Ofsted Report

During the most recent school inspection in November 2023, we were proud to receive substantial praise, highlighting many positive aspects of the school. These included the variety of opportunities for pupils’ personal development, our approach to pupil wellbeing and mindfulness, and the positive relationships pupils have with staff. The report celebrated our “clear expectations for pupils’ behaviour” and our “ambitious, well-planned curriculum”, in which “pupils enjoy the wide-ranging opportunities the school provides.”

Overall, inspectors felt there should be no change at this stage to our ‘Good’ rating, however, they would like to see us improve in early reading development and phonics in order to maintain this rating in future inspections. We have already started to make progress in these areas for improvement and the report serves as a foundation for us to continue to grow, building upon the positive feedback from Ofsted and addressing the areas that could further enhance the learning experience for our pupils.

With our dedicated colleagues who are said to “provide good support for the school”, we are well-positioned to push forward and be ready for the next inspection which will take place in the next 12-24 months.

The complete Ofsted report can be found in the downloads section of this page. Some of the highlights include:

• “Pupils have positive relationships with staff, which helps them to feel safe. They know that trusted adults will help if they are worried about something. Pupils show respect to their teachers. They show this by behaving well in lessons. Pupils are confident to answer questions and ask for help if they need to.”
• “Staff have high expectations of pupils’ achievement, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means that pupils try hard in lessons.”
• “Pupils enjoy the wide-ranging opportunities the school provides. They contributed to a review of the school’s values, which include resilience, and being unique and ambitious. Opportunities are planned to develop pupils’ broader development, such as supporting charities and taking part in school productions as well as musical and sporting events.”
• “The school has an ambitious, well-planned curriculum. The trust and the school have identified what they want pupils to know and remember in each subject, for example mathematics and history. Leaders have used appropriate checks to assess where there are gaps in learning and in many subjects, pupils are helped to keep up or catch up quickly.”
• “Children in Reception enjoy their learning and respond well to all adults. They learn to count and recognise numbers and have many opportunities to use this knowledge. Children learn about the recent past and show an understanding of historical events. For example, they could explain why they stood silently for the recent Act of Remembrance along with the rest of the pupils.”
• “The school sets clear expectations for pupils’ behaviour and pupils adhere to these well. This means that classrooms are calm and disruption to learning is rare. Children in Reception learn quickly about these expectations. Any pupils with additional emotional needs receive effective support. This enables them to engage in all areas of school life.”
• “The school identifies and supports pupils with SEND effectively. Staff make sure that the curriculum is broken down into small steps when necessary. They make sure that pupils with SEND learn alongside their classmates and that they access the same ambitious curriculum. Pupils have meaningful targets. Some pupils work on these outside the main classroom when this helps them. Pupils learn and achieve well because of this support.”
• “The school provides a range of personal development opportunities that support pupils’ personal development well. Pupils are taught about mindfulness and this prepares them well for lessons and the tests they take in Year 6. The school celebrates a range of languages and cultures in assembly time. Pupils learn to sing in Spanish and are proud of this ability.”
• “The trust provides good support for the school, which includes training and mentoring. The trust, school leaders and those responsible for governance ensure that staff workload and well-being are considered. They provide appropriate resources and give those teachers at the beginning of their careers the necessary help to ensure that they are effective.”
• “The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”

There is a lot to be proud of in this report, but one aspect that stands out is the reinforcement of our core values: resilience, uniqueness, and ambition. We are thrilled that the diverse opportunities we offer have been recognised for their contribution to these principles.