Shefford C.E. Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Shefford C.E. Primary School Wantage Road, Great Shefford, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 7DB

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Outcome

Shefford C.E. Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This happy, thriving school sits right in the heart of the community and is a source of pride for families. Pupils feel at home here and speak fondly of the warm and inclusive ethos of the school. As one pupil told the inspector, ‘When someone new starts here, they make friends straight away, we are like a big family.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils embrace the school values and model them through their actions and attitudes. They revisit these regularly, helping them to develop a strong character. For example, playleaders confidently led an assembly during the inspection, encouraging their peers to show compassion towards those who were disappointed with their performance on sports day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take responsibility for their actions and trust that others will do the same. This helps to minimise incidents of unkindness and bullying. Pupils feel assured that the attitudes and behaviour of others in the school will help them to play and learn in harmony. Classes are calm and focused meaning pupils can get on with their work in peace. Pupils feel safe as they know that the whole school community will look out for them.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have taken a creative approach to develop the curriculum. In some subjects, they have taken the best of what is available commercially and adapted this to meet the needs of the pupils. In other subjects, leaders have started from scratch, considering precisely what they intend for pupils to know and understand and setting out what they need to learn to achieve this. This approach has helped subject leaders to focus on the development of the curriculum without spreading themselves too thinly.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Staff have been well trained to deliver the curriculum in most subjects. They possess a strong understanding of the content they need to cover and what knowledge they are building upon. In some subjects, such as mathematics, staff are given precise guidance 23 June 2022

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about how content should be taught. This helps them to teach using a consistent approach and familiar language that pupils find helpful. However, in other subjects, staff are left to decide their preferred way to teach key knowledge. This means that pupils do not always learn using the approaches they are used to, which they can find confusing.

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Staff have created a culture where reading is valued. Families in Reception benefit from a comprehensive induction, learning the school’s approach and how they can help their child to read at home. Staff teach children to identify and pronounce sounds and help them to commit these to memory. Pupils read from books that contain these sounds, developing their reading ability and boosting their confidence. Teachers use assessment well, pinpointing any gaps in pupils’ knowledge and helping them to catch up. As pupils’ reading improves, staff capitalise on this, encouraging pupils to read exciting and interesting texts that inspire and captivate them. Parents take it in turns to be the ‘mystery reader’, sharing texts they love and helping to further the culture of reading in the school.

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Pupils’ needs are carefully and accurately identified. From the off, staff work closely with families and nurseries to identify any small signs that children may need some extra help. Staff use this information to plan for and provide just the right amount of support. This helps pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to access and enjoy the curriculum and wider opportunities the school provides.

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Pupils benefit from a comprehensive range of clubs and attend these with relish. They develop impressive skills and infectious enthusiasm for computing, the arts and sport. Pupils learn to identify and control their emotions. They begin in Reception by communicating wants and needs, name their feelings in key stage 1 and resolve conflicts in key stage 2. Pupils are kind and friendly because they are taught how to be so. Pupils attend trips and visits that help them to enhance their learning. For instance, a recent trip to a gurdwara helped pupils to identify and understand Sikh symbolism and rituals.

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Governors monitor every step of the school’s development. They set plans with clear goals. Governors then check these methodically using a range of appropriate and efficient methods. The work to check that staff workload is appropriate, and well-being high, has led to improvements for staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn to identify and minimise risks that they may face now and in the future. They learn about appropriate touch and how to stay safe online. Pupils know they can trust staff to help them and confide in them when needed. Staff take pupils’ worries seriously, recording their concerns in detail and passing these on to the correct leaders in school. Leaders, in turn, know exactly where to get the right help and work with the local authority and external agencies to plan and deliver the support that is needed. 23 June 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, leaders have not specified how content should be taught. When this is the case, staff make their own decisions which vary in quality and effectiveness. Leaders should ensure that the pedagogical approaches they intend teachers to use are clearly outlined and understood by staff.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2017.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 23 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227892 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 and 27 April 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Shefford C.E. Primary School and Chaddleworth St Andrew’s C.E. Primary School are federated. Both schools are overseen by a single governing body.  The Shefford C.E. Primary School site is used as the main place of education for pupils from both schools. The pupils from both schools learn side by side in school and wear the same uniforms.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  Shefford C.E. Primary School’s religious character was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 in March 2016.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  Shefford C.E. Primary School and Chaddleworth St Andrew’s C.E. Primary School were inspected at the same time. Although the two inspections were distinct and led by 23 June 2022

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different inspectors, some elements of the inspection were combined and evidence shared.  During the inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher and other senior leaders. Members of the local governing body also met with the inspector. He also spoke to a representative from the local authority.  The two inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, spoke to leaders and staff, held discussions with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Throughout the inspection, the inspector gathered pupils’ views about the school through formal and informal discussions. These discussions took place during lessons, in meetings and at breaktimes. The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at various times during the school day, including breaktime and lunchtime.

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 The inspector scrutinised a wide range of safeguarding information, including the school’s safeguarding policy. He spoke to staff and pupils about safeguarding and looked at how pupils learn to keep themselves safe. The inspector spoke to the safeguarding leader about the recording and reporting of safeguarding incidents.  The inspectors met some parents to gain their views of the schools. They reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They also met with staff to gather their views.

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Inspection team

Daniel Lambert, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 23 June 2022

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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