Scotter Primary School

Inspection of Scotter Primary School High Street, Scotter, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 3RY

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 19 and 20 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, parents and carers, and staff think highly of this school. There is a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Pupils are polite and readily demonstrate their good manners. They behave well and show respect to adults and their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe. They appreciate that staff are kind and care about them. The school’s values of honesty, respect and friendship help to develop pupils’ character. Pupils are proud of earning house points when they display one of these values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that staff want them to achieve well. However, in some subjects, the curriculum is not organised or delivered sufficiently well. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not always get the support they need. Checks on how well pupils learn are not precise enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know the importance of being physically and mentally healthy. They know that they can talk to staff if they are worried. Many pupils enjoy attending netball, football and choir after-school clubs. They were proud to represent the school at a recent singing event.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most parents are positive about the school. One parent, typical of many, said, ‘There are wonderful staff at the school who work hard to ensure that children have a positive experience.’

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better?

Much work has taken place to revise the curriculum in order to ensure that it is ambitious. However, the quality of the curriculum is variable. It is not clear in all subjects what knowledge pupils need to learn and when. In some subjects, the curriculum does not always build on what has gone before. There is no consistent approach to checking how well the curriculum is planned or delivered.

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better?

In some subjects, teachers focus too much on the activity they want pupils to do, rather than on what pupils need to know. They do not consistently ensure that pupils develop the knowledge they need to be able to build their learning over time.

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better?

Teachers’ checks on what pupils know are not consistently effective. These checks do not routinely inform what pupils will learn next. While pupils can often recall what they have learned recently, some struggle to make connections with what they already know. This limits their ability to build their understanding over time in some subjects.

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better?

There is variability in how well teachers adapt their teaching to support pupils with SEND. While in some classes these pupils receive the support they need to access the learning, this is not the case across all classes. The support that pupils with SEND receive outside the classroom is not planned carefully enough. Some do not 19 and 20 September 2023

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receive the right support at the right time. On occasion, they miss important learning to get extra support. This can lead to pupils falling behind.

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The school has prioritised reading. Pupils love to read and talk confidently about their favourite books. Children in early years learn to read as soon as they start school. Staff are experts in teaching phonics. They provide effective support to pupils who need help to catch up. The books pupils read match their phonic knowledge well. Pupils are well supported to become confident and fluent readers.

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Children in early years get off to a flying start. They are keen to listen and they engage eagerly in their learning. The early years environment is rich in vocabulary. This supports children with their communication and language skills. Staff’s interactions with children are positive. Children talk confidently about what they have learned. They are proud of their achievements. They happily follow well- established routines. Children show respect and kindness to each other. They are well prepared for their next steps.

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On the whole, the school is calm and orderly. Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning and like coming to school. They know that they need to work hard to be successful. They have high aspirations for themselves.

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Pupils’ personal development is important in this school. Pupils know that it is important to understand people’s differences. They learn about British values and know how these link with their own lives. The junior leadership team includes online safety officers, road safety officers and reading ambassadors. Team members enjoy these responsibilities and like to help others. The pupil council makes a positive difference in school, for instance by raising funds for a ‘buddy bench’ in the playground.

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Staff enjoy working at the school and feel well supported.

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The school ensures that pupils are at the heart of any decisions made. However, it does not always identify the most important priorities for improvement, including to ensure that the quality of education is good enough for all pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not ensured that all pupils with SEND get the support they need. Teachers do not always take these pupils’ needs into account when planning learning. They do not always identify accurately what is working well for these pupils, or what needs to improve. Outside lessons, these pupils do not always receive the right support at the right time. As a result, not all pupils with SEND 19 and 20 September 2023

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achieve as well as they should. The school must ensure that all pupils with SEND receive the right support to help them in their learning.  Both in and across the different subjects, there is an inconsistent approach to the use of assessment, including to identify the next steps in pupils’ learning. As a result, the work that pupils complete does not always enable them to build their learning over time. The school should ensure that the use of assessment is consistent and allows teachers to identify what they need to teach next, so that pupils are secure in their understanding.  The approach to checking how well the curriculum is planned and delivered in each subject is not consistent. As a result, there is inconsistency in how well some subjects are taught. The school should ensure that checks on the delivery of the curriculum are precise and allow for the necessary consistency in how pupils are taught and assessed.

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 The school’s focus on improvement does not always identify the most significant priorities. There is not always the necessary challenge to ensure that the provision gets better. Pupils do not always benefit from a quality of education that is consistently strong. The school needs to ensure that the work to improve the school is precisely and rigorously focused, so that all pupils benefit from the very best provision.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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.

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How can I feed back my views?

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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection , pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker, and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 September 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There is a breakfast and after-school club run by the school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, who is also the designated safeguarding lead, and the assistant headteacher. 19 and 20 September 2023

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 The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair. She also spoke with a representative of the local authority on the telephone.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, physical education, history and geography. They talked with curriculum leaders of these subject areas. Inspectors also visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, held discussions with teachers and talked with pupils. Inspectors also observed some pupils reading to staff.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors met with groups of staff and reviewed their responses to Ofsted’s staff

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survey.  Inspectors met with pupils both formally and informally. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during break- and lunchtimes.  Inspectors reviewed leaders’ self-evaluation of the school and their school improvement plans. They also considered documentation relating to attendance and behaviour, the curriculum and governance.

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Inspection team

Anita Denman, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Stephen McMullan Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 September 2023

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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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