Colville Primary School

Inspection of Colville Primary School Colville Road, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB1 9EJ

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 December 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 10 and 11 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils join a community where ‘love, laughter and learning’ come together to create a supportive environment. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive appropriate assistance and care. Adults in school try to understand what makes each pupil tick. This helps pupils feel happy and secure. It gives them the confidence to share their worries, knowing they will be supported and kept safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Polite and kind behaviour is the norm. Pupils learn to interact positively by observing and emulating the adults around them. Those who take on roles such as school councillor or dinner helper strive to improve the school environment. Breaktimes and lunchtimes are buzzing with activity. The school involves pupils in choosing equipment and games, creating opportunities for active play and positive interactions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations for pupils’ learning. This shows in how pupils approach their education. For example, Year 2 pupils confidently use coins to calculate specific amounts in mathematics, while Year 6 pupils clearly explain the evolution of finches into 18 species in science. These expectations support pupils in achieving well in statutory assessments. Combined with their calm conduct, this helps to prepare them for secondary school.

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

Reading is central to the curriculum. Regular checks of the sounds pupils know inform one-to-one or small-group tuition and ensure extra practice for those who need it. Books are matched to the letter sounds pupils know, building confidence and supporting their progress. The school successfully fosters a love of reading. For example, pupils enjoy daily story time. They relish the chance to request new books for their class libraries.

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

The curriculum exposes pupils to a wide variety of people, places, ideas and skills. For instance, in art, pupils learn how artists’ lives influenced their style and the broader impact of their work on the art world. Staff generally engage pupils effectively through demonstrations and explorations, preparing them well for success in their schoolwork.

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

Although pupils engage in effective learning activities across subjects, expectations for writing are less consistent. This can result in some pupils’ mistakes, in aspects such as letter formation or punctuation, not being fully addressed. In the early years, there is a strong focus on practising reading, but children have fewer opportunities to develop accurate writing skills before entering Year 1.

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

In some subjects, staff use broad statements to check what pupils know and can do. This can make it hard to identify specific gaps in their knowledge. This is reflected in instances when pupils struggle to recall or apply the key words, concepts and skills they have been taught. The lack of precision in assessment means gaps can go unnoticed. This makes it more difficult to adapt teaching to meet pupils’ different needs effectively. 10 and 11 December 2024

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The school fosters a strong culture of inclusion. Clear referral processes identify pupils’ needs. Regular progress reviews of the school’s communication passports and additional support plans ensure that support for pupils with SEND is effective. Staff, including those in the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND, receive effective, targeted training. Staff collaborate well to ensure pupils with SEND receive the support they need.

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Starting in the early years, classrooms support effective learning. Staff teach and reinforce behaviours such as active listening and taking turns. Pupils are calm and attentive, showing respect for staff. Regular praise and rewards, such as the weekly golden assembly, encourage pupils to build positive behaviours as habits.

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The school’s personal development programme helps pupils to build their confidence and cultural awareness through events such as theatre trips and class assemblies. These activities improve their public speaking and performance skills. Educational visits, such as to places of worship or local businesses, promote pupils’ understanding of different religions, cultures and careers.

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Governors have a strong understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. This is informed by open information-sharing. Governors help to drive improvement of the school, for instance through agreeing to fund additional mathematics training to improve teaching quality and therefore raising pupils’ achievement.

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Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They value the cheerful newsletters and the opportunities to visit ‘open classrooms’ to engage with their child’s learning. Leaders and staff are approachable. Parents feel comfortable raising concerns, knowing they will be resolved quickly.

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Staff appreciate leaders’ openness, which fosters trust and encourages collaboration with school development. The school prioritises staff’s well-being by valuing their personal lives, promoting a balanced workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Expectations for pupils’ writing could be more consistent across the curriculum. On occasion, issues are not identified or addressed promptly. As a result, pupils’ errors persist. The school should raise expectations, provide teachers with clear guidance and ensure regular opportunities for writing, including in the early years, to help pupils write competently and confidently.  In some subjects, the assessment process is not precise enough to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge. This leaves some pupils unclear about key words, concepts and 10 and 11 December 2024

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skills, limiting their progress. The school should develop a more accurate approach to assessment to ensure gaps in pupils’ learning are identified promptly and addressed effectively.

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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). 10 and 11 December 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 March 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a specially resourced provision for around 12 pupils with speech, language and communication needs. Each pupil follows a personalised timetable, enabling them to participate in mainstream classes while also receiving targeted support through small-group sessions or one-to-one tuition.  The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provision.

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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.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 10 and 11 December 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with leaders, including the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, two governors and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and held discussions with some pupils about their learning. They also reviewed samples of pupils’ work and listened to a selection of pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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 reviewed school documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, minutes of meetings of the governing body and a report including reviews of the school conducted by the local authority.  Inspectors considered the responses to the surveys, including Ofsted’s pupil survey and staff survey, and responses to Ofsted Parent View, which included free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Daniel Short, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Stuart Pope Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 December 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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