Old Park Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 March 2023

Creativity and community are at the heart of Old Park Primary. It is a happy, friendly school, where everyone is welcome and valued as an individual. Year 6 pupils 'make their mark' by creating a piece of artwork that will be permanently displayed after they have moved to secondary school. Pupils enjoy being in school. They value being able to learn a musical instrument and belonging to one of the many school orchestras. They make the most of the varied sporting activities on offer. Leaders have high ambitions for all pupils. This is matched by pupils' attitudes in their lessons. They delight in much of their learning and like getting involved in group discussion work. They are determined to be successful and take pride in their written work. Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. They care for each other. Leaders provide a supportive response if pupils make the wrong behaviour choices. Pupils respect the school environment, staff and each other. They learn about behaviour and learning expectations from the moment they join nursery. Pupils know about bullying through the school's 'Stop Stop' approach. Pupils trust staff to deal with bullying quickly if it happens.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, leaders have not set out the smaller components of knowledge that pupils need and the order in which they need to learn them within each year group. This means that learning is not designed well enough to build knowledge in a logical sequence. This hinders pupils developing the specific knowledge and skills they need to become confident learners in that subject. Leaders should ensure that all teachers are clear about the best order for learning to take place in each subject.
• Leaders do not have a precise enough understanding of the strengths and areas for development in each subject. They do not consistently focus on the way pupils build cumulative learning across the year. This means that pupils' learning is less secure in a few subjects. Leaders should ensure that their monitoring activities enable them to identify and address any emerging curriculum weaknesses promptly.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)