Southfield Primary

Inspection of a good school: Southfield Primary Tranmoor Lane, Armthorpe, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN3 3BN

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Inspection dates: 12 and 13 October 2021

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Outcome

Southfield Primary continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this warm and welcoming school. Leaders celebrate pupils’ work in corridors and shared areas. Teachers use classrooms to share useful information with pupils that helps them with their work. Pupils are keen to join in class discussions. For example, pupils shared their ideas enthusiastically when discussing what helped the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Battle of Britain. They listen to the ideas of others and use these to inform their own opinions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say they are happy at school and feel safe. Their parents agree. Pupils learn how to stay safe through the school’s curriculum. They learn how to keep safe when using the internet and who to talk to if they ever feel unsafe. There are good relationships between staff and pupils. Adults treat pupils with respect. Pupils have the confidence to chat with visitors. Pupils are well behaved. There is a calm atmosphere around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are building an ambitious curriculum. They want all pupils to do well. In some areas, the curriculum is less developed than in others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate having a range of visits and visitors that help bring learning to life. Teachers think carefully about what it is they want pupils to learn when they have these experiences. Pupils are beginning to enjoy joining in a wider range of school clubs following recent school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders have plans in place to encourage even more pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, to take part in these activities.

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

Leaders have established an ambitious curriculum for the teaching of early reading. Staff have had training to help them teach reading. In most lessons, teachers introduce new sounds to pupils clearly. However, slight inconsistencies remain in how well this training is applied. This means that a small number of pupils do not learn to read the new sounds they are learning in words and sentences well enough. Teachers check that pupils are 12 and 13 October 2021

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keeping up with pace of the phonics curriculum. If pupils fall behind, they receive extra support to help them catch up. Pupils enjoy interesting texts and speaking to authors and illustrators, which helps them to develop a love of reading.

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The school has several subject leaders who have only recently started their roles. They are developing a deeper understanding of their subjects. Subject leaders have begun to give teachers advice about what they can do to improve their teaching. In some subjects, such as physical education (PE), leaders have considered the important knowledge that pupils must know and how this builds over time. The PE curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to experience a wide range of sports. However, in other subjects, such as history, curriculum plans are not yet complete. This means that teachers are not building on pupils’ prior knowledge in these subjects. Leaders are in the process of ensuring that all curriculum plans identify and sequence the important knowledge that pupils need to remember.

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Pupils enjoy taking part in interesting conversations in lessons. For example, some pupils were engrossed as they discussed the things that helped the RAF to be successful in the Battle of Britain. Adults use challenging questions to encourage pupils to think hard and improve their answers. However, new plans are not securely in place. In physical education, some teachers do not adapt plans carefully enough to meet pupils’ needs and abilities. This means that sometimes tasks are too easy for some pupils and for others they are too hard.

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Leaders are keen to ensure that pupils learn about different cultures. This is carefully planned. Pupils read texts that introduce them to different values and beliefs. There is strong support for pupils’ social and emotional needs. Leaders have considered the impact of school closures on what pupils may have missed when learning about relationships, sex and health education. They have reviewed plans so that pupils are given opportunity to catch up this year.

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Staff work with professionals from external agencies to provide support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There are effective systems in place to identify pupils who may need additional support. Support plans are detailed and help teachers to meet the needs of these pupils. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) makes regular checks to see how well pupils with SEND are doing.

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Children settle into school well in the early years. Leaders have developed a curriculum that helps children to build on what they know. The early years environment is attractive and well organised. Adults know the children well. They check how well children are doing and plan interesting activities. The school provides parents with useful information. Parents have the opportunity to visit the school to find out what children are learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders place the safeguarding of pupils as a priority. Staff receive regular updates about safeguarding. Staff know how to recognise that a pupil might be at risk of harm. They 12 and 13 October 2021

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know how to report concerns. Safeguarding records are detailed and leaders take swift action to provide pupils with the support they need. Leaders work closely with other agencies to ensure pupils remain safe.

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Thorough checks are made when new staff are recruited. There are detailed induction procedures to ensure new staff are well prepared to deal with any safeguarding issues. Leaders ensure that staff who deal with sensitive issues receive the support they need.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The training that staff have had for reading is still being embedded. Sometimes pupils make errors because adults do not demonstrate what pupils should do accurately enough. Leaders should ensure that all staff consistently demonstrate to pupils how to read different sounds accurately.  Activities within the curriculum do not consistently meet the needs of all pupils. Some tasks are too easy for some pupils and too hard for others. Leaders should ensure that staff adapt learning more carefully to meet the needs and abilities of all pupils.  Curriculum plans in a small number of subjects do not identify the important knowledge that pupils should remember as they move from the early years to Year 6. As a result, pupils’ knowledge does not build on what they already know. It is clear that leaders have identified this and are taking steps to address it. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that a good 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 12 and 13 October 2021

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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. 12 and 13 October 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200605 Type of school Primary

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Website armthorpesouthfield.schooljotter3.com

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Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Empowering Minds Academy Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior leaders, SENCo and curriculum leaders. Meetings also took place with members of the teaching staff and with teaching support staff.  The inspector met with members of the local governing body and the board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the trust. 12 and 13 October 2021

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 The inspector undertook deep dives in reading, PE and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector reviewed documents relating to safeguarding, including records on the school’s online recording system and the single central record.  The inspector met with staff to discuss the training they have received, how leaders support them and how workload is managed.  24 responses to Ofsted online questionnaire Parent View, including 24 free-text commentaries, were considered. There were no responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for pupils or staff.

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Inspection team

Jaimie Holbrook, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 12 and 13 October 2021

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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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