Foxmoor Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Foxmoor Primary School Hunters Way, Cashes Green, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 4UJ

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Outcome

Foxmoor Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy, welcoming school. The school’s vision of ‘excellence through enjoyment’ is woven through the exciting curriculum. The school has high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and achievement. Pupils enjoy school and uphold these expectations well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are a credit to the school. They behave impeccably. They are respectful, polite and kind. Pupils are curious and enjoy finding things out. This results in a buzz of purposeful learning throughout the school. Overall, pupils achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides exciting experiences to ignite pupils’ enthusiasm for learning. For example, children in the Reception Year explore the school grounds on ‘welly Wednesdays’. They ‘cook’ healthy meals in the mud kitchen, using leaves and sticks.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school inspires pupils to develop their interests. For example, pupils can try jujitsu, football and choir. Pupils can learn an instrument, such as the euphonium and drums. Pupils who belong to the school’s brass band talk enthusiastically about performing in the annual ‘soiree’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pastoral support is strong. Staff forge positive and caring relationships with pupils. Pupils feel safe at school because they trust adults to look after them. Parents typically comment that the school nurtures their children and helps them to thrive.

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

The school has developed a high-quality, well-designed curriculum that identifies the knowledge and skills pupils must develop. Most pupils achieve well, as shown by the school’s published outcomes. The school has recently revised the teaching of writing to 7 and 8 May 2025

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raise standards further, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. This is having a positive impact.

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The school prioritises reading. In the early years, the school develops children’s communication and language well. Children learn to read as soon as they start school. Phonics teaching is highly effective. Pupils who find reading difficult are given extra practice. This helps them to catch up and become more fluent readers. The school has a wide range of books for pupils to read for pleasure.

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Teaching is effective and motivates pupils to learn. In mathematics, staff enable pupils to count, calculate and tell the time using objects. For example, Reception children count and subtract dough balls and pom-poms. Year 1 pupils position the hands on clock faces to help them to tell the time. In science, Year 6 pupils learn the impact of exercise on their heartrate by checking their pulse.

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Staff carefully model and explain what pupils need to learn. They revisit important content to help pupils remember what they have been taught. For instance, in geography, staff help Year 5 pupils recall the features of different types of volcano, using vocabulary such as ‘shield’ and ‘composite’ to describe them. Across the curriculum, teachers routinely check pupils’ understanding and correct any misconceptions.

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Leaders work closely with parents, staff and pupils to identify and meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school provides precisely focused extra teaching and pastoral support. This ensures pupils learn the same curriculum as others. As a result, most pupils with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes.

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Most pupils attend school regularly. However, some disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not come to school as often as they should. This means they miss out on vital education and risk falling behind.

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The vast majority of pupils behave extremely well. They set a good example to others. Poor behaviour is rare. However, a small minority of pupils need extra help to manage their emotions. Some pupils benefit from going to the ‘Winnie the Pooh’ room, where they can talk about their worries and learn how to regulate their emotions appropriately.

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The school takes appropriate action to support pupils who do not follow its expectations of behaviour. However, it does not clearly record its actions. This limits how well the school can check if it is making a difference.

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The school supports pupils’ personal development well. Pupils are inspired to consider future career opportunities through visits to the school from various professionals, such as architects and engineers. Pupils benefit from taking on positions of responsibility, for example being team captains, play leaders and reading ambassadors. Pupils can join the eco committee and play their part in looking after the environment, for example by encouraging others to save electricity and pick up litter. 7 and 8 May 2025

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Leaders’ have sustained high standards and continued to improve the school. Governors challenge and support the school effectively. The sense of team spirit at the school is evident. Staff feel very well supported to manage their workload and well-being. As a result, morale is high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some disadvantaged pupils do not attend school regularly. This means that they have some gaps in their learning. The school should continue its work to improve attendance, so that pupils benefit from all that the school offers.  The school’s record-keeping and strategic analysis of behaviour are not sufficiently robust. Consequently, leaders do not have a clear oversight of the timeline of events, the actions they have taken and the effectiveness of these. The school must strengthen this aspect of its strategic work.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2020. 7 and 8 May 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). 7 and 8 May 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 March 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a nursery for three- and four-year-old children.  The school provides before- and after-school care for pupils.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held several meetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. The inspector also held meetings with other leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator, the early years foundation stage leader and subject leaders. 7 and 8 May 2025

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 The inspector held a meeting with a group of governors. She also had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector 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.  The inspector listened to some pupils reading to a familiar adult.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at various times during the day, including breaktime, lunchtime and during breakfast club.  The inspector met with groups of pupils and staff and spoke to some parents to gather

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their views. The inspector reviewed responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including parents’ free-text comments. The inspector took account of the responses to the online staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Catherine Beeks, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 May 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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