Caldmore Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Caldmore Primary School is an inclusive school with a richly diverse community of pupils. Many pupils join the school at different points in their primary education.

Whenever they join, they are welcomed warmly.

Parents and carers rightly reflect that the school is a haven of calm in this busy urban community. Everyone follows the 'Caldmore Way', which clearly sets out how pupils should behave.

As a result, pupils behave well in school. Pupils appreciate that staff show kindness to them and help them if they have any worries. Positive relationships between pupils and staff are borne out of mutual respect.

The curriculum has been adapted to make it mo...re exciting for pupils. The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement. While these expectations are yet to be realised in some key stage 2 outcomes, pupils make good progress from their starting points.

The school has listened closely to its pupils and put in place a broad range of wider opportunities to develop their talents and interests. Pupils relish these opportunities and enjoy taking on roles and responsibilities. For example, some are mental health champions, and others are on the junior leadership team.

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

Children get off to a good start in the early years. Routines are quickly established. The development of children's communication and language is at the heart of the early years curriculum.

The school checks each child's language development effectively and then adapts the curriculum to support their individual needs.

The school quickly identifies any special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) pupils may have so the right support can be put in place. Newly arrived pupils who speak English as an additional language are well supported through one-to-one or small-group interventions.

The curriculum is well sequenced and implemented in many subjects. For example, the school has precisely identified the important knowledge pupils need to know to build their writing fluency. The school has also put in place an effective phonics programme for those pupils who are at an early stage of learning to read.

Pupils who do not secure their reading fluency in the early years benefit from reading catch-up lessons and, as a result, rapidly improve their reading fluency. Some other subjects have also been strengthened. In science, physical education and design and technology, for example, the curriculum now focuses on the right things.

There is a clear progression of learning from early years to Year 6, so everyone knows what to aim for. For example, the sequencing of skills over time in design technology enables pupils to describe using different stitching types. Pupils could demonstrate their ability to do a backstitch in Year 5 and build on this to combine a running and backstitch in Year 6 to produce a stitched nameplate.

There is still variation in the quality of learning and how this is checked in some subjects in the wider curriculum. The school does not always pick this up. Furthermore, the school's work to establish effective learning sequences in some subjects in the wider curriculum is also in development.

In these subjects, pupils do not make connections between their current and previous learning. The school is already seeking advice from the trust on how to improve some of these aspects of their curriculum.

All pupils have a positive attitude to learning and are making good progress from their starting points.

However, the school's published outcomes are not in line with national expectations. This is because of some specific challenges the school faces, including a high level of mobility of pupils into and out of the school. The school works well to mitigate and overcome the challenges.

The school has a well-devised personal development programme. Pupils learn how to stay safe online and how to keep themselves healthy. Pupils are encouraged to demonstrate tolerance and respect for others.

One pupil's comment reflects the sentiments of many: 'No one can change the way we are, and we are all different, but school help us respect our rights and tells us how to respect others.' Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

The trust knows the school's strengths and areas for improvement.

Teachers appreciate that leaders listen to them, and they gave an example of changes the school has made in order to support their workload and well-being. Staff morale is high.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not ensured that assessment systems are used consistently well to check that pupils have remembered the knowledge they have been taught in some wider curriculum subjects. This hinders their ability to build new learning and make connections with their prior learning. The school should ensure that assessment systems are used well across all subjects so gaps in pupils' learning are identified and addressed effectively.

• The school has not ensured there is a clear and effective sequence of learning in some subjects. Consequently, in some subjects, pupils do not learn enough knowledge over time. The school should ensure that the content and order of the curriculum are clear and embedded for each subject in the wider curriculum.