Siddal Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 20 September 2023

Siddal Primary School is a calm and welcoming place to learn. Relationships between staff and pupils are positive and underpinned by care. Leaders have built a culture of openness and honesty that helps pupils to feel safe and to share their worries if they want to. Pupils have a clear understanding of the school's 'MIRROR' values and what this means for them as members of the school community. The school has ensured that staff actively look for pupils displaying the school values. Pupils talk about the importance of being 'respectful and resilient'. They understand the importance of making positive choices and how this helps their learning. Pupils follow routines well across school. The school makes sure these routines are consistent and clear to all pupils. The ambition leaders have for how pupils should behave is beginning to be reflected in their ambitions for what pupils can achieve academically. Parents speak positively about the recent improvements leaders have made in school. In lessons, pupils show a willingness to learn. They begin their work quickly and are eager to share their developing knowledge.

What the school should improve

• There are some inconsistencies in the teaching of early reading. As a result, pupils are not taught the most efficient and effective way for decoding unfamiliar words containing sounds they already know. The school should ensure that all staff receive the most up-to-date training to teach this precisely and consistently.
• In some foundation subjects, the knowledge and vocabulary the school wants pupils to learn is not clearly enough defined. As a result, some learning in some foundation subjects is activity-led rather than being chosen to secure and build on pupils' long-term knowledge and acquisition of vocabulary. The school should ensure that the knowledge and vocabulary in the wider curriculum is defined clearly.
• Although safeguarding is effective, there is some variation in how well the school documents the actions taken in response to safeguarding incidents and how they analyse patterns that arise from such incidents. As a result, opportunities can be missed to use broader oversight to inform staff training and enhance safeguarding processes, such as attendance procedures. The school should improve how well safeguarding incidents are recorded and use consistent analysis of safeguarding incidents to further enhance the culture of safeguarding.

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