Cheriton Primary School

Inspection of Cheriton Primary School Church Road, Folkestone, Kent CT20 3EP

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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 4 and 5 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils delight in attending this friendly school. They enjoy spending time with one another and show genuine care for their peers. They are respectful. Pupils are appointed to a range of roles. These help them to become responsible and respectful citizens. For example, pupils appointed as well-being ambassadors support other pupils to feel happy and safe. Pupils play joyfully with one another at breaktime. They are proud of their local and international connections in this culturally diverse school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils. Pupils’ talents and interests are nurtured. Pupils achieve well across a broad range of subjects. They show interest in what they learn. Pupils develop the ability to make choices and form their own opinions. They show pride in the work that they produce. They produce work that adorns the corridors and fills class books. Pupils in the choir and Rock Band perform to others in and beyond the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are polite and courteous towards adults and one another. Staff care deeply for pupils, helping pupils to learn, grow and flourish. They make sure that pupils are safe and happy.

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

The school provides a curriculum that matches the needs and interests of pupils well. Leaders have introduced a new curriculum this academic year. They have worked swiftly to ensure that teachers deliver the curriculum consistently. Staff receive training that helps them to refine the way they teach. Leaders provide staff with time to think through the curriculum developments. This helps staff manage their workload well. Leaders and governors diligently check pupils gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed. This ensures that curriculum refinements are embedded swiftly and effectively.

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

Pupils develop their reading and mathematical knowledge well. Children in the early years have a positive start. They swiftly gain an understanding of reading and number. They use what they learn in class when they play. This helps them to embed what they learn. For example, children dress up to enact characters in their favourite stories. This helps them to rehearse new vocabulary with confidence. Older pupils develop their reading fluency well. They read books that match their interest and ability both in school and at home. The school helps pupils who have fallen behind with their reading to catch up quickly. Pupils apply their mathematical knowledge across a broad range of subjects. For example, they explore measurement in design and technology and analyse graphs in science.

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

Teachers support pupils well to learn across a broad range of subjects. Children in the early years experience a range of engaging activities. This helps them gain the knowledge needed to transfer with confidence to key stage 1. Teachers help pupils to recap what they have learned previously. This helps pupils to connect what they have learned to make sense of new learning. Teachers ask helpful questions to encourage pupils to think about what they learn. However, questions are too often focused on a limited number of 4 and 5 March 2025

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pupils. This means that not all pupils have enough opportunities to embed the vocabulary and knowledge outlined in the curriculum.

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Teachers identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They provide interventions that support pupils’ social and emotional needs. Effective parental engagement initiatives help pupils to feel happy, safe and ready to learn. However, sometimes teaching is not adapted well enough to ensure pupils with SEND achieve as well as they could.

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Pupils behave well. Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Classrooms are calm, and learning is purposeful. Pupils talk positively about the school’s approach to managing behaviour. They say this approach is fair, and this also helps them to improve their behaviour. The attendance of some pupils does fall below the school’s high expectations. The school is diligently working with families to support pupils to improve their attendance.

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Pupils take part in a wide range of activities that go beyond the taught curriculum. They experience a variety of clubs and activities. The school ensures that disadvantaged pupils get the help they need to benefit fully from these activities. This helps all pupils get involved in the clubs and competitions on offer. The school also provides a range of trips linked to the newly introduced curriculum. These capitalise on the locality in subjects such as art and design and geography.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, and in some subjects, teaching is not adapted well enough to support pupils with SEND. Where this is the case, some pupils struggle to access their learning. It affects how well some pupils achieve. The school should ensure that teaching approaches are used consistently well and that teaching is adapted effectively to ensure pupils with SEND achieve highly.  There are inconsistencies in how teachers checks what pupils know and remember, including whether pupils have remembered important subject content and vocabulary. These inconsistencies sometimes affect how well pupils retain and remember key information over time. The school should ensure that approaches for checking pupils know and remember important subject content, including key vocabulary, are embedded.

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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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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). 4 and 5 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 29 and 30 October 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Vicus Cooperative Learning Trust. This is a cooperative trust of two primary schools. This is a collaborative group with no governance or leadership responsibility for this school. The school has its own governing body that takes all governance responsibilities.  The school provides a breakfast and after-school club on site.  The school does not currently 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 a school’s education 4 and 5 March 2025

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provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The 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 met with the headteacher, members of the governing body, other leaders and a range of staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, design and technology, geography and science. 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.  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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors reviewed a wide range of documents, including those related to governance of the school.  The inspectors considered the views of parents and carers through their responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. The inspectors spoke to staff and considered the views of staff and pupils in the staff and pupil surveys. The inspectors spoke to pupils and parents during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Graham Chisnell, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sara Wakefield Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 March 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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