Georgian Gardens Community Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 March 2022

Pupils are very happy at school. They enjoy their lessons and feel that everyone is included and treated fairly. Pupils feel safe. They understand and follow the school rules of 'ready, respectful, safe'. They are confident that school staff would always listen to any worries they had and get them any help they needed. Since her arrival in 2018, the headteacher has established the same high expectations for every pupil in the school. All staff now understand these expectations. Children in Reception have quickly settled into classroom routines. They listen attentively to adults and are keen to join in and have a go. Lessons for older pupils are calm and settled. Pupils want to be successful in their learning. They told inspectors that children at their school are kind and considerate. Pupils are confident that if bullying was reported to staff, concerns would be quickly and effectively addressed. Parents recognise the dedication of the headteacher, and the staff, to the welfare and education of every pupil. They feel that their children are known, nurtured, respected and valued. Parents are particularly appreciative of how their children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported, and also of the positive approach to inclusion that sits at the heart of the school's vision and ethos.

What the school should improve

• Leaders know that too many pupils are still persistently absent. Leaders must continue their work to improve the attendance of these families, working with external partners as appropriate.
• Leaders have developed or adopted a curriculum for each foundation subject. These curriculums are ambitious and designed to give all pupils, especially pupils who are disadvantaged or who have SEND, the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. However, in some foundation subjects, leaders have not been sufficiently precise in setting out the key concepts and knowledge that pupils need to learn over time. This means that the curriculum in some foundation subjects has not been fully sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills. Leaders need to continue their work to fully develop the sequencing of the curriculum for each subject. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.
• Leaders introduced a new phonics programme in September 2021. Staff have had training to ensure that they understand the programme and how to deliver it. However, at present, not all staff have sufficient expertise to be able to effectively support the weakest readers to learn to read. Older struggling readers do not always read books that match the specific sounds they are learning and need to practise. Leaders must ensure that staff are trained to support all pupils to learn to read at an age-appropriate level, and that all readers at an earlier stage of learning to decode have a well-matched book.
• Leaders have begun to map out the core texts that underpin the English curriculum. The sequence of books that pupils will read over time, and how children will be taught to recognise themes in what they read, are not fully developed and sequenced. Leaders need to develop the sequencing of the English curriculum to ensure that pupils are supported to engage with increasingly complex texts across a wide range of genres.

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