Little Paxton Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Little Paxton is a happy school where children are welcomed by the adults who support and care for them.

This helps pupils feel safe.

Pupils play nicely together. They are polite and treat each other with kindness because they follow the school's behaviour principles well.

Pupils nearly always move calmly around the school. Pupils respond well to staff's high expectations of their behaviour.

Lessons are fun and engaging.

This motivates pupils to try their best. Pupils are proud when their efforts are praised. This includes pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils value ...being able to celebrate each other's achievements in weekly assemblies or having lunch with the leadership team as a reward. Sometimes, pupils get to be 'head or deputy head for the day', which inspires them to continue to work towards their academic goals.

Pupils value the opportunity to represent their peers on the Paxton Parliament.

This group has opportunities to support the school in charity and school events. Pupils can also represent the school in the many sports teams that celebrate numerous successes throughout the year.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

There have been significant improvements at the school.

The school has reviewed and implemented an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum throughout the school, starting in the early years. Leaders ensure that teachers, including those new to the school, have the subject-specific training that they need to implement the curriculum.

The new curriculum is well considered in all subjects and for every year group.

Pupils learn key knowledge and vocabulary for each subject. This successfully contributes towards building up pupils' learning over time. As a result, pupils remember what they have been taught and are generally achieving well.

In a few foundation subject areas, the curriculum detail does not include opportunities for checking how well pupils are doing. Consequently, in these foundation subjects, the checks are not used well enough to enable teachers to adapt the learning with additional challenge. Where this happens, a few pupils do not necessarily make the progress they could.

The school prioritises teaching pupils to read. The chosen phonics programme ensures that pupils in the early years learn the letter sounds quickly. The books that pupils read help them to apply their learning of letters and sounds to their reading.

Effective checking identifies pupils who have fallen behind. Additional teaching opportunities support pupils to catch up. Many pupils learn to read with confidence.

Teachers read to pupils daily as part of an effective reading curriculum. Teachers model how to read with expression. This ensures that pupils develop a love for reading and become fluent and confident readers.

The school has high expectations for pupils with SEND. There is a strong focus for this group of pupils to learn to work independently. Pupils with SEND can and do learn the same curriculum as their peers because teachers adapt their lessons carefully.

This ensures that pupils with SEND achieve well. Additional adults support and accurately anticipate pupils' needs. This helps pupils to regulate their emotions and, consequently, successfully access their learning.

Pupils, including children in the early years, are respectful and friendly. Pupils behave well in lessons. Low-level disruption is rare.

Where it happens, it is quickly addressed by teachers refocusing pupils with engaging activities. A small number of the older children occasionally need reminders of the behaviour expectations. The school takes effective action to ensure that pupils attend regularly.

Therefore, attendance is strong.

The school has implemented a programme that supports pupil development, including relationships and sex education and personal, social, health and economic education. There are some areas of this curriculum plan that are in the early stages of development.

The school has not implemented areas of the intended plan that teach pupils to understand more about life beyond the school community. As a result, pupils do not always remember about different cultures and fundamental British values outside of their local area. There are aspects of pupils' wider development programme that are implemented well, such as sports clubs, mental health club and yoga, which pupils really enjoy.

The governing body offers effective challenge and support. This is because it has carefully recruited governors with the skills needed to improve the school. Governors take account of staff well-being, including that of leaders.

As a result, staff enjoy working here.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few foundation subject areas, the curriculum planning does not enable assessment opportunities to be used well enough.

In these subjects, a few pupils may not make the progress that they could. The school should ensure that planning includes assessment opportunities to ensure teachers can further adapt learning so that pupils achieve consistently well. ? A few areas of the personal development curriculum, such as British values and understanding protected characteristics and other cultures, are not as well rooted as other curriculum areas.

Consequently, pupils are not being prepared well enough for life in modern Britain. The school should ensure that the intended personal development curriculum is consistently implemented so that pupils learn to build character. This will ensure pupils are being prepared for the next stage of their lives in all areas of being active citizens, beyond the school gates.

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