Swinford Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Swinford Church of England Primary School School Lane, Swinford, Lutterworth, Leicestershire LE17 6BG

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Outcome

Swinford Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Swinford Primary School is a happy place to be. Pupils have excellent relationships with adults. Pupils help and support each other in class and around the school. One parent described the school as a ‘wonderful, secure, warm, family environment, where children are encouraged to respectfully have fun through learning’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s house points system creates camaraderie and healthy competition. Staff reward pupils for their achievements, perseverance, determination and acts of kindness. Pupils throughout the school enjoy earning house points. They take a huge sense of pride in adding their reward counters to their house tally. Pupils know what bullying is. One pupil explained it as when ‘someone goes out of their way to make life difficult for someone else’. They say that bullying is extremely rare.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to appreciate the world and how they can make a difference to it. Pupils learn to be positive and optimistic. Teachers expect pupils to achieve well. They know what each pupil is capable of and challenge them to achieve more. Pupils know that failing is part of learning. They learn in all subjects of the national curriculum. In some subjects, what leaders want pupils to know is better planned than in others.

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

The school’s curriculum is ambitious in its aims to prepare pupils for the future. Leaders have put pupils’ personal development at the heart of the curriculum. All pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), get the same opportunities to experience and learn new things. A collective approach to learning means that if one pupil needs more support, other pupils are encouraged to help them to succeed. Pupils understand their own mental health. They recognise that sometimes things go wrong. They learn how to cope with this and to seek help.

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

Pupils have opportunities to compete in different activities against each other or in local competitions. While pupils strive to succeed, they know that they will be rewarded for 14 January 2020

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their achievements if they try their best. Pupils are resilient and determined when learning. One pupil said, ‘We can only learn if we make mistakes and that’s the way we can get better.’ In lessons pupils are attentive and want to achieve. Pupils respond to instructions quickly. They show collaboration and teamwork.

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In mathematics, leaders have high expectations. The curriculum is well organised to build on what pupils have learned. Pupils are well prepared for future learning. Teachers in each class know what pupils can do. They use this knowledge well to make sure that they challenge pupils to achieve more.

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Teachers use songs, rhymes and actions to help pupils learn to read. Pupils learn sounds in an order which helps them to read and spell increasingly more difficult words. Teachers make sure that the books pupils read match the sounds that they know. Sometimes, adults and pupils do not pronounce sounds correctly. Staff do not always correct pupils when they get the sounds wrong.

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Leaders have reorganised the curriculum for reading in key stage 2. Pupils read the same text together. They discuss and share what they have read. This helps them to infer the author’s meaning and to predict what might happen next. Pupils relish listening to their teachers read. They enjoy reading different types of books, from old classics to new favourites.

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In other subjects, teachers have strong subject knowledge. The topic approach means that when subjects link, they are taught together. For example, pupils learn about ancient Egypt at the same time as they learn about the geographical importance of the river Nile. What leaders want pupils to know is planned better in some subjects than in others. Sometimes what teachers ask pupils to do does not match what they want pupils to learn.

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In the early years children behave well, are happy and enjoy learning new things. Children are independent and confident learners. They take part in the different activities available to them. Adults support and develop their learning well. Relationships between adults and children are positive.

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Leaders keep a close eye on the few pupils with SEND. Teachers have a good understanding of these pupils’ needs. They make changes to the curriculum to help these pupils take part in learning. Leaders seek help from external agencies to provide extra support or advice. They make sure that pupils get what they need to achieve.

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Staff are overwhelmingly appreciative of the support that leaders give them. They say that leaders are very careful to check that staff’s workload is manageable. One member of staff said that ‘they are never given more than they can handle’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have made sure that staff know their responsibility to pass on any safeguarding concerns quickly. They know that pupils may face risks, and how to spot the signs of 14 January 2020

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neglect, for example. Leaders know families and pupils very well. They are quick to act when they spot a concern. Regular contact with families helps to keep relationships positive. Leaders seek additional help from outside agencies when necessary. Leaders’ record-keeping of safeguarding concerns is generally well organised. However, occasionally leaders have not always recorded what they have done following incidents in a timely manner. This means there are sometimes gaps in pupils’ records.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Staff have not received recent refresher training in the school’s approach to phonics. Some staff do not always use the correct sound when working with pupils. They do not always notice when pupils do not use the pure sound. Leaders must ensure that all staff know what the pure sounds are, use these when teaching pupils and check that pupils know the correct sound.  The sequencing of what pupils will learn in some subjects is not planned as sharply as in others. Sometimes the tasks that pupils are asked to complete do not meet the intended learning. Leaders must ensure that subject knowledge is planned carefully, and that the tasks teachers set match the intended learning.  Occasionally leaders do not record their response to safeguarding incidents in a timely manner. There is a lag between incidents being reported and the action being recorded in pupils’ files. Leaders must ensure that there are systems in place to record their

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Swinford Church of England Primary School, to be good on 18–19 October 2012.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 14 January 2020

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 14 January 2020

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection the school has joined the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. This included lesson visits and discussions with teachers. We talked with pupils about their school and looked at examples of pupils’ work in these subjects.  We held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, the leader for the provision for pupils with SEND, subject leaders and teachers. We also spoke with the chair of the governing body and three other governors. We met with the chief executive officer and school improvement advisor from the trust. We considered the 67 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, the 13 responses to the staff survey and 47 responses to the pupil survey.  We looked at a range of documents, including: the school’s curriculum plans; plans for improvement; the most recent published information on the achievement and progress of pupils; and information relating to the arrangements for safeguarding pupils.

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Inspection team

Helen Williams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gayle Bacon Ofsted Inspector 14 January 2020

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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