure that they are addressed. In mathematics, pupils recall important knowledge and facts well. When the curriculum is taught through discrete lessons, pupils apply their learning accurately.

However, some aspects of mathematics are taught through the wider curriculum. These parts of the curriculum have not been as carefully designed. Staff do not check pupils' understanding as effectively as they could.

This means that pupils' knowledge in these areas of mathematics is not secure.

The teaching of reading is precise because staff are highly skilled. Pupils learn sounds quickly and remember them.

Almost all pupils make excellent progress with their reading. They confidently read books matched to the sounds that they are learning. Pupils also practise writing the sounds and words they know.

Where needed, extra support is delivered with expertise so pupils can keep up with the phonics programme. Older pupils love to read increasingly complex texts, developing fluency, expression and comprehension.In this inclusive school, the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are securely identified.

Staff work hard to ensure that pupils are supported and barriers to learning are reduced. However, the targets set in plans are not always precisely matched to pupils' needs. This means that adaptations and provision for pupils with SEND in lessons do not always match the targets set out in individual plans.

Therefore, learning for some pupils with SEND is not as effective as it could be.

Children in the early years are confident, curious learners. Meticulous curriculum design ensures that every activity has a purpose and that adult interactions are highly effective.

The rich and engaging indoor and outdoor environments successfully promote learning and independence. Children in the early years get off to a flying start and are prepared exceptionally well for key stage 1.

Pupils know what excellent behaviour is and behave in an exemplary way.

They demonstrate exceptional attitudes to learning through the pride shown in their books. Bullying is rare; pupils say it never happens and are confident that, if it did, adults in school would sort it out quickly.

Personal development is at the core of this school.

It is woven through the whole curriculum precisely. Pupils talk with maturity about being safe, including online. They discuss different faiths and cultures with deep understanding.

Pupils understand equality, describing their school as 'supportive and welcoming'. They debate ideas like democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law knowledgeably. Pupils contribute to the wider community, for example by supporting the food bank and planting trees in the local park as part of an environmental project.

They develop aspirations for future careers through their learning. Pupils value the wide range of clubs and activities on offer. A carefully thought-out programme of visits, visitors and enrichment activities helps pupils experience the world beyond the school.

Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for life in modern, diverse Britain.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The aspects of mathematics taught through the wider curriculum are not as clearly designed as aspects taught through the discrete mathematics lessons.

As a result, staff do not check pupils' understanding as effectively as they could. Pupils' recall of their learning in these areas is not as secure as it is in discrete lessons. The school should refine curriculum thinking for aspects of mathematics taught through the wider curriculum and ensure pupils know and remember more essential knowledge over time.

• At times, the adaptations and provision for some pupils with SEND do not match the targets set out in individual plans. This means learning for these pupils slows down. The school should ensure that precise targets, taken from accurate assessment, are consistently implemented in lessons so outcomes for pupils with SEND are as strong as they can be.