Shirley Community Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 March 2024

Shirley Community Primary School is a diverse and inclusive school. Pupils celebrate their differences saying that it 'is what makes us unique'. Pupils are happy and develop positive relationships between each other and with adults. Pupils show positive attitudes to learning. They develop their independence from an early age. They listen to staff and support each other in classrooms. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), concentrate well when learning and completing their work. Adults set high expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour. Pupils demonstrate these through the schools' rules to 'be safe, be kind and be responsible'. Staff prioritise pupils' mental well-being and encourage pupils to talk about concerns that they have. This helps the school put support in place when needed. Pupils understand how to stay safe when online and in their local context. Members of the school council are proud of their leadership roles. They are active in 'making the school better for everyone'. This has included identifying new clubs that pupils would like. Pupils are able to access a range of clubs across a range of interests, including dance, choir, cooking, Portuguese and various sports.

What the school should improve

• In some curriculum areas, assessment information is not used consistently by subject leaders to monitor and evaluate the curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that there is a more consistent and effective use of data to inform the development of the curriculum to secure pupils' understanding and develop teachers' expertise, so that pupils improve their knowledge across all areas of the curriculum.
• Pupils are not always ready to transition between key stages. In subjects where the curriculum is at the earlier stages of development, the knowledge pupils need to transition from one key stage to the next is not always clear. This means pupils' learning and readiness to move to the next stage of learning is not as secure as it needs to be. The school needs to ensure that the important learning needed by pupils is identified to help support them in their next steps of their learning, both within the school setting and for when pupils move to secondary school.

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