Berry Hill Primary School

Inspection of Berry Hill Primary School Nine Wells Road, Berry Hill, Coleford, Gloucestershire GL16 7AT

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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 Requires improvement 3 and 4 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

The Berry Hill ‘3 Bs: be kind, be respectful, be your best’ set the tone for school life. Staff go out of their way to ensure that pupils feel safe, happy and able to achieve their best. Pupils treat each other with respect and kindness. In lessons, pupils try their best.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy taking responsibility for helping the school to run smoothly. For example, they proudly take up positions in the pupil parliament or as house captains. Pupils feel that their voice is heard when making decisions such as helping to decide the causes that the school supports.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a strong sense of tolerance and understanding. They know that discrimination is wrong. They learn about protected characteristics and the law. Pupils understand that some of their classmates need adjustments to help them succeed at school. They also show compassion to those less fortunate than themselves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils generally behave well in lessons. The occasional outbreak of fussiness is soon stopped, and learning is not disrupted. Pupils play, learn and mix well together at breaktimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils to achieve well. Most do. The school is not complacent and keeps striving to improve outcomes further.

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

The school’s curriculum meets the needs of its pupils. Staff have made it relevant to Berry Hill’s local context and ensured that it broadens pupils’ horizons. The school has been particularly attentive to making the curriculum suitable for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

The school teaches pupils to read as quickly as possible. Children learn to recognise letters as soon as they join the Reception class. Most become fluent readers by the end of Year 2. Some pupils have notable speech and language difficulties. It takes them longer to become confident readers. The extra support and frequent practice they receive ensure that they are catching up.

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

In 2024, pupils’ attainment in mathematics, including the multiplication tables check, was significantly below the national average. The school has identified the reasons for these outcomes. It has taken effective steps to address weaknesses in the curriculum. A new approach to teaching mathematics is now in place. This has given pupils a more secure understanding of basic mathematics. Younger pupils now recall and confidently use mathematical facts. Older pupils have caught up with learning mathematical knowledge that was not secured in the past. As a result, current pupils learn the curriculum well.

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

The school has given much thought to what pupils need to learn in each subject. This is set out clearly for teachers. Helpful guidance and resources are used to ensure that teachers are confident in what to teach and how to teach it well. As a result, pupils 3 and 4 June 2025

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achieve well across the curriculum. However, in some lessons, staff do not support some pupils to learn all that they can. When this happens, some pupils do not deepen their learning as well as they might.

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The identification of and provision for pupils with SEND has improved considerably in recent years. Pupils’ needs are now assessed much sooner than in the past. Staff are well trained to adapt teaching to cater for these needs. Therefore, these pupils achieve well.

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Staff have identified that some pupils do not write neatly or accurately enough. Some older pupils cannot write their ideas quickly or legibly. This can get in the way of learning some parts of the curriculum. The school has begun to ‘strip back’ the English curriculum from the Reception Year to Year 2 to prioritise handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation. This work is very new, however, and errors in some pupils’ spelling, punctuation and handwriting continue to be repeated.

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Children in the Reception Year learn the routines and expectations of school life. They get off to a strong start, learning to read, write and understand mathematics. However, at times, children’s opportunities to apply and practise their skills across other areas of learning are limited. This means children can miss out on some important aspects of their preparation for learning in key stage 1.

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The school aims to equip pupils with the skills and knowledge to navigate life confidently and successfully. There is a coherent, wide-ranging approach to developing pupils as reflective, confident, socially responsible individuals.

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Leaders’ clear and ambitious vision for the school is understood by staff. They consistently implement this vision by following the school’s policies, procedures and systems. A coherent approach to checking provision gives leaders in the school and governors assurances and an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, teachers do not help pupils deepen their knowledge effectively. This means that occasionally, pupils are not supported to achieve as much as they could. The school should ensure that teachers expect more of pupils so they deepen their knowledge over time.  The school’s new spelling, punctuation and handwriting curriculum is not delivered consistently well. This means some pupils continue to make the same errors over time and cannot write independently. The school should ensure that the new writing 3 and 4 June 2025

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curriculum is implemented consistently so pupils are supported in developing their writing accuracy and expertise across the curriculum.  At times, children’s opportunities to apply and practise their skills across other areas of learning are limited when in the early years. This means children can miss out on some important aspects of their preparation for learning in key stage 1. The school should ensure that opportunities for children to learn are equally strong across all areas of learning.

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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). 3 and 4 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 10 and 11 January 2023, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 At the time of the previous inspection, the school provided Nursery education for three- year-olds. This provision has now closed. Currently, children join the school in the Reception class aged four.  The school operates a before- and after-school club.  The school uses no 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. 3 and 4 June 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.  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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and music. 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.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum documents. They spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at their work in history, geography and science.  To evaluate pupils’ behaviour and attitudes and provision for personal development,

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inspectors observed pupils in class, as they moved around the school and at breaktimes; spoke informally to pupils in lessons and at breaktimes and met with groups of pupils; held discussions with teachers and teaching assistants; and scrutinised documentation relating to attendance, behaviour and the provision of clubs, trips and other activities.  Inspectors spoke to parents and carers before and after school and took account of the responses and written comments in the Ofsted Parent View survey. Inspectors considered the information in the online surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Sandy Hayes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Fox Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 June 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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