Slater Primary School

Slater Primary School

Address: Slater Street, Frog Island, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE3 5AS Unique reference number (URN): 120101

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders have ambitious expectations for children’s learning in the early years. The curriculum is well-considered and supports children’s development in all areas. Staff deliver the curriculum effectively overall and children achieve well. Through expert teaching, children’s knowledge of phonics develops securely. This gives children confidence with reading and writing. Staff ensure that children hold pencils, form letters and spell simple words with accuracy. Equally, children develop secure recognition of numbers and counting. Some talk confidently about teens numbers and use equipment to show how they are made from tens and ones.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff support children well to develop their language and communication skills, adapting support effectively when speech is a barrier to learning. Children are excited to learn and talk with adults about the engaging activities. They speak clearly about the stories staff read to them. Children were excited to explain how the class caterpillar turned into a chrysalis like the one in ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’. Leaders are developing the ways staff engage children purposefully in all activities, including in the outdoor environment. Well-established routines foster children’s social and emotional development. Children feel secure and their independence builds well over time. Overall, they develop a secure foundation for moving up to Year 1.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Regular teaching of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is effective overall. Older pupils speak maturely about puberty and making life goals. Pupils gain an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships and learn about positive mental health. They know how to access the school’s additional pastoral support when they need it. Pupils know ways to stay safe in the local area and online. They know the risks associated with canals and debate thoughtfully about the impact of a social media ban for children. Leaders consider different opportunities to develop pupils’ knowledge. Some pupils participated in a debate on knife crime at the local magistrates’ court.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school helps pupils learn how to be positive members of modern society. Alongside the school’s values, pupils learn about the importance of fundamental British values. Opportunities to vote for pupil leadership roles, for example, help reinforce their understanding. Pupils learn about a range of faiths and beliefs, including through visits to local places of worship or observing religious celebrations. Pupils are proud of the cultural diversity of the school’s community. They respect the different ways they lead their home lives. They demonstrate a sound understanding of discrimination and how this is wrong.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders are expanding the range of experiences that develop pupils’ character and broaden their horizons. Pupils spoke animatedly about a recent trip to the seaside. Older pupils were excited to visit an outdoor activity centre on the school’s first residential trip. They were looking forward to facing challenges and being independent. While leaders secure financial assistance, they recognise different cultural perspectives can limit some pupils’ participation in residential trips, for example. They plan to work more strategically, including with parents

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Needs attention

and carers, to ensure pupils can benefit equally from the range of opportunities the school offers.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make suitable enough progress from their starting points. This is due to not receiving the right support. Although children make a positive start with learning phonics in the early years, Year 1 pupils’ attainment in the phonics screening check is consistently below national averages. Over time, there has been a decline in older pupils’ attainment with reading, including disadvantaged pupils. Recent improvements in teaching reading and phonics are impacting positively on pupils. It is a similar picture with pupils’ securing fluency with number and multiplication. As improvements are in the early stages, it is too soon to see the full impact in national tests. Despite some pupils experiencing instability in their schooling, many pupils build suitable knowledge across the curriculum. Pupils' achievement by the end of Year 6 has improved over the last few years. However, the progress pupils make at different stages

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Achievement Needs attention

is too variable which leaves some pupils underprepared for their next stages.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Pupils’ absence is consistently above national averages, especially for disadvantaged pupils. Rates of persistent absence are consistently high. Recently, leaders reviewed their strategies for promoting regular attendance. They intervene more quickly now when pupils’ absence is concerning. Leaders help parents and carers understand the negative impact of absence. They provide helpful support if families experience any barriers. As a result of a more robust approach, pupils’ attendance is beginning to improve. Leaders recognise that current actions need to be sustained.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Pupils’ behaviour does not consistently meet high expectations. While leaders introduced higher expectations, they do not ensure all staff understand their behaviour policy and approaches. Some staff receive insufficient support to promote positive and respectful behaviour, particularly at unstructured times. Pupils access support to regulate their emotions when needed. However, some pupils who need more bespoke approaches do not receive consistent support from staff. Sometimes this contributes to a less calm and orderly environment. That said, when staff apply the school’s policy, pupils behave well. Largely, pupils have positive attitudes in lessons and are eager to learn. Pupils show kindness and are understanding of one another. Harmful behaviours like aggression, bullying or racism are uncommon and staff deal with them effectively if they occur.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Teaching does not enable pupils to learn and progress consistently well. Too often, staff do not consider pupils’ needs or starting points when they have gaps in their knowledge. Leaders do not ensure that teachers adapt their teaching to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. Lack of staff expertise means that pupils with SEND do not receive consistently the targeted support that they need to learn the school’s curriculum successfully. While teachers often check pupils’ understanding in lessons, their checks are not thorough. This means they often do not identify which pupils need further support and which pupils are ready for further challenge to deepen their understanding. This limits the progress pupils can make.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders ensure that the curriculum is suitable and that teachers have a clear focus on the knowledge pupils should learn over time. A focus on understanding vocabulary particularly supports pupils who are new to speaking English as an additional language. Leaders recently improved the curriculum and teaching for reading, phonics, writing and mathematics. Staff are increasingly more effective in identifying and addressing gaps in this knowledge. However, some more recent improvements are not fully embedded and effective across the school.

