Ivy Road Primary School

Overview

The inspection judged the school’s overall effectiveness as ‘Inadequate’, stating it is “failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education”. Leaders are “not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement”, resulting in the school being placed in special measures.

Strengths

• Many pupils are “polite, considerate and happy” and understand the school’s core values.
• The quality of phonics teaching has improved, with books “accurately matched to their phonics knowledge”.
• Pupils demonstrate an age-appropriate understanding of tolerance, equality, and protected characteristics.
• Children in the early years are “inquisitive and keen to learn” and engage happily in activities.
• Safeguarding arrangements are deemed “effective”.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must urgently build capacity to address significant weaknesses in curriculum, assessment, and behaviour, as current internal capacity is limited.
• Staff must use assessment consistently to identify and close gaps in pupils’ learning, particularly in reading and mathematics for disadvantaged pupils.
• The curriculum must be strengthened to develop pupils’ understanding of other cultures, faiths, and religions.
• Disruptive behaviour must be managed effectively to ensure all pupils feel safe and learning is not interrupted.
• Staff morale and workload concerns must be addressed, and the early years curriculum must be better planned to meet children’s needs.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective”, noting that while some staff lacked specific ‘Prevent’ training, this “has not left pupils at risk of harm”.