Oliver Goldsmith Primary School

Overview

Oliver Goldsmith Primary School is described as a “respectful and welcoming place” with a strong “sense of community spirit.” The report states that pupils are “happy and kept safe,” benefiting from an “ambitious curriculum” that prepares them well for life in modern Britain. Overall, the school is judged to be effective, with leaders providing a supportive environment for staff and high-quality provision for all pupils, including those with special educational needs.

Strengths

• The curriculum is “broad and ambitious,” with a particular commitment to the creative arts, including “high-quality provision in music and art and design.”
• Reading is a “key priority,” featuring systematic phonics teaching and books that “closely match the sounds that they know,” helping pupils read with “fluency and confidence.”
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive timely support and adaptations, allowing them to access the same curriculum as their peers and become “as independent as possible.”
• Personal, social, health and economic education is of a “high quality,” teaching pupils to keep themselves safe online and encouraging them to be “responsible” global citizens.
• Staff feel valued by leaders, who are “considerate of their workload,” contributing to a culture where “all staff are proud to work at the school.”

Areas to improve

• The school should ensure teachers are trained to implement the curriculum effectively, as inconsistent training means subject knowledge is not “routinely secure,” which “sometimes hinders pupils’ learning.”
• Staff must routinely check what pupils have learned and remembered across all subjects, as current checks are uneven and fail to consistently “identify and address any gaps in their understanding.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”