The Croft Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Croft Primary School Churchill Way, Painswick, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 6RQ

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Outcome

The Croft Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a friendly and inclusive school. Pupils are encouraged to become responsible, compassionate and resilient citizens. They are well-mannered and talk proudly about their school. They say that they are happy in school and love learning. The curriculum helps them to ‘explore the world, like going on an adventure’. Pupils say that adults support them if they need extra help with their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work and play together well. They say that bullying rarely happens and that staff take their concerns seriously. Pupils relish taking on leadership roles, such as playground peacemakers. Pupils’ personal development and well-being are central to the school’s work. This prepares them well for their next stage. Pupils value the rich variety of activities that promote their personal development and well-being, including the use of outdoor learning. Every year, pupils raise money for charity and have recently made links with a school in Ukraine.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils form trusting relationships with teachers and other adults. Consequently, pupils feel safe and behave well. They live up to adults’ high expectations. Leaders know the pupils well and put their best interests at the heart of all decisions. Most parents and carers are positive about the school.

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

Leaders have developed a curriculum to engage and excite pupils, including in the early years. There are clear links to their locality and the wider world. Teachers know the expectations for the delivery of the curriculum. They use this guidance well so that pupils learn successfully. For example, teachers’ focus on important vocabulary helps pupils to understand what they are learning.

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

The curriculum develops knowledge coherently and logically in most subjects. Staff know the barriers to learning faced by most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. This helps pupils learn well. 8 December 2022

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However, in some subjects, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding well enough to adapt learning to meet the needs of all pupils or inform future learning. Consequently, pupils do not always learn as well as they could. When this happens, pupils do not have an opportunity to grapple with more complex areas of the curriculum and deepen their knowledge.

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In a few subjects, the curriculum is not fully developed. Leaders have not made clear the important knowledge they want pupils to know. This means that teachers do not always have the information they need in order to teach what leaders have intended. As a result, pupils have some gaps in their knowledge.

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The reading curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced. Children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 make a strong start when learning to read. Staff make sure that pupils practise their reading with books that match the sounds they have learned. Staff quickly identify pupils who struggle to keep up with the phonics programme, including pupils with SEND. Staff provide extra support and, in turn, help these pupils to catch up. As a result, pupils become fluent readers and expand their vocabulary well. Pupils love to read. Teachers choose books carefully and read to pupils regularly. All pupils experience a wide range of texts.

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Leaders have designed a well-thought-through offer to develop pupils beyond the academic curriculum. Opportunities include trips to enrich pupils’ learning as well as many extra-curricular activities, such as musical and sporting opportunities. Pupils take an active role in their community. For example, Year 6 pupils joined the village remembrance service. These experiences strengthen pupils’ independence and awareness of the world around them.

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Staff expect pupils to behave well in lessons. Pupils respond to these high expectations. They have positive attitudes to their learning and want to do well. In early years, children settle quickly into routines and expectations of them. Staff support children to sustain their attention and follow instructions successfully. As a result, the school is a calm and purposeful place in which to learn. There is mutual respect for all.

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Governors are knowledgeable about the work of the school. Governors play an important role in holding school leaders to account. They ask challenging questions to check the impact of school improvement priorities. They are determined that all pupils have as many educational opportunities made available to them as possible. Staff appreciate the ongoing support from leaders and governors and know that their well-being is prioritised.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that all staff have regular and detailed safeguarding training. This means that staff are alert to the possible signs of abuse and neglect. Leaders are quick to act on any concerns. The school has appropriate systems for checking, vetting and training new members of staff in child protection. Staff recognise the importance of promoting pupils’ health, well-being and emotional development. 8 December 2022

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Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. They know whom to go to if they have concerns or worries. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum supports pupils’ understanding of risk, including how to stay safe online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not identified precisely enough the important knowledge that pupils should know and remember. Consequently, teachers do not sequence learning which builds pupils’ understanding of important concepts. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum in all subjects identifies the knowledge pupils need to learn and when.  In some subjects, assessment is not used well enough to inform future learning. As a result, learning is not adapted successfully to meet the needs of all pupils. This hampers these pupils from learning the curriculum as well as they could. Leaders need to ensure that assessment is used effectively to inform teachers how to adapt learning to enable pupils to know more and remember more of the curriculum.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 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. 8 December 2022

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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. 8 December 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23 February 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school currently has seven classes.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to an adult.  Inspectors had meetings with the headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the school business manager, a representative from the local authority and members of the governing body. 8 December 2022

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 An inspector met the designated safeguarding leads, checked the single central record of adults working in the school and looked at safeguarding records.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in class, around school and at breaktimes and held discussions with leaders about pupils’ wider development.  Inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and by talking to parents after school.  The inspectors considered the views of a range of pupils through the pupil survey. They also took into account responses from the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Lizzy Meadows, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Neil Lankester Ofsted Inspector 8 December 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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