Seaburn Dene Primary School

Inspection of Seaburn Dene Primary School Torver Crescent, Seaburn Dene, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR6 8LG

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 3 and 4 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school encourages pupils to ‘dream big, show determination and be respectful and kind’. They respond to this challenge. Pupils play and learn together in harmony. Older pupils play and read with younger pupils. Disputes and fallings-out are rare. Pupils know that adults listen and react swiftly and positively when they raise concerns. Issues are dealt with calmly and fairly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils talk about the fun they have in learning and how they are supported if they feel unsure about new knowledge. Weekly certificates reward pupils who display the school’s ‘value of the week’, be it respect, kindness, determination or aspiration. The school council leads on new initiatives, such as playground storage sheds and fundraising. The weekly class attendance trophy guarantees a few extra minutes breaktime for one class.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know the importance of finding different ways to get to school other than by car. The travel tracker lists the various green and sustainable journeys made by pupils. The school is typified by order and calm. The ‘golden broom’ is awarded to the tidiest cloakroom, classroom or even a teacher’s desk.

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better?

Pupils’ needs lie at the heart of the school’s well-developed curriculum. In most subjects, learning is delivered through short units of work lasting a few weeks. The essential knowledge that pupils must learn and retain is crystal clear. This allows checks to be made on the knowledge pupils have acquired. Well-sequenced lessons build on the knowledge pupils have learned already. Checks in lessons make sure that no one falls behind and extra help is given if needed. More formal assessments check pupils’ learning over a longer period in mathematics and English. Gaps in learning are then addressed.

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better?

In a small number of subjects in the wider curriculum, such as music and computing, plans are not as well structured as they need to be. In these subjects, pupils do not make the progress they should. In addition, the key knowledge that children need to know at the end of Reception, before they start the wider curriculum in Year 1, is unspecified.

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better?

Pupils achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils’ needs are identified early so that additional help is provided that is tailored to these needs. Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers. A range of strategies, such as peer support, digital recording, movement breaks and lists of vocabulary, supports pupils’ learning across the curriculum.

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better?

Pupils quickly become fluent and confident readers. Daily phonics lessons use the same terminology, structure and routines to help pupils know the letters that sounds represent. Sounds and words are modelled correctly for pupils to repeat by well- trained staff. Reading has a high profile in school through class book areas and the 3 and 4 October 2023

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library. School librarians take turns to keep reading areas tidy and inviting. Pupils love being read a story, irrespective of their age, because texts are carefully chosen to capture their interest.

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Pupils behave well. Attitudes in lessons are positive as most try their hardest to succeed. Children in Nursery play and learn together happily. They know what is expected of them. In Reception, children show maturity while accessing tasks independently. Pupils follow instructions quickly. Occasional off-task chatter is swiftly addressed. Outside, pupils are well supervised and play games usually without disputes. Pupils line up at the end of a break and return to class without fuss.

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The school provides a range of exciting and challenging experiences called the ‘Seaburn Dene Eighty’. Pupils try to mark off five or six activities each year, including having a picnic, visiting a bookshop or meeting an author. The school seeks to raise pupils’ aspirations and career goals through links to businesses, including car manufacturing, engineering, public transport and the construction industry. Visits, such as to the mayoral offices and places of worship for different faiths, broaden pupils’ understanding. Pupils experience the performing arts, such as working with two members of the Royal Northern Sinfonia and watching theatrical productions, including a French opera.

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Governors know the school well through a series of programmed visits. They support the school but also ask challenging questions to check on the effectiveness of leaders’ improvement actions. Governors have sound relationships with a very supportive parental community. The school engages positively with the local community. Pupils support a soup kitchen, cancer research and the provision of sports clothing in Liberia. Staff report their pride in being part of the school team in which they are treated fairly and with respect.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in a few foundation subjects is not as well structured as it is in others. The most important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember at the end of a unit of work is not sharply identified. This includes the specific knowledge that children need before they start learning in Year 1. This is limiting pupils’ progress in these subjects and areas of learning. The school needs to make sure that all subjects are equally well mapped out. 3 and 4 October 2023

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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). 3 and 4 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 May 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provider.  The proportion of pupils with SEND receiving support is above average.

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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 met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, other senior leaders, the early years leader, subject leaders and the special educational needs 3 and 4 October 2023

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coordinator. The inspectors also met with teachers, teaching assistants and a range of other staff.  An inspector met five members of the governing body, including the chair. He also met with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, music, and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to pupils and teachers and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors looked at curriculum documents and spoke to leaders about a range of other curriculum subjects.  An inspector listened to a range of pupils from different year groups reading.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lesson visits, at breaktime and at lunchtime. They spoke to pupils about their views of behaviour. A group of pupils gave an inspector a tour of the school.

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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.  The inspectors considered the views of parents and carers through the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View.  The inspector considered the well-being and workload of staff. He took note of the responses and comments from Ofsted’s staff survey, including comments made by staff about their well-being.

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Inspection team

Phil Scott, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Joanne Shaw Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 October 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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