Cotham Gardens Primary School

Inspection of Cotham Gardens Primary School 18 Cotham Grove, Bristol BS6 6AL

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 December 2024

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

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The head of school is Emmeline Smith. This school is a single academy trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Chris Seaton, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sarah Williams. 10 and 11 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education at Cotham Gardens. The school’s expectations of pupils’ achievement are low. The impact of the school’s curriculum is weak. Consequently, pupils are unprepared for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The support that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive to learn the curriculum is poor. The school has not done enough to identify and address these weaknesses over time. This has been compounded further by turbulence in leadership and governance.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe. They know that staff will help them if they have any worries. Pupils’ conduct around the school building is sensible and purposeful. However, the school’s expectations of pupils’ behaviour for learning are not high enough. Pupils experience disruption to their learning. Staff do not apply the school’s behaviour policy consistently well. Beyond the classroom, pupils socialise happily.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are some opportunities for pupils to take on leadership responsibilities. This helps them to develop confidence and responsibility. For example, pupils can become school councillors or classroom monitors. Some pupils develop their talents and interests through clubs, such as choir. However, these opportunities are limited.

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

The curriculum is designed to identify what pupils will learn from the Reception Year through to Year 6. However, checks are not made in the way in which the curriculum is taught. There is a lack of oversight about pupils’ education. The recently strengthened trust board has begun to address this issue. The board is ensuring that the school is supported to monitor and check the implementation of the curriculum accurately. However, as yet, the school does not know which areas of the curriculum are being delivered successfully or those aspects that require strengthening.

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

Pupils’ gaps in learning are not routinely addressed. Their learning often consists of a series of disconnected lessons. This does not help them to build securely on their previous knowledge or prepare them for what they will learn next. As a result, pupils do not progress well through the curriculum. Their achievement is weak.

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

Although the identification of the needs of pupils with SEND is timely, expectations of what these pupils should learn are low. They are not provided with the support that they need to learn all that they should. This means pupils with SEND do not achieve well enough.

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

The school has recently taken steps to prioritise reading. However, there is not a sufficiently sharp focus on ensuring that pupils acquire a wide vocabulary or communicate effectively. Pupils are not routinely provided with opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills of communication and language. 10 and 11 December 2024

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Children learn to read as soon as they start in the Reception Year. At this early stage, children read books that match the sounds that they know. They also develop a strong grounding in number and early mathematics. However, the school has not ensured that all staff have the training they need to widen children’s vocabulary. In addition, the curriculum in some other areas of learning is underdeveloped. Opportunities for children to learn new knowledge and skills are limited. Consequently, children do not achieve as well as they could in readiness for their move into Year 1.

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The books that pupils in key stage 1 read do not match the sounds they know well enough. Pupils who need to catch up do not receive effective support to overcome gaps in their phonics knowledge. The broader reading curriculum has recently been updated. However, it is not adapted for the different needs of the pupils at the school. It does not take enough account of the gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge. Consequently, many pupils do not have the knowledge that they need to read fluently and with confidence.

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There is a rigorous approach to securing pupils’ attendance at school. Staff work closely with families and external agencies to gain an understanding of the causes of any absence. This work has had a demonstrable impact. The behaviour policy has been strengthened. However, staff do not apply this policy consistently well. In some lessons, the poor behaviour of some pupils sometimes interrupts the learning of others.

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The school’s provision for pupils’ broader personal development lacks coherence. Although the curriculum is well designed, staff do not deliver it as they should. Lessons are not ordered well enough to build pupils’ knowledge securely over time. This means that pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they should be.

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The school and those responsible for governance do not have the capacity to improve the quality of education that pupils receive. Not enough has been done to ensure that the curriculum is delivered consistently well to meet pupils’ needs. Recent changes within the trust board are in the early stages of bringing stability and a more strategic approach to planning and implementing the improvements that are required. This is beginning to lay the foundations on which to build. However, currently the school is heavily reliant on external support to bring about change. While most staff enjoy working at the school, there is some dissatisfaction about the school’s approach to managing their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school, including the trust, lacks the capacity to bring about the necessary changes to pupils’ learning at the required pace. A lack of oversight has led to a decline in the 10 and 11 December 2024

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quality of education that pupils receive. The school and the trust must strengthen leadership capacity at all levels so that improvements are rapid and sustainable.  The school has not ensured that staff have the knowledge and expertise that they need to deliver curriculum content. This means that pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge over time. This leads to gaps in their knowledge that go unchecked. As a result, pupils are not prepared for the next stage of their learning. The school must ensure that staff are well-informed and suitably guided to teach the agreed curriculum and to identify and remedy gaps in pupils’ learning.  Pupils with SEND do not receive the support that they need to learn all that they should. Consequently, pupils with SEND do not achieve well enough. The school must ensure that staff are suitably equipped to enable pupils with SEND to learn the curriculum so that they achieve well in all aspects of school life.

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 Some pupils in the early stages of learning to read do not get the support that they need to catch up. The texts that they are given are sometimes too difficult for them to read. Beyond phonics, the reading curriculum is not designed to address pupils’ gaps in knowledge. This prevents these pupils from becoming accurate, confident and fluent readers. The school should ensure that the phonics programme and the reading curriculum are implemented fully to allow all pupils to succeed.  The curriculum for some areas of learning in the early years does not enable children to achieve well. In addition, not enough is done to widen children’s vocabulary and their communication and language skills. Consequently, children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. The school must ensure that staff have sufficient expertise to interact with children purposefully and deliver the curriculum for all areas of learning effectively.

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 Staff do not follow the behaviour policy consistently well. At times, some pupils do not behave as well as they should. This disrupts the learning of others. The school should ensure that staff implement the behaviour policy as intended.  The personal development offer is not implemented as well as intended. This means that pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge over time. It leads to gaps in pupils’ understanding and means they are not as well prepared as they should be for life in modern Britain. The school must ensure that staff are suitably equipped to deliver the curriculums that promote pupils’ personal development. HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

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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. 10 and 11 December 2024

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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

Dates of previous inspection 10 to 12 January 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a single academy trust.  The school uses two registered 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.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, 10 and 11 December 2024

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managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors held discussions with the head of school, other school leaders, the chair of the board of the trust, the interim CEO and trustees.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, and design and technology. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  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

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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 to Ofsted’s online staff survey. They also took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors spoke to pupils and staff. An inspector also spoke to parents and carers at the start of the school day. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Liz Geller, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sean Millar 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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