Orion Scotts Park

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met within an open and positive safeguarding culture.
• Attendance is above national levels, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Persistent absence is low and reducing.
• Pupils' behaviour is excellent; they are polite, courteous, kind and self-disciplined.
• Classrooms are calm, productive and positive learning environments.
• Early years children settle quickly and benefit from a well-designed curriculum from Nursery to Reception.
• Early years provision has a sharp focus on communication, language, reading, writing and mathematics.
• Children, including disadvantaged children and those with SEND, achieve well across the early years areas of learning and are well prepared for Year 1.
• Leadership and governance are aligned, effective and focused on pupils' best interests.
• Governance is well informed, asks searching questions and holds leaders to account.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of school priorities and introduce new systems carefully.
• Professional learning is a high priority with a carefully planned approach to developing staff expertise.
• Most staff are proud to work at the school, feel valued and report manageable workload.
• Pupils achieve well overall, with published outcomes above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics over three years.
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad and identifies key knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
• Teachers' subject knowledge is typically secure, and explanations are clear.
• Learning is typically adapted effectively for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• The school is inclusive, uses additional funding carefully and has improved identification of pupils' needs.
• Inclusion panels and clear processes help identify needs early and make referrals for further support.
• Personal development is supported by a broad enrichment programme, clubs, visits and leadership opportunities.
• Pupils are taught about healthy lifestyles, British values, online safety, diversity and positive mental health.
• Pupils enjoy school, feel safe, are proud of their community and know who to speak to when worried.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' writing fluency and accuracy are less secure, and inaccuracies persist.
• Some pupils hold pencils incorrectly, and staff do not consistently correct this, hindering writing fluency and stamina.
• Teaching does not always check all pupils' understanding as consistently as it checks the targeted focus group.
• Recently introduced inclusion strategies are not yet fully embedded, creating some inconsistency in practice.
• Task and teaching adaptations do not always match pupils' needs closely enough.
• Published outcomes for disadvantaged pupils over time are below national averages.
• The school's disadvantage gap remains large in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Recently introduced initiatives need to be embedded consistently to improve pupils' learning.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools