Cobden Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has not acted with sufficient urgency to address weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. This means that the overall educational offer to pupils is too variable. The school does not provide staff with the support they need to perform their roles effectively or bring about the improvements necessary to enhance pupils' learning and education.

Pupils enjoy attending Cobden Primary School. Most pupils behave well in lessons. However, there are occasions when some pupils disrupt learning.

The school does not review pupils' behaviour sufficiently well. Consequently, in this area and others there is limited understanding of the school's strengths and wea...knesses. The school does not evaluate sufficiently how well the school improvement measures that it puts in place work.

Pupils benefit from a range of additional trips and visits. For example, older pupils attend an overnight residential and many pupils learn the skills of skipping to present at a local festival. Pupils feel safe and learn how to stay safe through the school's personal, social and health education curriculum.

Teaching does not meet the needs of pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well enough. Consequently, pupils do not achieve as well as they should and are not prepared well enough for their next steps.

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

Pupils have not developed sufficient knowledge and skills in writing.

For example, pupils in the earlier stages of learning to write are asked to complete complex tasks before they have mastered the basic skills. This is because the writing curriculum does not clearly set out the sequence of learning. Often, statements about the learning aims of the curriculum are too broad.

Consequently, teachers are not clear what skills and knowledge pupils need to practise. As a result, they do not achieve well in writing.

The curriculum in most subjects is coherently designed.

The school has considered what pupils need to learn and how their knowledge will build over time. Teachers demonstrate secure subject knowledge in most subjects. However, the school has not ensured that the activities that teachers assign to pupils build on what they already know.

This means that some pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve as well as they should.

The school's phonics programme is well established. Children learn to read as soon as they start school.

This impacts positively on most pupils who are at the earlier stages of reading. Those pupils who need extra help receive effective support. Pupils now get off to a strong start in their reading.

The school has recently introduced a reading programme which allows teachers to use a range of appropriate texts to develop pupils' vocabulary. They practise saying new words using strategies such as 'echo' reading. However, the school has not sufficiently developed its strategies to check on what pupils know and remember.

Previous weaknesses in the school's phonics provision mean some pupils still have gaps in their learning in key stage 2. The school is now addressing this. This means pupils are beginning to catch up.

There are effective processes in place to identify the needs of pupils with SEND, including training for staff. However, training does not support staff to adapt learning for pupils with SEND in an effective and consistent manner. In lessons, pupils with SEND do not get the support that they need to reach the same goals as other pupils.

The school does not have appropriate oversight of the support provided and the achievement of pupils with SEND. The school has not recognised that these pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

The early years curriculum does not break down the knowledge that children should learn into appropriate steps.

As a result, children do not build their learning well enough as they move through the year and are not prepared well enough for Year 1. The school has not acted quickly enough to address weaknesses in the early years provision. However, children in the early years do settle well into school life.

There are positive relationships between staff and children. This means that pupils are happy and settled.

Many pupils do not attend school regularly.

They miss out on vital learning and the wider aspects of school life. Until recently, the school did not have effective systems in place to spot patterns of absence. The school does not follow up on pupils' low attendance effectively enough.

Recently, an external partner has been commissioned by the school to work with families to improve pupils' attendance. There is evidence of some improvement in pupils' attendance, but this is in the early stages.

Governors do not ensure that they have all the available information to evaluate the effectiveness of the school successfully.

As a result, they have not held school leaders to account or ensured that pupils are provided with a high-quality education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There are some inconsistencies in the way that safeguarding procedures are implemented.

The school does not routinely evaluate how well staff follow these. This means it is unsure whether the school's policies are followed in some aspects of the school's safeguarding procedures.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's efforts to improve the school lack clarity, urgency and effectiveness.

As a result, improvements are either not sustained over time or happen too slowly to make a meaningful difference. This includes some aspects of safeguarding, such as reviewing procedures in a timely manner. The school should ensure that its plans for improvement are well designed and effective.

Governors do not have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas that need improvement. As a result, they are not able to hold school leaders to account effectively. Governors should ensure they use robust and reliable evidence to check that leaders' actions have a positive impact on the quality of education that pupils receive.

• The school has not established an effective approach to the teaching of writing, including in the early years. As a result, some pupils do not develop the foundational skills of writing quickly enough. The school should continue to review its approach to the teaching of writing and ensure that all staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to support pupils in embedding this essential skill effectively and consistently.

• Across different subjects, including in the early years, the activities that teachers design often do not match what pupils already know or align well enough with the goals of the curriculum. This limits how well pupils learn. The school should ensure that curriculum implementation helps pupils learn and remember the knowledge they need to be successful in the next stage of their education.

• Teaching is not adapted successfully to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Consequently, pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to adapt learning sufficiently well for pupils with SEND.

• Too many pupils, including those with SEND, do not attend school regularly enough. This negatively affects pupils' achievement and their wider personal development. The school should quickly identify and address barriers to high attendance and strengthen support for pupils who need it.

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