Emmanuel Community School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 April 2024

Pupils enjoy attending this school because they have friends to play with. Pupils talk positively about the enrichment activities on offer, such as sewing, choir and football club. Pupils also have opportunities to perform to the community as part of the school choir. These opportunities are planned to help pupils to develop their talents and pursue their interests. Pupils are taught the importance of helping others. Members of the gardening club are given opportunities to look after the flower beds in the local community and to 'litter pick'. Expectations for behaviour are not consistently high. On occasion, inappropriate behaviour goes unchallenged by staff. Some pupils do not demonstrate positive learning behaviours. The lack of a consistently purposeful learning environment prevents pupils from learning the curriculum well. Pupils feel safe and are kept safe at school. They know that if they have a worry or feel sad, they can talk to a trusted adult who will help them. Leadership at all levels is ambitious for pupils to succeed. This can be seen in the school's curriculum goals. However, the school has not made sure that pupils learn this curriculum consistently well. The quality of education for pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is not as effective as it should be. Pupils do not remember some knowledge securely. Outcomes in recent statutory assessments at the end of Year 6 are low.

What the school should improve

• Across the school, the delivery of the curriculum does not consistently support high-quality learning. This is because some key subject content is not covered or explained sufficiently well. Checks on pupils' understanding are not focused enough on responding to gaps in learning, including in early reading. All of this means that some pupils, including those with SEND, do not learn the curriculum consistently well. Over time, pupils develop gaps in knowledge, skills and vocabulary. The school needs to improve how well the curriculum is implemented, focusing especially on making sure that teaching enables pupils to understand and recall key ideas in a subject. The school should also establish effective approaches to assessing pupils' learning of the curriculum and, in particular, ensuring that any difficulties pupils may have are addressed promptly.
• The school does not have a secure understanding of the areas of weakness in the curriculum. Therefore, actions taken to develop the curriculum are sometimes not made swiftly and precisely. The school should take appropriate and effective steps to monitor the impact of the curriculum and to put in place the necessary targeted actions to address any weaknesses identified.
• The school's expectations for behaviour are not consistently high. Inappropriate behaviour sometimes goes unchallenged, and the learning of the curriculum is interrupted. The school needs to ensure that expectations for behaviour are high across the school and make sure that approaches to managing poor behaviour are applied consistently.
• Sometimes, pupils are not guided on how to show respect for those who are different to them. This is because the school is not making sure that its expectations for how pupils should treat each other, especially those who are different to them, are consistently followed. The school needs to do more to help pupils understand and appreciate difference, and put into practice what they learn about being kind, respectful and fair towards everyone.

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