Buttercup Primary School

Overview

The report states that the school’s overall effectiveness ‘Requires improvement’, noting that while pupils behave respectfully and feel safe, the quality of education is variable. Leaders have not ensured staff possess the expertise needed to teach the full breadth of the curriculum effectively, leading to inconsistent outcomes across subjects.

Strengths

• Pupils ‘achieve well’ in English and mathematics, where teaching is implemented appropriately and checks ensure they ‘revisit and recall previous content frequently’.
• The school provides ‘effective support’ for new arrivals, with pupil mental health ambassadors acting as ‘buddies’ to help them settle and feel included.
• Early years provision is ‘Good’, with children building knowledge securely and receiving daily phonics teaching to become ‘confident and fluent readers’.
• Behaviour is ‘Good’, with pupils attending regularly and learning proceeding ‘without interruption’ due to clear expectations and effective management of disruption.
• Personal development is ‘Good’, supported by a well-sequenced PSHE curriculum and educational visits that broaden pupils’ horizons and promote ‘high aspirations’.

Areas to improve

• The school must ensure staff have the ‘knowledge and expertise they need to implement the full curriculum effectively’, as the curriculum is not delivered equally well in all subjects.
• Leaders need to establish a ‘consistent approach to assessment’ to identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge and misconceptions in the wider curriculum.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.