a school not in a category of concern of Becket Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Charlie Barwell Executive headteacher Becket Primary School Tavistock Road Worle Weston-super-Mare Somerset BS22 6DH

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Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 2 April 2025, on behalf of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Primary School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school's key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school's progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school's previous graded inspection.

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Primary School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, the head of school, the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator (SENDCo), curriculum leaders, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust and the chairs of the trust and the local governing body, the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also visited lessons, met with pupils and carried out a scrutiny of pupils’ work and other documents. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, an executive headteacher has been appointed. Leaders have ensured a sharp focus on the quality of education and pupils’ behaviour for learning. As a result, the school has made significant improvements in the areas identified in the last inspection.

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Main findings

The school has rightly focused on improving the reading curriculum for pupils who are at the early stages of reading. At the time of the last inspection, the school was in the process of moving to a new phonics programme. This is now embedded and having a positive impact on pupils’ ability to segment words and blend sounds. Regular training ensures that staff have strong subject knowledge. This enables them to skilfully support pupils who need help to catch up, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils are also supported by reading books which match the sounds they know precisely. Consequently, most pupils are becoming fluent readers. However, the school has not considered how to adapt learning for a small number of pupils whose knowledge does not match the programme’s structure.

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Main findings

In the wider curriculum, the school has adopted the trust’s milestones for each subject. These match the national curriculum expectations. The school has broken these down and identified the key knowledge it wants pupils to learn. This knowledge is coherently sequenced so that pupils build on what they already know. The school has also identified subject-specific concepts it wants pupils to know. For example, rivers are an important local feature for pupils. Therefore, in each unit, pupils learn about a relevant river. This might be the Amazon when studying Brazil, or the Nile when studying the ancient Egyptians. This ensures the curriculum is designed to deepen and secure pupils’ knowledge over time. This is a new development. Pupils demonstrate subject-specific knowledge using technical vocabulary. However, they do not connect this knowledge to wider concepts. For example, they can describe lines of latitude, longitude and the

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Main findings

equator, but they are not able to use these to explain how these determine climate in the Amazon rainforest. Pupils enjoy the newly designed curriculum. They find it interesting and are animated when describing what they have learned.

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Main findings

The trust has supported the school effectively. Trust staff have supported the development of subject leadership. Curriculum leaders are knowledgeable about their subjects. Checks on learning are focused on ensuring the intended curriculum is being delivered. Training for curriculum leaders is now moving towards a more evaluative approach to understand the impact on pupils’ ability to know and remember more over time. The trust, and members of the local governing body, have a secure oversight of the school and its impact on pupils’ learning.

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Main findings

The school’s management of behaviour has been addressed since the previous inspection. There is a clear policy which staff follow. This successfully meets the needs of most pupils. Pupils know the rules, rewards and sanctions. They are motivated by these. This means they usually meet the high expectations of teachers. The school has increased its capacity and expertise to support pupils with SEND and to raise expectations. The school works closely with external agencies to review and implement appropriate provision.

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Main findings

Pupils mix well and play harmoniously. Social time is a positive experience for them. Pupils learn about different cultures, faiths and disabilities through the curriculum and assemblies. They benefit greatly from having friends from different cultures and this helps them to deepen and make sense of their knowledge. Equity and inclusion are visible. Pupils are adamant that bullying does not happen because everyone is accepted for who they are. Pupils have a strong, age-appropriate understanding of bullying and discrimination.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO of the Kaleidoscope trust, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for North Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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