Crawford Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They say that they feel happy, safe and valued. Positive relationships between staff and pupils empower pupils to do their best and achieve well.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy the caring and nurturing environment that the school provides.

Pupils rise to the high expectations staff have of them. They progress well through the curriculum and try hard to uphold the school values and become good citizens.

As one pupil put it, 'school helps us to be an upstander not a bystander'.

Pupils benefit from a range of school clubs, including those for sports, music, drama an...d art. They also benefit from a range of educational outings and talk enthusiastically about their visits to museums and to the beach, for example.

From the moment children join the Nursery or Reception classes, great emphasis is placed on developing language, communication and early reading skills. This helps pupils to be successful in learning to read as well as using their reading skills to help them to learn across the curriculum.

Pupils play happily together in the playground.

They are respectful of boundaries and rules and, most of the time, they behave well in lessons. Any behaviour incidents are usually resolved promptly. Pupils say that bullying is rare and is dealt with effectively.

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

The school's broad curriculum is well sequenced and ambitious for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teaching throughout the school has a sharp and effective focus on developing pupils' vocabulary across the range of subjects taught. This supports pupils' learning well.

Teachers demonstrate secure subject knowledge. They present subject content clearly and coherently, helping pupils to understand important knowledge. Overall, pupils achieve well in their learning.

However, in a few subjects, there are some inconsistencies in how well the planned learning is adapted to reflect pupils' prior knowledge and the needs of some pupils with SEND. This means that, sometimes, pupils are not as successful in securing knowledge within subjects as they could be. Occasionally, when tasks are not adapted to meet pupils' needs effectively, a few pupils lose focus on their learning.

Pupils learn to read well. In the early years, children quickly learn letters and sounds and begin to read and write with confidence. As they move through the school, the early reading curriculum builds on this foundation well so that pupils become fluent, confident readers.

Pupils who join the school at different times of the year, or those who need extra help, get the support that they need to catch up. Teachers select books which interest and inspire pupils and challenge their thinking. For example, when reading about the rights and experiences of Black people throughout history, pupils showed empathy and understanding.

The school is rigorous in evaluating its provision to make sure that pupils are learning well and making progress through the curriculum. Staff swiftly identify the needs of pupils with SEND. They adjust provision based on pupils' needs and strive to ensure that any barriers to learning are overcome.

For example, this year, the school has put in place additional support for pupils with complex speech, language and communication needs. This approach is highly nurturing and helps pupils to feel happy and enthusiastic about learning. The school is considering carefully how best to refine its curriculum to meet these pupils' diverse range of needs.

However, work to make sure that the curriculum clearly sets out what pupils need to know and do as they move through their 'pathways' of learning is still developing. This reduces how well the curriculum promotes these pupils' learning and development.

In the early years, children benefit from a broad curriculum.

They enjoy learning new knowledge, both indoors and outside. The carefully thought-out learning environment and curriculum help children to play and learn for sustained periods. They also help children to develop their language and communication skills very well.

Governors provide effective support. This included support during the school's recent defederation. Leaders and governors know their school well and what needs to be done to improve it further.

There is a strong sense of teamwork here. Staff feel well supported. The school's open, inclusive culture makes everyone feel valued and part of the 'family'.

The school's work to promote pupils' attendance and well-being is strong, including for pupils who may be vulnerable. It has a precise understanding of every vulnerable pupil's circumstances and does everything that it can to get the right support for pupils and their families. The school's efforts have helped to improve attendance for pupils who previously struggled to get in to school.

The school provides a well-structured personal development programme. Pupils learn about how to be safe and healthy, with visits from health professionals and members of the community enhancing pupils' understanding. Pupils celebrate difference and know that discrimination is not accepted.

They speak proudly of how the equalities group enables them to put this into action. Pupils behave well and enjoy taking on responsibilities in school, such as being a prefect.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, some activities which pupils are asked to complete are not adapted well enough to meet their needs or respond to their existing knowledge. This affects how well some pupils build their knowledge and skills in these subjects. Where this is the case, the school should ensure that the curriculum is implemented consistently well for pupils through careful adaptations that promote secure learning.

• The school's work to develop and refine its ambitious curriculum to respond to the individual learning needs of pupils with complex speech, language and communication needs is currently under development. This means that, while pupils' well-being and learning are supported effectively overall, the curriculum is not enabling these pupils to build up knowledge as well as it could. The school should make sure that it strengthens its curriculum thinking, setting out clearly and consistently what it intends pupils to learn and how this builds progressively.

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