Hythe Primary School

Overview: Hythe Primary School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils enjoy coming and feel safe. The school has high aspirations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have developed a love of reading and a broad curriculum that provides opportunities for pupils to learn through a thematic approach.

Strengths:

• Pupils are proud to attend a school that welcomes and includes everyone.
• Pupils behave well in class and around school, following the 'golden rules' to 'always do their best'.
• Pupils enjoy celebrating each other's success and achievements, and take part in weekly class votes to nominate someone for an assembly award.
• The school's ethos is underpinned by the motto 'be inspired', and pupils can explore their interests in many ways.
• Pupils appreciate the support from local mental health charities and activities in clubs to develop their mindfulness and resilience.

Areas to improve:

• Some pupils do not learn to read fluently because the curriculum is not structured carefully enough to match reading books and resources to the sounds pupils need to learn and practise.
• In some subjects, the curriculum does not clearly identify the small steps of subject-specific knowledge that pupils need to learn, making it difficult to identify gaps in pupils' learning.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders ensuring that staff are fully trained and alert to any potential risk, and staff teaching pupils how to keep themselves safe online.