Southmead School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 March 2023

Pupils at Southmead enjoy coming to school and feel safe there. Pupils feel valued. They say that there are always staff who can help them. Leaders welcome pupils into school every day at the gate. Parents feel happy to talk to leaders and get any help that they need. Pupils behave very well. The school is calm and well ordered. Low-level disruption is rare. If it does occur, teachers deal with it quickly so that it does not impact on learning. Pupils state that bullying does not occur. They are confident that staff would listen to them and sort out any problems. Staff and pupils promote the school's values of respect, equality, self-confidence, perseverance, enjoyment, curiosity and trust. These values shine through in pupils' experience of school. Staff have high expectations. Pupils value the way staff reward positive behaviours individually and for their house teams. Pupils enjoy a range of wider experiences, such as trips and hands-on activities, that staff provide for them. They say these help them to learn well.

What the school should improve

• Pupils who have historical gaps in their phonic knowledge do not always receive teaching targeted to the sounds they need to know next. Sometimes they have books to practise their reading that contain sounds that they do not know. As a result, they do not gain fluency and read at the level they should. Leaders need to make sure that the curriculum for phonics is always implemented effectively and that pupils' reading books match the sounds these pupils need to know and remember next.

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