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Inclusion Needs attention

While leaders are improving their systems, they currently do not identify and assess the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly or accurately enough. This means that staff do not receive enough information to help them adapt learning for pupils with SEND effectively. Additionally, leaders do not ensure that all staff have sufficient expertise to make effective adaptations that support the range of pupils’ needs.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders understand the school’s context and the range of barriers that can affect pupils’ learning or wellbeing. A significant number of pupils experience instability in their lives and join the school at different stages, sometimes for relatively short periods. Leaders identify the barriers that exist for these pupils quickly. They ensure these pupils receive helpful pastoral support than enables them to settle quickly and access learning successfully overall. A few pupils are new to the country and to learning English as an additional language. The support for these pupils is also effective.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have a general understanding of the barriers that can exist for disadvantaged pupils. Broadly, they use additional funding to support in the right areas. However, leaders do not check sufficiently to know if their use of funding is effective.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

While leaders are making improvements, they do not ensure that all staff receive the support needed to understand and apply the school’s policies and approaches consistently. Staff recognise that improvements are necessary. They appreciate that mainly leaders consider their workload when making changes. However, some staff express frustration from limited communication and support. The professional learning programme draws on some external professionals to develop staff expertise in some areas. However, staff need further development in supporting pupils’ learning and behaviour effectively.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Although improvements focus on broadly the right areas, leaders do not have a sharp enough oversight, analysis and evaluation of the school’s work. The school has experienced some turbulence, including in leadership, since the last inspection. This led to a decline in the school’s provision and halted improvement. New leadership has settled the school and reset its improvement journey, taking concerted action where most needed. Together with the governing body, they understand the school’s context well and act with pupils’ best interests at heart. Governors fulfil their statutory duties and hold leaders to account. Some improvements, such as curriculum development, are coming to fruition and are beginning to have the desired impact on pupils’ learning and wellbeing. However, leaders do not gain a full understanding of what is working well and where further work is needed.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders are committed to developing the partnership with parents and carers. They are thinking more creatively of ways to help parents understand how to support their child’s learning. Parents speak appreciatively of the school and recent improvements.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are proud to belong to the Slater Primary School community. They value their range of backgrounds, cultures and faiths and they make many friends easily. Many pupils join the school at different stages, some after experiencing instability in their lives. Pupils and staff go out of their way to help new pupils settle in. Everyone receives a warm welcome at Slater and soon feel like they firmly belong.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

While some pupils do not attend school regularly enough, their attendance is beginning to improve. The school increased its expectation and the same goes for pupils’ behaviour. Mainly pupils understand the school’s new expectations to have compassion and behave responsibly and respectfully. Pupils are rarely unkind and behaviour like bullying is uncommon. Pupils feel safe and secure because staff tend to deal quickly with any type of bullying. However, pupils’ behaviour and how they follow instructions or routines is inconsistent, particularly at social times. When pupils struggle to reach the school’s expectations, they do not always receive the right support.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy learning and mainly want to do well. In the early years, children make a positive start to their schooling. However, pupils’ learning and progress varies as they move through school. Sometimes this means they are not as ready for their future education as they should be. This is especially the case for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As these pupils’ needs are not understood fully, pupils do not receive a curriculum tailored to meet their needs. Recently, pupils’ experiences of school are improving. However, leaders know they must focus on sustaining improvements to enable all pupils to thrive.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy memorable experiences that enhance their learning and build their character. They take on important leadership roles and contribute to school life. Pupils access a range of clubs and activities that develop their talents and interests.

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Lead inspector:

Claire Stylianides, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspectors:

Moira Dales, Ofsted Inspector Stephen Long, Ofsted Inspector

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure their systems to identify and assess the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are effective. They should ensure that staff make effective adaptations that enable pupils with SEND to be successful and thrive in all aspects of their education. Leaders should ensure that teaching is consistently effective, enabling pupils to progress and achieve consistently well throughout the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that the school’s approaches and support enable pupils to meet consistently high expectations for their attendance and behaviour. Leaders should support all staff to understand and apply their policies and approaches consistently. They should ensure that staff receive the support and professional learning they need to embed improvements. Leader should improve their systems to monitor, analyse and evaluate school performance, including in relation to attendance, behaviour, achievement and inclusion, to

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Next steps

pinpoint more precisely where further improvement is needed.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Rob Kettle.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs. Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other school leaders. They also spoke with leaders about their oversight of the school’s work in a particular aspect, such as inclusion. The lead inspector met with representatives of the governing body.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school: The headteacher took up her post in February 2025. The school has nursery provision for 3- and 4-year-old children. However, at the time of the inspection, this was closed temporarily for the academic year. The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. National average: 26.3%

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2024/25 (final) 67% 62% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 72% 74% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 67% 72% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 75% 74% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 68% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 57% 62% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) S 59% S ‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 5.7% 5.2% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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