Cherrywood Community Primary School

Inspection of Cherrywood Community Primary School Mayfield Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 8LH

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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 18 and 19 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Cherrywood is a happy and welcoming school. Parents and carers speak highly of how staff ‘go the extra mile’ in the care and support that they provide. The school is committed to building strong relationships with the community. It seeks every opportunity to work with families and to support pupils with their learning, both at school and at home. Pupils generally behave well and build positive and respectful friendships with their peers. They trust staff to keep them safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils to thrive in both their learning and wider development. Pupils achieve well throughout the school and model positive values. They understand the importance of good physical health and enjoy the many opportunities they have to participate in sports activities. Pupils enjoy special events, such as ‘cultural week’, which helps them to experience different customs from around the world. They appreciate the trips that help to enrich their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a highly inclusive school. Staff really understand the challenges that some pupils may face. They help pupils to be reflective and mindful of how their actions can affect others. As a result, most pupils make positive and kind choices.

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

Pupils learn from a carefully designed curriculum that helps them to develop strong foundations for learning from the early years upwards. The school encourages pupils to be curious and resilient. Pupils enjoy discovering new knowledge and sharing their ideas. Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well in this school. They develop reading, writing and mathematical skills that prepare them effectively for the next stages of their education.

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

Teachers understand the different needs of pupils very well. This allows them to design suitable lesson activities to benefit pupils. Staff have strong subject knowledge, which helps them to explain new ideas in a clear and interesting way. Teachers regularly check pupils’ understanding so that any misconceptions are quickly identified and addressed. This helps pupils to build up their knowledge over time and to remember important information.

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

The school provides effective support for pupils with SEND. From the earliest stages of pupils’ learning, teachers adjust the curriculum and give the right support to pupils who need it. This helps pupils to grow in confidence and independence as they move through the school.

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

Reading is prioritised as soon as children start in Reception. Story time is an important daily routine that helps pupils to foster a love of reading. The school organises phonics teaching so that pupils learn in targeted groups that match the stage of their reading. However, phonics teaching is not consistently effective. Sometimes, pupils do not have sufficient practice when learning new sounds and are unable to recognise these sounds 18 and 19 March 2025

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when reading. Occasionally, teaching does not support pupils in securing accurate and efficient techniques for reading unfamiliar words.

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Staff have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Starting from early years, children learn positive routines, such as taking turns, listening and helping each other. As pupils move through the school, expectations are consistently reinforced. As a result, the vast majority of pupils show high levels of respect and behave well. They are enthusiastic about their learning and build positive relations with one another. Most pupils model the school values well and recognise the importance of equality. They are proud to be part of a diverse community and are keen to learn about other cultures. The school provides ongoing support to the few pupils who need additional help to manage their emotions and behaviours. This work often helps pupils to reflect on their words and actions and to make more positive choices. However, a very small number of pupils do not respond as effectively to this support and persist in using discriminatory language. The school is swift

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to challenge and address these incidents when they occur but recognises that there is further work to do in ensuring this behaviour does not continue.

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Most pupils attend school regularly and are keen to learn. The school takes effective action to promote positive attendance, and it is thorough in following up where pupils do not attend as often as they should.

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Governors are knowledgeable and supportive of the school. They share a common sense of purpose and work effectively with leaders to ensure that the provision continues to improve. Staff feel highly supported in managing their workload. They appreciate that leaders prioritise their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teaching of reading does not help pupils to secure and apply their phonics skills accurately. As a result, some pupils do not learn to read as quickly or well as they should. The school should ensure all staff have the expertise to teach phonics and reading effectively.  The school’s work to challenge prejudicial language is not consistently effective. While the vast majority of pupils behave well and show positive attitudes, a very small number continue to use discriminatory language. The school should redouble its efforts to ensure discriminatory behaviours are successfully challenged and not enabled to spread. 18 and 19 March 2025

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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). 18 and 19 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 18 and 19 September 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  There have been some staffing changes recently, including two new senior leaders who took up their posts in September 2024.

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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. 18 and 19 March 2025

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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.  Inspectors met with senior leaders, staff and pupils. The lead inspector also met with the representatives from the board of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and geography. They discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, teachers and pupils, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also considered other subjects.  Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, including the free-text comments. They also took account of the responses to the confidential staff survey and gathered the views of both staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  Inspectors reviewed and scrutinised a range of the school’s documents, including

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leaders’ plans for improving the school, minutes of governing body meetings, and records of attendance and behaviour incidents.  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

Tash Hurtado, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Trudi Sammons Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 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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