Silkstone Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 5 December 2023

Silkstone Primary School is a school full of respect and acceptance. Everyone enacts the school mantra of 'A school with a soul'. This means that staff and pupils feel valued and cared for. Pupils trust adults to help them with any issues or worries they may have. Pupils are kind to each other, tolerant and accepting. Pupils are confident and articulate. The school has high expectations that pupils will behave well and they do across all parts of the school day. Pupils learn carefully developed routines, so that they can work together in a collaborative way. Leaders are ambitious for all children to excel academically and to develop the skills and attributes that they need to thrive in the world. Pupils achieve well. The four school golden rules also inspire pupils to 'be their best self.' Therefore, pupils are motivated to work and to be resilient. Pupils develop a secure understanding of how to be physically and mentally healthy. All pupils can discuss the importance of this. Pupils also know how to stay safe online. Pupils have many opportunities to take on a range of responsibilities. For instance, there are: members of school council, eco-warriors, outdoor assistants and well-being warriors. The school council has an impact in their local community by fundraising for charities and organising music events for senior citizens.

What the school should improve

• In early years, the school has not fully identified the important knowledge that it wants children to learn in all areas of learning. This means that children are not always able to build effectively on what they already know. The school must set out clearly the important knowledge that children need to learn in all areas of learning. It needs to ensure that staff use the checks they make on children's learning and progress effectively to identify and adapt learning to reflect children's varying needs.
• The early years learning environment does not always support children to effectively develop their knowledge and skills across all areas of learning. Children have limited opportunities to consolidate their learning, develop their independence or practise new vocabulary. The school needs to ensure the environment is planned purposefully and that the resources selected meet children's needs.
• For a few pupils, work is sometimes not well matched to their needs. In particular, pupils who struggle with aspects of their learning, do not always have their needs met. This means that they cannot apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency and independence. The school needs to ensure the curriculum is consistently well adapted to meet these pupils' needs and that adults that provide additional support are always deployed effectively.
• Pupils who have fallen behind in phonics do not have enough opportunities to practise their phonics knowledge. The school needs to ensure that any gaps in pupils' phonic knowledge are identified and used effectively to support pupils who need help to catch up.

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