Blackfield Primary and Nursery School

Overview: Blackfield Primary School is a welcoming and happy school where staff and pupils take pride in their community. The school's 'INSPIRE' values run through every aspect of life, and pupils live up to leaders' high expectations. The school offers a wide variety of clubs and activities, and pupils feel safe and supported.

Strengths:

• Pupils are kind and considerate, and understand and follow the school rules: 'be safe, be kind, do your best'.
• Staff are skilled in teaching phonics, and pupils use their phonics knowledge to read and spell unfamiliar words.
• Leaders promote pupils' personal development well, and the school has a positive and united community.
• The academy council and trustees work together to establish the school's vision and values, and are ambitious for all pupils to have a high-quality education.
• The school offers a wide variety of clubs and activities, and pupils have the opportunity to develop their talents and interests.

Areas to improve:

• Staff do not always adapt learning activities well enough to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, which means that sometimes pupils find it difficult to understand new concepts and curriculum content.
• Teachers' subject knowledge is not as strong in some foundation subjects, which makes it harder for them to put carefully crafted plans into action.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders, academy councillors, trustees and staff have created a strong culture of safeguarding, and they are alert for any signs that pupils may be at risk of harm.