Cherry Fold Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this welcoming school. Caring staff greet pupils warmly as they arrive at school each morning. Pupils who are new to the school, including those who speak English as an additional language, settle in quickly.

Staff support them well to focus on their learning.

The school aspires for all pupils to achieve well. However, by the end of Year 6, pupils' attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been below significantly below average for some time.

Weaknesses in how the school delivers the curriculum, together with low attendance rates for some pupils, affects their learning. Pupils are not as well prepared as they should be for their n...ext stages of education.

Pupils generally behave well.

For example, at breaktimes, most play cooperatively together. However, staff have varied expectations of pupils' behaviour. At times, some pupils do not behave as well as they should.

Pupils take advantage of the school's extra-curricular offer. They attend eco-club, football and allotment club. Pupils and carers are included in special events, such as the tea party to commemorate Victory in Europe (VE) day.

Visting speakers help pupils to understand and celebrate the differences between people. The 'pupil passport' supports pupils to develop important life skills, such as confidence and independence. These experiences contribute well to pupils' broader development.

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

The school has an ambitious vision in place, but this is not reflected consistently in its provision. While the school has made some positive changes to the curriculum, its implementation and impact on pupils' learning is variable. In some subjects, and in some classes, the curriculum is taught well.

This helps pupils to know and remember more over time. However, this is not consistently the case. In some subjects, insufficient thought is given to the activities that pupils complete to make sure that they know and remember more.

This means that some pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge over time. Staff regularly check how well pupils are learning. However, this information is not used well enough to address gaps in some pupils' learning.

The school prioritises early reading. This starts in the Nursery class, where children are introduced to stories and rhymes. Well-trained staff teach children the sounds and letters that they need to begin to learn to read.

Children have opportunities to practise their phonics knowledge in their writing. They learn to form letters correctly. However, some pupils find it difficult to express their thoughts and ideas.

This is because pupils' understanding of specific vocabulary is not secure. This also affects pupils' confidence to speak. For some pupils, this also limits their ability to learn across the curriculum.

Children in the Nursery and Reception classes are happy and confident. The school has developed an ambitious curriculum for the early years. However, this is not implemented well enough.

Often children do not get sufficient opportunities to practise and develop their learning. As a result, some children do not learn what they need to know to be ready for Year 1.

The school identifies quickly pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

It provides support to help pupils to access the curriculum. However, where learning activities are not as carefully thought out, this impacts negatively on all pupils, including those with SEND.

In the main, the school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour.

The school has introduced a new approach to managing the behaviour of pupils. All staff have received training. However, in some lessons and subjects, some pupils do not show positive attitudes towards their learning.

This means that, at times, some pupils lose interest and distract one another in lessons.

The school has thought carefully about pupils' wider development. Pupils learn about mental well-being, physical health and relationships.

Pupils can explain what makes a good friend and know what to do when they have a worry. Pupils know how to stay safe in a range of situations, including online. They learn about important values, such as respect and democracy.

Older pupils can stand to be elected for the school council. They help to make the school a better place. For example, they recently organised a fundraising event for the local church.

Regular attendance at school is prioritised. The school uses a range of strategies to work with families to help pupils to attend school as often as they should. This has led to a small improvement in overall attendance rates.

Nevertheless, many pupils are persistently absent from school. This means that they miss out on learning all that they should.

Governors are considerate of staff's workload and well-being.

For example, they reflect on the impact of implementing new initiatives to ensure that these do not cause undue workload for staff. Governors are beginning to offer challenge to the school to gain assurance that systems are working as they should and that pupils are learning all that they can.

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 had limited success in reducing the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school. These pupils sometimes find it difficult to catch up on missed learning and their achievement is hampered as a result. The school should ensure that it strengthens its work to improve regular attendance, so that pupils can learn and achieve well.

A small but significant minority of pupils do not behave as well as they should. On occasion, this makes other pupils anxious and disturbs their learning. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to secure consistently positive behaviour and maximise learning time for pupils.

• The activities and resources that teachers give to children in the early years often do not reinforce learning. As a result, children have too few opportunities to embed new knowledge and practise new skills. This hinders their readiness for Year 1.

The school should ensure that teachers provide tasks and accompanying resources, which give children the opportunity to consolidate their learning and remember more of what they are taught. ? In several subjects, the school has not ensured that the intended curriculum is delivered effectively. In some subjects, insufficient thought is given to the design of pupils' activities to help them remember new learning.

Furthermore, information from assessment tasks is not used well enough to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge. This hinders pupils from achieving well. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to deliver the curriculum consistently well and check its impact on pupils' learning.