Ordsall Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 May 2022

Pupils, staff, parents and carers are proud of their school. Pupils enjoy coming to school and spending time with their friends. They relish opportunities to help each other. Pupils say that staff are friendly and supportive. They say that school is a 'safe place'. Behaviour is positive. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere around the school. Pupils listen attentively and respond to adults' instructions promptly. They develop positive attitudes towards their learning. When they find something tricky, they 'dig in' and learn from their mistakes. Pupils spoke fondly of the various rewards systems. As one pupil commented, 'I love the brick in the wall and star of the week because they help me to behave and to be good.' Social times are purposeful. Pupils who need additional support to regulate their emotions are provided with quiet spaces. Adults help them to manage their feelings. Pupils know that adults will quickly address any incidents of poor behaviour or bullying, should they occur. Pupils work hard in lessons. However, the school's curriculum is not yet fully planned and sequenced. As a result, pupils do not learn and remember curriculum content as well as they should in some subjects.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in some subjects. However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they are in the process of bringing this about. Leaders need to complete the process of reviewing the curriculum, in all subjects, within their identified timescale. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.
• In some subjects, the curriculum does not set out clearly enough the most important content that pupils should acquire at each stage of their education. Key concepts and ideas have not been broken down sufficiently into small units of knowledge. Pupils are unable to recall what they have learned before. Leaders should identify the important knowledge that all pupils, including pupils with SEND, should learn and remember. They should make sure that the curriculum is delivered to help pupils know and remember more over time in all subjects.
• Independent activities for children in the early years are not sufficiently challenging. Misconceptions are not identified quickly enough when pupils are in continuous provision. As a result, learning slows. Leaders must ensure that all adults in the early years have the knowledge and expertise to support children to know and remember the early years curriculum.

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