Shirehampton Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Shirehampton Primary School St Mary’s Walk, Shirehampton, Bristol BS11 9RR

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Outcome

Shirehampton Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this inclusive school. They build trusted relationships with staff. Pupils get on well with one another. This is because leaders and staff are effective role models. Pupils meet the high expectations staff have for their behaviour. Staff deal with any disruptive behaviour quickly. Pupils know the difference between falling out with friends and bullying. They say bullying is not a concern. If bullying happens, pupils are confident that staff would deal with it quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well supported with their emotional and social well-being. Pupils with additional needs in the school receive strong pastoral care, which begins in the Nursery Year. Staff are ambitious for every pupil to ‘do as well as they can’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils have opportunities to take part in extra-curricular clubs, such as art, drama and sports. They enjoy their roles as members of the school and eco council. Pupils enjoy listening to visitors in assemblies. They say this helps them learn to stay safe and builds their understanding of healthy relationships.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many parents and carers praise the school’s work. They are positive about the way staff help children to ‘thrive’ emotionally and academically. They value how staff create a nurturing atmosphere where children succeed.

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

Leaders prioritise reading. All staff follow the phonics curriculum consistently. Children in the Reception Year start learning phonics as soon as they start school. They begin to understand the sounds letters represent well. Well-trained staff are on hand to support and guide children to develop their spoken language. This continues into key stage 1. Staff make sure that pupils who are at risk of falling behind receive support to swiftly catch up. Many benefit from booster sessions to build their reading accuracy and fluency. The focus on reading continues for older pupils. Leaders ensure that staff introduce pupils 18 and 19 April 2023 to exciting books and new authors. Pupils speak enthusiastically about the books that they read. They are developing a love of reading.

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

Leaders and teachers have thought carefully about what they want pupils to learn across the curriculum. Subject plans are well sequenced and include memorable experiences, such as trips and visitors. Staff have considered important vocabulary for pupils to learn, starting in the early years. This helps them to learn well. For example, in mathematics, pupils’ knowledge of numbers builds well over time. Older pupils can successfully carry out more complex calculations.

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

In a range of subjects, pupils recall their achievements and knowledge well. For example, in computing, older pupils confidently use the terms algorithm and debugging. However, in some subjects, pupils do not take enough care and pride in their written work. This means that sometimes pupils make avoidable errors, including in some calculations in mathematics.

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

In English and mathematics, leaders and staff check what pupils know and can do well. However, in some subjects, they do not routinely check pupils’ understanding. Some subject leaders do not have a detailed understanding of how well pupils build their knowledge in these subjects over time. Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge. This hinders the progress they make.

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

Staff fully understand the complex needs that some pupils have. They ensure that learning meets the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff support pupils, including those in the resource base well, to develop independence. Leaders fully evaluate the effectiveness of this provision to know what is working well. As a result, pupils with SEND are well-prepared for the next steps of their education.

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

Leaders place as much importance on pupils’ wider development as they do on their academic achievement. Pupils broaden their horizons through a range of experiences. The curriculum helps them to understand and build positive relationships with their peers. Peer mentors help pupils get on well with each other. Pupils learn about other faiths and families. However, some aspects of the personal development curriculum are not as well thought through as others. Pupils’ knowledge and understanding of how other cultures might live beyond their school community is not as strong as it could be.

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

Staff work closely as a team. They appreciate how leaders consider their workload. Governors have a realistic vision for the school’s future. They know what the school does well and what it needs to do next.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders create a strong culture of safeguarding. They ensure that it is everyone’s responsibility to keep pupils safe. Staff are vigilant and confident in the actions to take if they identify concerns. Record-keeping is thorough. The appropriate checks are in place 18 and 19 April 2023 to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils. Leaders work swiftly with external agencies when pupils and families need help. They make frequent checks on the welfare of pupils.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know how to stay safe. They understand ways to stay safe online and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the systems to check what pupils remember are not fully developed. As a result, subject leaders and staff do not have a clear understanding of how well pupils are learning the curriculum. Leaders need to check and assure themselves that pupils remember important curriculum content over time in their subjects and support staff to use this information to inform future learning.  Leaders’ expectations about the care pupils should take in their work are not high enough. This means that some pupils present work poorly. Sometimes, pupils can make avoidable mistakes and errors. Leaders should ensure that all staff have consistently high expectations of how pupils present their work, across all subjects.  Leaders have not considered carefully enough how to develop pupils’ understanding of different cultures. Consequently, pupils do not know as much as they could about a range of cultures and how other people may live. Leaders should ensure that the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

personal development curriculum helps pupils to learn what they need about different cultures so that they are well-prepared for their next steps.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2017.

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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. 18 and 19 April 2023 The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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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. 18 and 19 April 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10268733 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has 17 classes, including one class of Nursery children, and two classes in the SEND resource base. Admission to this resource base is commissioned by the local authority.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school runs a breakfast club provision.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with school leaders, including the headteacher and the deputy headteachers. The inspector also met with the special educational needs coordinators, as well as representatives from the local governing body and local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and computing. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at 18 and 19 April 2023 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 also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector listened to some pupils read to a familiar adult in Years 1, 2 and 3.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector reviewed safeguarding records, including the single central record and recruitment checks on staff.  The inspector considered responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses. The inspector also met with parents at the start of the school day. The inspector also considered responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Richard Vaughan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 April 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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