Caddington Village School

Inspection of Caddington Village School Five Oaks, Caddington, Caddington Village School, Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 4JD

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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 3 and 4 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils talk positively about their school and the friendships they make. Pupils are keen to do well. They are focused in lessons. Children in early years quickly and happily settle into routines. Pupils are motivated by the rewards the new behaviour approach offers. This has had a positive impact on behaviour around the school. Pupils are confident that adults address any unkindness. They have trusted adults to share any worries with.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that staff want them to succeed. They like all the different subjects they learn about. Children in early years secure the knowledge and learning habits they need ready for Year 1. From the outset, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are well supported to learn to read. Pupils enjoy visiting the school library and having stories read to them. By the end of Year Six, most pupils achieve well in national assessments, which prepares them for secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate going on trips and having visitors into school. This includes liaising with a partner school in Germany. These opportunities broaden pupils’ horizons. Pupils are enjoying the recently introduced ‘community champions’ programme. These new leadership roles, such as for well-being and the environment, are helping pupils become more responsible citizens.

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

The school has improved how well pupils achieve in reading, writing and mathematics. It has introduced new curriculum content to ensure that in all subjects, the knowledge pupils need builds logically over time. The curriculum is ambitious. Leaders are also stabilising the school after a period of change. They are helping staff get used to the new curriculum expectations. This work is starting to have impact, yet it is still in its early stages. This means that sometimes the work given to pupils is not yet in the detail or depth that the school intends.

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

There is a strong focus on reading throughout the school. Children in early years quickly grasp the sounds they need to know to start to read. Staff skilfully support them to apply this knowledge in their writing. In all year groups, staff regularly check how well pupils can read. If this is not the case, staff take swift and precise action to ensure pupils catch up.

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

The school checks how well pupils are securing key knowledge. Pupils with SEND have clear targets to help them meet their identified goals. However, in some subjects, staff are not consistently using checks on learning to adapt lessons to meet the specific needs of pupils in their class. This can sometimes include pupils with SEND. As a result, gaps in knowledge remain or pupils complete work with ease when they are capable of moving on to new knowledge sooner.

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

Pupils across the school display positive learning habits. This starts in early years, where the children are taught to take turns and how to sustain concentration. Therefore, children can successfully engage in meaningful learning opportunities. Pupils and staff 3 and 4 December 2024

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agree that the new behaviour policy is applied fairly and consistently. Lessons are calm. Most pupils behave well for all adults in the school, so learning is not disrupted. Pupils understand what bullying is and how to report it. Pupils know that discriminatory behaviour is not acceptable. Leaders keep a close eye on any challenging behaviours. They are starting to take effective action to support pupils who need extra help managing their emotions. This remains an ongoing focus for a few pupils.

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The school is taking appropriate steps to work with families and other agencies to improve attendance. There are still some pupils who are not in school regularly. However, the school is doing all it can within its remit to address this. Leaders and governors ensure that this remains an ongoing focus.

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Through the personal development provision, pupils have a secure understanding of how to stay safe, healthy and happy. In early years, staff encourage children to describe their feelings and how to consider those of others. Older pupils are taught about healthy relationships and about being prepared for their teenage lives. The school ensures that pupils learn about the dangers of knife crime and about online safety. Pupils can explain clearly and maturely about equality, diversity and respecting differences. They understand democracy and why it is important.

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As a federation, governors provide effective challenge and support. They understand what is working well in school and what still needs action. The school is very mindful of staff well-being and this is appreciated by the staff. Many parents and carers are positive about the changes leaders are making to the school. However, the school also acknowledges that there is still work to be done to ensure all parents feel this way.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Staff are still getting used to the updated curriculum content. In some subjects, this means the work that some pupils produce is not sufficiently detailed and some pupils are not able to demonstrate a depth of understanding. The school needs to check that the level of detailed knowledge pupils need to know is explicitly understood by staff. The school then needs to check that pupils can recall this knowledge in the depth intended.  The work some pupils, including some with SEND, are set is not consistently meeting their specific needs. This means gaps in knowledge remain or pupils miss opportunities to extend their knowledge further. The school needs to ensure that staff are using checks on learning to adapt provision for pupils effectively, so that they achieve more highly. 3 and 4 December 2024

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 Some parents feel that they need more information about how the school supports their child. The school needs to continue their work to ensure parents are well informed and have their views taken into account. Governors need to check that parents’ feedback shows that this is being successfully addressed.

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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 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). 3 and 4 December 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 November 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of a federation with another local school. This federation is called the Caddington and Slip End Alliance. The executive headteacher oversees both schools in the federation. There is also a head of school.  The governing body oversees both schools in the federation.  The school does not use any 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 school’s education provision. 3 and 4 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.  The inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, head of school, senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders, teachers and support staff.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science, geography and music. For each deep dive, the inspectors spoke to leaders, visited lessons, spoke with pupils, look at pupils’ work and spoke with teachers and support staff.  The inspectors also looked at pupils’ work from other subjects.  The lead inspector met with two members of the governing body for the school, including the chair of the governing body.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s own self-

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evaluation, school improvement plan, governing body minutes and school improvement adviser visit notes.  The lead inspector spoke with the school’s improvement adviser from the local authority.  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.  The inspectors considered the responses gathered through Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, which included 71 free-text comments. There were 30 responses to the staff survey. All inspectors spoke to several pupils from different year groups during the inspection, along with a range of staff.

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Inspection team

Sara Boyce, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lucy Roberts Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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