Pottery Primary School

Inspection of Pottery Primary School Kilbourne Road, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 1HA

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 October, and 30 November

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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 17 and 18 October, and 30 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at Pottery Primary School. It is a welcoming place. Parents and carers value the warm greeting they get each morning at the school gate. It reflects the school’s positive ethos. The school has built strong and trusting relationships with parents. They value how much the school cares about the wider development of the pupils. This includes the wider development of children in the early years. Pupils say that they enjoy the range of opportunities to attend clubs and go on visits.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they feel safe. They show consideration to each other and play well together at breaktimes. The school has introduced a new behaviour policy. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and have established clear and consistent routines. Pupils say that behaviour has improved. Bullying is rare. The school provides ‘worry boxes’ for pupils to share any concerns with staff. Pupils know that if they have any worries there is always someone at school who can help them. Parents and pupils value the encouragement of friendship through the ‘kindness cafe’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Some governors are new to their roles. Some school leaders are new, too. They have shared ambitions as a relatively new team. Collectively, everyone has high ambitions for all pupils to achieve well. They have introduced some much-needed changes.

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better?

The school has established a broad and balanced curriculum. Many of the curriculums in key stage 1 and key stage 2 are new. The school is developing the curriculum further to ensure that it is ambitious for all pupils. In most subjects, the curriculum is well sequenced. However, some staff are not using the most appropriate activities and strategies to teach all subjects as well as they could. This means too many pupils do not achieve as well as they might.

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better?

The school is inclusive. The ‘nurture nest’ provides effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the targets for some pupils with SEND are not broken down as precisely as they could be. As a result, teachers do not always adapt lessons for some pupils with SEND to help them achieve as well as they could.

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better?

Children are warmly welcomed into the school in the early years. They settle into routines quickly. Parents value the good relationships adults develop with the children. The school ensures children learn to be independent. Children enjoy learning mathematics through rhyme and song. They enjoy looking at picture books as well as listening to adults read to them. In particular, children in the early years enjoy ‘Wet Welly Wednesdays’, when they take part in outdoor learning.

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better?

The teaching of early reading is a priority. This ensures that children learn sounds straight away in the early years. Staff help pupils with extra practice if they need to catch up with mastering new sounds. Pupils’ reading improves from this early support. Pupils are developing their fluency in reading. The school is ensuring that 17 and 18 October, and 30 November 2023

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the books pupils are given to read match the sounds they know to help improve their reading confidence. The school encourages and promotes reading. It is working hard to engage parents to read more with pupils at home. Older pupils can speak about a range of authors they read.

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The school has prioritised improving pupils’ behaviour. Lessons are generally calm. Staff remind pupils to listen, and they praise the good behaviour choices pupils make. There is a strong inclusive culture in the school. Pupils recognise when some of their peers with SEND struggle to concentrate and need different help. They are understanding, tolerant and respectful.

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Pupils know and understand about life in modern Britain. They are aware of discrimination. The school promotes pupils’ development with themed events. Pupils talk about achievements of important people during Black History Month. Pupils are taught about a range of different faiths and cultures. For example, children in the early years learn about Diwali through their topic on light. Pupils also learn about the importance of being physically and mentally healthy.

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Many governors are new to their roles. They understand their statutory duties. They support and check on the positive ethos of the school and on safeguarding. They are mindful of staff’s workload. They have a dedicated governor for staff well-being. Leaders recognise that there are further improvements to be made at the school. The school has not yet set up all the approaches it would like for checking the impact of changes it is making. For example, there has not been enough time yet to fully check on the implementation of the curriculum.

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Parents are supportive of the care the school provides and of the changes the school is making. Staff enjoy working at the school and are proud to do so.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum, particularly in foundation subjects, is not consistently well implemented. Teachers often do not consistently use the most appropriate activities and resources to impart important knowledge well enough, and they do not check precisely enough if it has been remembered by pupils. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school must ensure that teachers have a firm grasp of the curriculum and use the most effective methods to teach and assess it.  The targets for pupils with SEND are not broken down sharply. As a result, teachers do not always adapt lessons for some pupils with SEND to help them achieve as well as they could. The school must ensure that the targets for pupils 17 and 18 October, and 30 November 2023

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with SEND are more precisely broken down and that teachers use these to adapt their teaching to help pupils with SEND achieve consistently well.  Leaders have not had the time to monitor and evaluate the curriculum changes that have already been made. As a result, the curriculum continues to be inconsistently implemented by teachers. The school must ensure more robust quality assurance of the curriculum to ensure teachers have the knowledge, skills and understanding to implement all aspects of the curriculum effectively.

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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). 17 and 18 October, and 30 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://www.pottery.derbyshire.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 28 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher has been in post since January 2021.  There have been a number of staffing changes in the last year and some senior leaders are relatively new or leading on an interim basis.  The school does not use 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.  The first two days of inspection took place on 17 and 18 October 2023. Inspectors returned to the school on 30 November 2023 to gather additional evidence. 17 and 18 October, and 30 November 2023

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 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.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders and teachers in the school. They met with local governors and spoke to a local authority representative.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, English and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To explore the wider curriculum, inspectors also discussed the curriculum in other subjects.  Inspectors explored the curriculum in personal, social, health and economic education and religious education.  Inspectors looked at books in a number of subjects.

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 Inspectors met with leaders responsible for the provision for pupils with SEND, behaviour, attendance and pupils’ personal development.  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.  Inspectors spoke with parents at the start of the day. They considered the responses to the online surveys of staff, parents and pupils.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils. They heard pupils reading to a familiar adult.

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Inspection team

Donna Moulds, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Anne Maingay, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rob Cruise Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 October, and 30 November 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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