Bewdley Primary School

Inspection of Bewdley Primary School Stourport Road, Bewdley, Worcestershire DY12 1BL

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bewdley Primary School is a friendly, happy community. Pupils enjoy coming to school. Staff are caring and get to know pupils and their families well. Most parents speak highly of the nurturing environment that is provided for their children.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They know they can speak to a trusted adult about any worries. The school has high expectations of behaviour and supports pupils to be ‘ready, respectful and safe’. Consequently, pupils are considerate and kind to each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The planned curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, pupils do not achieve as well as they could in some subjects. There is still work to do to ensure that all pupils are fully prepared for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the wider opportunities on offer. They are excited to take part in important community celebrations, such as the Eisteddfod creative arts festival and the Bewdley carnival. The school provides a range of trips, residentials and extra-curricular clubs. Pupils enjoy clubs such as performing arts, dance, football and card games. Pupils benefit from taking on leadership responsibilities, including being house captains or school councillors.

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

The school recognises that there is still work to do to ensure that pupils benefit from a high-quality education in all subjects. The school has not ensured that the curriculum is implemented as intended in some subjects. At times, teachers’ delivery of the curriculum is more effective in some subjects than in others. Consequently, pupils do not always achieve as well as they could.

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

The school has designed an interesting and engaging curriculum. However, the evaluation and monitoring of some subjects are not yet fully effective. In some subjects, subject leaders do not have a clear understanding of the impact of the intended curriculum on pupils’ achievement. As a result, pupils do not learn important knowledge securely in some subjects.

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

The school has made sure that reading is prioritised. There is a focus on developing pupils’ love of reading. The school has recently developed a new library, and pupils have access to a wide range of books. A love of stories and rhymes begins in the early years. Across school, pupils relish listening to adults reading carefully chosen books at story times. The school engages parents in reading through various workshops.

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

Staff are well trained to deliver the phonics programme with confidence. In Reception, children get off to a good start by learning the sounds that letters make. Pupils read books that are carefully matched to sounds they know. Any pupil who finds reading difficult is given regular support so that they catch up quickly. 1 and 2 October 2024

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Subject knowledge needs further development to ensure the curriculum is implemented as intended in some subjects, such as mathematics. Sometimes, teachers do not spot when pupils have errors or check what they have learned. As a result, pupils’ learning stalls and misconceptions are not addressed.

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The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND accurately. The school works hard with external agencies to get the support pupils need. The school has recently developed ‘the hub’ so pupils can access additional support. This is effective in supporting pupils to catch up. Parents are positive about the school’s provision.

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Children quickly settle into their class routines in Nursery and Reception. The curriculum is well sequenced and builds progressively over time. Adults know children well and plan activities that meet their needs. Children are happy and enjoy their time in the early years. They learn and play well together.

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Pupils, including in the early years, behave well in most lessons and around school. Staff provide effective help for pupils who find regulating their emotions more difficult. Pupils say bullying is rare. They value the work of the anti-bullying ambassadors.

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The curriculum for personal, social and health education is coherently sequenced. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. They know how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy. Pupils are taught about different families and healthy relationships. They learn about different cultures and religions.

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Governors care deeply about the school and want the best for staff and pupils. However, they do not hold leaders to account well enough for the quality of education that pupils receive. Staff are proud to work at the school. They are positive about recent whole- school changes. They say they feel well supported by leaders. The school has created a culture where staff feel valued and appreciated.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The intended curriculum is not always implemented consistently because subject knowledge is not always secure. As a result, pupils struggle with understanding teachers’ explanations and this limits their understanding. This is particularly the case in mathematics. The school should provide staff with appropriate training and support to develop their subject knowledge and pedagogy to support pupils to learn the intended curriculum consistently well.  Some subject leaders do not have an accurate picture of how well the curriculum is delivered. This means that pupils are not always learning as well as they could. The 1 and 2 October 2024

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school should ensure that all subject leaders develop the expertise to enable them to check the quality and delivery of their subject across school.  Governors do not have a clear oversight of the effectiveness of education. Governors should ensure that they hold leaders to account and offer appropriate support and challenge so that the quality of education that pupils receive improves.

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 1 and 2 October 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 May 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has provision for two-year-olds.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 1 and 2 October 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and senior leaders.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the governing body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors considered a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and

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improvement plans. Minutes of governing body meetings were also scrutinised.  Inspectors looked at records of pupils’ attendance and behaviour. They observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school and talked to them about behaviour, bullying and welfare.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors talked to parents at the start of the school day and considered the Ofsted Parent View survey and free-text comments. They also reviewed the responses to the staff survey and gathered the views of staff and pupils through discussion.

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Inspection team

Janice Wood, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sam Cosgrove Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 October 2024

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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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