Fourfields Community Primary School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your leaders have continued to work effectively to improve the school since the previous inspection. Your leadership and commitment to your community are clear throughout the school. The staff are a well-established team who support you in your dedication to school improvement. Your mantra ‘Shine’ (success, happiness, inspiration, nurture and excitement) is clear to see in the day-to-day work of the school. Staff who responded to the online questionnaire are proud to work at Fourfields and agree that it has improved since the previous inspection. They also feel that they are trusted to innovate and take risks in ways that are best for pupils. This has resulted in a confident, positive staff who put pupils first. All of the parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, would recommend the school to others. One parent’s comment summed this up by saying, ‘There is a strong sense of leadership and you can feel that the school is constantly striving to improve.’ You have invested time and resources into developing the curriculum so that it offers ‘wow’ moments to excite pupils at the beginning of a topic. You also encourage pupils to have a say in what they learn in order to ensure that it sparks their interests and inspires them. The pupils that I spoke to enjoyed the range of curriculum opportunities offered to them, particularly in English, mathematics, art and physical education. This was also evident when walking around the school, where examples of high-quality artwork are framed and displayed. Some pieces are based on recent topics such as ‘the blue planet’. Pupils’ enjoyment and excitement are also evident on the school’s social media accounts, which celebrate the experiences and successes of day-to-day life at Fourfields Primary. Pupils say that the clubs which the school provides are a particularly enjoyable part of the curriculum because they are open to everyone. One pupil commented: ‘Everyone can get involved. There are boys’ and girls’ football teams. No one feels left out.’ Other pupils made similarly positive comments. The good behaviour and attitudes to learning of pupils noted during the previous inspection remain good. Pupils have very positive relationships with each other and their teachers. This supports their well-being and results in a happy and supportive environment in which to learn. Writing, which was an area for improvement identified at the previous inspection, has been a strong focus of the school’s work. This has led to improved outcomes for pupils as a result of better progress. This is because you have reviewed your approach to phonics and the teaching of handwriting. The improvements you have made have had a positive impact on pupils’ spelling and presentation. Pupils now address spelling issues in their writing with confidence. Pupils, including the higherattaining pupils, are also expected to write more accurately as they progress through the school, and they respond well to this. Teaching remains good. Teachers work collaboratively and share good practice, including through looking at pupils’ books together to identify effective strategies and the progress pupils are making. Leaders successfully give responsibility for training and development to teachers so that they identify what they need to do to raise the quality of their teaching. This is supporting further improvement because teachers are becoming increasingly active and engaged in leading their own development. You and your leaders accurately evaluate the school and have good capacity to make further improvements successfully. However, despite some strong recent improvements, the progress of disadvantaged pupils over time is not consistently good. This is because you and your leadership team, including the governing body, have not been rigorous enough in monitoring the quality of provision for this group of pupils and the outcomes they achieve. Without this information, actions to improve the quality of learning and outcomes further for these pupils have been limited. Safeguarding is effective. You place a high priority on the well-being and safety of your pupils. You ensure that staff are well trained and updated regularly. As the school’s designated safeguarding lead, you keep your own knowledge current. You have also made sure that other senior leaders are trained for this role so that pupils are safe when you are not there.