William Morris Primary School

Overview

This is a “happy, friendly and inclusive school” where pupils are “excited to learn” and demonstrate “impeccable” behaviour. The inspection highlights a “broad and ambitious curriculum” that fosters a “purposeful buzz of learning,” with staff who “care deeply” for pupils’ mental health and well-being.

Strengths

• “Early years provision is exceptional,” with children becoming “engrossed in a wide variety of stimulating and creative activities.”
• Reading is a strong priority; the school has “successfully embedded a new phonics programme” and teaching is “consistently strong.”
• Pupils show “Outstanding” personal development, building independence through life skills like cooking and sewing, and taking on responsibilities such as “school councillors.”
• Staff have “secure subject knowledge” and carefully model learning, ensuring pupils “build knowledge well” in most subjects.
• The school provides “focused pastoral and academic support” for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs, enabling them to “progress well.”

Areas to improve

• In a “minority of subjects,” assessment does not routinely identify gaps in learning, meaning pupils “do not have a secure understanding of what they have learned previously,” which hinders new learning.
• The trust must ensure assessment is used effectively across the curriculum to “identify and rectify gaps” in pupil knowledge.

Safeguarding

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