Badsley Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils and their families are assured the warmest of welcomes at Badsley. From their first days in Reception class, children develop secure relationships with adults and their peers.

Pupils know that staff are there to care for them. There is a happy atmosphere throughout the school as pupils play and learn together.

The school offers a variety of different clubs and activities.

For example, pupils can take part in science club, football, and choir. Pupils enjoy a variety of opportunities to enrich their learning. For example, visiting a local stadium to learn about hate crimes.

There are numerous, useful opportunities for pupils to play an activ...e role in school. The school council has worked to improve road safety in the local area.

Over recent years, the school has prioritised the development of the school culture, values, and pupils' well-being.

The positive impact of this work is clear to see. The school is now focusing on strengthening the curriculum. The curriculum in some subjects does not support pupils to build their knowledge well over time.

The school does have high expectations for pupils' achievement. However, these expectations are not realised consistently highly in all subjects.

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

The school focuses on ensuring that children get the best possible start in the early years.

Children in Reception show enjoyment and independence in lessons. The curriculum develops their learning well, and this is supported by stimulating, attractive places to learn inside and beyond the classroom. The quality of education in the rest of the school is not as strong.

The school has begun to review and strengthen the curriculum. Visits to lessons and pupils' workbooks indicate that in reading and mathematics pupils are now beginning to learn well.

The teaching of early reading is strong and appropriately prioritised.

From the very start of the Reception Year, the phonics programme is delivered skilfully by well-trained staff. Staff support those pupils who need extra help in learning to read.

The school has improved the mathematics curriculum.

There is now a sharper focus on ensuring pupils can solve number problems with greater fluency. This begins in the early years, where the mathematics curriculum lays the basic understanding of number and early counting that children need in readiness for future learning.

Standards in writing, including the presentation of work, are too low.

Leaders know this. Pupils have had limited opportunities to practise and refine their writing in English lessons and across the wider curriculum. The school has recently begun to implement a new curriculum to address this.

However, it is yet to have the impact needed.

In some other subjects, there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to link and deepen their understanding of important concepts and ideas over time. Pupils are given lots of new knowledge but cannot make sense of it because it is not linked to information they know well.

In a number of subjects, pupils have gaps in their knowledge caused by weaknesses in the previous curriculum and lost learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. These gaps have not been identified and addressed.

The school has effective systems in place to identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils with SEND benefit from a range of resources that help them to access the same curriculum as their peers. With the support of the local authority, the school has developed an enhanced on-site provision for a small number of pupils with complex additional needs. 'The Hive' enables pupils to learn the curriculum successfully and to acquire essential social and emotional skills.

The school's approach to attendance is thorough and effective. Staff support pupils and their families to overcome any barriers to attendance. This has led to some reduction in pupils' absence overall.

However, the attendance of some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, remains below the school's expectations.

Pupils are supported to behave well. Classrooms are calm and purposeful places to learn.

Pupils listen attentively and are keen to answer questions. They know to follow 'The Badsley Way.' Clear routines and expectations support pupils to be successful.

The approach to pupils' personal development has been considered thoughtfully. The personal, social, health, education curriculum is strong. Pupils learn about physical and mental health.

They understand fundamental British values and learn about beliefs and cultures different to their own. Pupils understand to respect difference and to treat people fairly.

School leaders and governors have a clear, shared vision for the school.

Governors support and challenge the school well. The school makes sure that staff workload and well-being are considered. Staff feel valued and supported.

They are proud to be part of the 'Badsley team.'

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, there are gaps in pupils' knowledge that have not been identified.

These gaps hinder pupils' ability to make sense of new learning, and they do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff check for gaps in pupils' knowledge and address these before introducing new topics and concepts. In some subjects, the curriculum does not support pupils to build knowledge over time by developing a deep understanding of important, connected concepts.

This means that pupils' learning can be fragmented. The school should continue their work on the curriculum in all subjects, to ensure that pupils are given the opportunities they need to apply and connect their learning, so they develop a deeper understanding over time. ? The recently developed writing curriculum is not implemented fully across school.

Pupils' writing lacks accuracy and it is often not well presented. Opportunities for pupils to practise their writing skills are limited in English and across other subjects. The school should continue to raise the expectations of writing, equip teachers to deliver the new curriculum effectively and ensure pupils are given frequent opportunities to practise their writing skills across the wider curriculum.