Southgate Primary

Inspection of Southgate Primary Barrington Road, Southgate, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 6DG

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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 Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

The head of this school is Charlotte Taylor. This school is part of the GLF Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Jon Chaloner, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Lynne O’Reilly. There is also an executive headteacher, Jo Newton, who is responsible for this school and two others. 3 and 4 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s values of ‘aspiration, respect, resilience and co-operation’ filter through everything at Southgate Primary. Staff are ambitious for pupils, setting consistently high expectations for learning. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well academically.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pastoral support is a strength at this school. Pupils’ physical and mental well-being are prioritised. Those who need extra care or support receive it quickly. The school is a friendly place, where pupils and staff respect each other. As one parent noted: ‘The teachers at this school are very approachable, which makes the environment warm and welcoming.’ Pupils and staff are proud of their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s curriculum goes beyond the academic. There is a sharp focus on developing the knowledge and skills that pupils need to stay safe, including when online. The school provides pupils with meaningful leadership opportunities. For example, play leaders facilitate some of the activities that their peers participate in at lunchtime.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well behaved. They contribute positively to lessons. Pupils play well together at social times. Classrooms are purposeful, and learning is rarely interrupted. Pupils rightly trust adults to deal with any issues effectively.

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better?

The school has an ambitious curriculum. It makes clear, in each subject, what key knowledge is to be taught in each year group and how this knowledge builds on what pupils have learned before. This starts in the early years and has been designed so that it is equally accessible to all pupils, including those with SEND. In some subjects, the school’s curriculum is new and is even more detailed. In these subjects, pupils can clearly describe their current learning, but they are less clear about what they have learned previously.

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better?

Teachers have good subject knowledge. They use modelling to explain new learning clearly, and they regularly revisit important knowledge to help pupils to remember it long term. To address the recent lower achievement of pupils in mathematics, the school has introduced regular multiplication table fluency sessions, which is helping pupils to embed their understanding of number. In the early years, teachers carefully plan opportunities for children to explore and learn, and they skilfully model spoken language. Where the curriculum is new in some subjects, the school knows that pupils have some gaps in their prior knowledge. They are working hard to identify and address these to ensure that learning builds on what pupils already know.

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better?

The school has established a positive culture of reading. A selection of high-quality texts that reflect diversity and life in modern Britain has been carefully curated for pupils. Pupils enjoy talking about their favourite books and authors and exhibit a real love for reading. Early reading is taught well. Teachers receive training that enables 3 and 4 October 2023

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them to deliver the school’s phonics programme with confidence. However, books are not always precisely matched to the sounds that pupils know, which means pupils are not always supported to read as well as they should.

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Staff know their pupils well. A well-thought-out induction programme helps teachers to get to know children’s individual starting points in the early years. This helps children in Reception get off to a flying start. There are also clear systems in place for identifying pupils with SEND. Staff receive the training they need and adapt activities so that pupils with SEND can follow the same curriculum as their peers. The school continues to develop effective systems to involve, and communicate with, parents about all aspects of school life.

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The school’s personal, social and health education curriculum is well organised. Pupils have a good understanding of other faiths and cultures. They recognise that it is important to learn about different world religions. They learn about what good relationships look like and the value of staying physically fit. The school has recently reintroduced trips and clubs, following a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are ambitious plans to further develop this important aspect of pupils’ personal development.

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Leaders at all levels in the school, and in the trust, are committed to an ambitious vision: to improve outcomes for pupils. They support and challenge each other effectively and are considerate of staff’s well-being and workload. Staff are very positive about the work of leaders. They feel listened to and enjoy working at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects where the curriculum has recently been improved, pupils have gaps in their prior knowledge. These gaps prevent them from learning as well as they could. The school should ensure that gaps in knowledge are identified and addressed swiftly so that pupils can achieve the ambition of the new curriculum.  Reading books are not always precisely matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge, and pupils are not always able to recall tricky words. This means that pupils do not learn to read fluently as quickly as they could. The school should ensure that the books pupils read are matched precisely to the sounds that they know so they can practise reading accurately and speedily. 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

Chief executive officer of trust Jon Chaloner

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 5 and 6 November 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 At the time of the inspection, the school was not using any alternative provision.  This school is part of the GLF Schools Trust.  The school runs its own breakfast club and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 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 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. 3 and 4 October 2023

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 The inspection team held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, teachers and pupils.  Inspectors met and spoke with the chair of trustees, the chief executive officer of the trust and members of the local school standards board.  The inspection team carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, design and technology, and geography. They discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, teachers, and pupils, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work. They also considered curriculum thinking and pupils’ learning in religious education.  Inspectors considered 34 responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire. They took account of the responses to the confidential staff survey, as well as the views of pupils that were gathered throughout the inspection.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors visited the after-school wraparound care and breakfast club.  Inspectors met with the school’s special educational needs and disabilities coordinator.

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Inspection team

James Stuart, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Louise Lythgoe 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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