Pitsford Primary School

Overview

Pupils are described as “very proud of the school” and cherish its “family feel,” feeling “safe and happy” while living by values such as “collaboration, enjoyment, responsibility, respect, innovation and challenge.” The report highlights a “broad and ambitious” curriculum with “well-thought-through” subject sequences, particularly in mathematics, history, and music, supported by staff with “good subject knowledge.” Leaders have fostered a “strong culture of reading” and ensure pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive appropriate support to learn the same curriculum as their peers.

Strengths

• Pupils display “positive” behaviour, are “polite, respectful and welcoming,” and report that “there is no bullying.”
• The curriculum is “well sequenced,” allowing pupils to build knowledge over time and apply it in different situations.
• A “strong culture of reading” is embedded, with an effective phonics scheme enabling younger pupils to “learn to read well.”
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities “learn well” and receive tailored support to access the full curriculum.
• Children in Reception “get off to a strong start,” following “very well-embedded routines” and benefiting from an “ambitious curriculum.”

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure “effective approaches to checking pupils’ knowledge and understanding are in place in all foundation subjects” so teachers can identify exactly what pupils need to learn next, as this is currently lacking outside core subjects.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective,” with leaders establishing a “strong culture of safeguarding” and staff who “know, understand and fulfil their responsibilities very well.”