Ofsted Visit - November 2020

Following our Ofsted inspection in October 2019, we subsequently received an Ofsted visit in November 2020 which was to gauge the school's performance during lockdown and our recovery curriculum.  The report from Ofsted was sent to parents with a letter from Mr Revell, our Principal, both of which are attached below.

 Ofsted Inspection - October 2019                                            

Dear Parents

OFSTED INSPECTION 2019

I am writing to notify you of the publication of our school’s recent Ofsted inspection report.

In the final verbal report to leaders and governors, the Lead Inspector said…

“The children here get a fabulous deal”

“This school provides provision far beyond any other school we have seen”

“Pupils here achieve exceptionally well”

“We’ve seen some fantastic teachers, some of the best teaching that we’ve seen in a very, very long time”

“Some things here are far better than we have ever seen elsewhere”

The 'four strong' inspection team carried out detailed reviews of five curriculum areas, which were selected by them.  These “Deep Dives” (as these reviews are described in the new inspection framework introduced in September 2019) produced some excellent evidence:

Reading and Maths

Both these subject areas were described as “exemplary” and we were also told that the “pupils’ love of reading sometimes hits you between the eyes!”

Personal, Social & Health Education

This subject was described as “such strong stuff”, “exceptional” and of such high quality that the inspector team had “never seen this quality ever before in a primary school”.

Art

Our art curriculum was described as similarly exceptional, with achievement outcomes comparable to those, which “would normally be expected by Y7 or Y8 pupils”.

History

This was the fifth subject area chosen by the inspectors.  We were described as very good on teaching of knowledge, visits and visitors, children clearly enjoyed their history and could remember an “incredible range of facts from that which they had been taught even some time ago”.  

Overall, the inspectors said that they had:

“Never seen those subjects nailed down as well ever, at any school”

Whilst we were initially pleased to hear the inspectors’ glowing praise for our school, we were ultimately dismayed with the written report and the overall good (and not outstanding) grades given.  This jarred with the inspectors’ effusive verbal feedback.

We are already well in process of sorting out the “minor tweaks” which were raised as actions.  This was acknowledged by the Lead Inspector, who said, “keep doing what you are doing; I know you’ll have this done by next Thursday!”

I am extremely proud of the children, staff team and our community, but most of all I am proud of our pupils and the credit given to the “character of our pupils - polite, caring, well behaved, a delight to be around”.  This was even down to our youngest pupils in EYFS who were described as having “exceptional behaviour and attitudes”, and being “a real credit to you”.  The inspector team stated that they had “not seen anywhere this good at this time of the year!”

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

T J Revell 

Principal

For our latest DfE Performance Tables, please follow this link:

For our latest Ofsted report, please open the document below or follow this link: