Tushingham With Grindley CofE Primary School

Inspection of Tushingham With Grindley CofE Primary School Tushingham, Tushingham With Grindley CofE Primary School, Whitchurch, Cheshire SY13 4QS

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 January 2025

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

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Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding for overall effectiveness at its previous inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has not been inspected under section 5 of the Act since December 2017. The school received an ungraded inspection under section 8 of the Act on 7 November 2023. Since September 2024, schools have not been awarded an overall effectiveness grade. 28 and 29 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school where love and care shine through. The warm and nurturing relationships between staff and pupils are special. Staff know and understand pupils well. As a result, pupils are helped to feel happy and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils live up to the school’s high expectations for their behaviour. ‘The Tushingham way’ is lived out by everyone, including children in the early years. Pupils have a deep respect for one another. They support each other when they meet a challenge and celebrate each other’s successes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop high aspirations and show consistently positive attitudes to learning. Pupils are eager to learn. They understand that staff expect them to work hard and do their best. Pupils rise to these expectations and most achieve well in many areas of the curriculum. Children in the early years are exceptionally well prepared for the demands of Year 1.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the many exciting and enriching experiences that the school provides to enhance their education. Pupils can take part in a wide range of activities. These include sporting competitions and a vast array of after-school clubs. Pupils relish the opportunities that they have to take on leadership roles, such as acting as VIVAs and play leaders. Pupils also enjoy leading assemblies, organising charity events and playtime activities for other children. They make a true difference to their school.

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

The school has designed a rich and engaging curriculum from the early years to Year 6. It has ensured that pupils’ learning is relevant to them and to their local context.

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

Overall, the curriculum is delivered well. In most subjects, staff have strong subject knowledge. They introduce new learning clearly. Pupils are excited by their learning and enjoy talking about what they have been learning about. Most pupils learn well. The school quickly identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) by working closely with parents, carers and external professionals. Staff provide extra support, such as intervention sessions, to help pupils to close any gaps in their knowledge. This helps pupils with SEND to learn successfully alongside their peers.

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

In a small number of subjects, some pupils do not remember essential knowledge over time. This is because, on occasion, staff do not focus on the most important knowledge that the school wants pupils to secure in readiness for future learning.

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

In many subjects, the school reliably checks what pupils know and remember. Staff use questioning successfully in order to check pupils’ understanding. However, in a few wider curriculum subjects, the school is still developing its approaches to check that pupils embed knowledge into their long-term memory. In these subjects, the checks that staff make are sometimes not effective in helping staff to understand how well pupils 28 and 29 January 2025

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remember key knowledge. This prevents pupils from achieving what they are fully capable of in a timely manner.

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The school prioritises early reading and phonics. Children in the Nursery Year thoroughly enjoy joining in with stories, rhymes and songs. This prepares them extremely well to learn a wider range of sounds and letters when they enter the Reception Year. Staff are highly ambitious for all children, irrespective of their background or ability, from the minute that they begin in the Nursery Year.

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Staff are skilled at delivering the school’s phonics programme. Pupils practise reading using books that align closely with the sounds that they learn in the classroom. This reinforces their understanding, and most pupils quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to read with confidence and fluency. Those pupils who need help to keep up with the pace of the phonics programme are supported by well-trained staff.

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Clear routines are firmly embedded across the school, and this means that classrooms are purposeful environments. Children in the early years engage deeply and focus fully on their tasks. They are highly motivated to learn. Children rapidly develop their confidence and independence, and they play happily with their friends. Pupils in other year groups commit themselves to their learning.

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The school’s provision to enhance pupils’ personal development is exceptional. It is woven through every aspect of school life. Pupils have a strong sense of fairness. They are determined that no one is ever left out or discriminated against. They see themselves as citizens of the school, the wider community and the world. Pupils lead projects that reach far beyond the school community, such as sending birthday cards to people who are alone, sponsoring a child to go to school in Uganda and learning about the impact of World War II.

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Governors provide effective challenge and support to leaders. They ensure that the school uses its resources wisely to provide the best opportunities for pupils. Staff are highly positive about the support that they receive from the school. They appreciate the training that they receive and the resources that the school has purchased to help reduce their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, in a few subjects, pupils are not supported to learn the most important knowledge in the curriculum. Therefore, some pupils do not build a sufficient depth of knowledge in these subjects. The school should ensure that teachers have the 28 and 29 January 2025

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expertise required to make appropriate pedagogical choices, so that pupils learn the knowledge necessary for future learning.  In some wider curriculum subjects, the school is in the early stages of implementing strategies to check how well pupils learn the curriculum. Consequently, the school does not have a secure understanding of what pupils know and remember in all subjects. The school should develop effective assessment approaches to check the impact of its work in helping pupils to remember their learning in the long term.

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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). 28 and 29 January 2025

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School details

Local authority Cheshire West and Chester

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School details

Headteacher Cathy Davies (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 November 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a voluntary-controlled Church of England school and is part of the Diocese of Chester. Its most recent section 48 inspection took place in February 2024. The next section 48 inspection is due by February 2029.  Leaders do not make use of 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. 28 and 29 January 2025

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, senior leaders and staff.  The inspectors held meetings with the leaders responsible for SEND and the provision for children in the early years.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  An inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority and of the diocese.  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 with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to pupils from Years 1 to 3 read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects with leaders and met

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with pupils to discuss their learning in these subjects.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour as they arrived at school and during lessons and breaktimes. They also spoke with pupils about their views of the school.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being. They took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.  Inspectors met with parents and carers and reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.  Inspectors considered the views of pupils and staff who responded to Ofsted’s surveys.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.

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Inspection team

Kathy Nichol, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Karen Morris Ofsted Inspector 28 and 29 January 2025

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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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