Garsington Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Garsington Church of England Primary School Wheatley Road, Garsington, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX44 9EW

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Outcome

Garsington Church of England Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Zara d’Archambaud. This school is part of River Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Paul James, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Jeremy Long.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish at this exceptionally welcoming and inclusive school. Throughout the school, pupils are confident and enthusiastic and demonstrate positive behaviour. They understand and live out the values and vision of the school through their attitude to learning and everyday interactions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Pupils enthusiastically rise to meet these expectations. They enjoy their learning, work hard and achieve well in national assessments. As a result, they are well prepared for the next stage of education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. Staff are reflective and adapt their approach to meet pupils’ individual needs, ensuring that all children feel included and supported. All members of the school benefit from the strong sense of community and belonging.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a rich range of opportunities that support their personal development. They enjoy taking on responsibilities such as prefects and friendship champions and relish school trips and community events like May Day and the breakfast café. The school has a well-established pastoral system that ensures pupils are safe and feel safe. One pupil reflected the vision of the school in their comment, ‘We grow well here because we belong here.’ 10 and 11 June 2025

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

The school has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum that supports all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school prioritises reading from when children join the school. Staff deliver the phonics programme well. Pupils who struggle with reading receive the support they need to catch up quickly. This ensures pupils develop strong reading skills early on. Older pupils enjoy reading and have access to a wide and appropriate range of texts to choose from. Pupils across the school are enthusiastic about writing. Older pupils take pride in the poems and stories they create in English lessons. Many of these pieces of work connect to other subjects.

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

In mathematics, pupils show confidence and can talk about how numbers work. They develop strong problem-solving abilities due to consistently effective teaching. Teaching is adapted well to enable pupils with SEND to learn the same curriculum as their peers. In the wider curriculum, subjects are thoughtfully planned and sequenced. For example, younger children in the school start to consider what happened in the recent past, and in Year 6 history lessons, pupils engage in critical thinking and consider issues such as race and equality.

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

Throughout the school, teachers are well prepared and have the expertise they need to deliver the curriculum effectively. This helps pupils build knowledge and skills steadily over time. The vibrant displays and the pupils’ well-presented books show this. Teachers check pupils’ understanding and help them to resolve any misconceptions. The school has a firm grasp of the breadth and coverage of the subjects that form the curriculum. However, in some wider curriculum subjects, the school’s understanding of how well pupils learn and remember important knowledge is less well developed.

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

The school has high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. The vast majority of pupils meet these expectations. Where low-level disruption occurs, staff act swiftly to ensure that pupils quickly return to their learning. Pupils with more complex behavioural needs receive excellent support. Their needs are met in a personalised and sensitive manner. Attendance is high, and for most pupils, school is unmissable. Efforts to reduce barriers to attendance for individuals and families have been successful. Positive relationships between staff and families have supported this.

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

A strength of the school is its promotion of personal development. Pupil’s emotional well- being is actively addressed through personal, social and health education and targeted programmes. The curriculum is further enhanced through a wide range of clubs and visits. There are many opportunities for pupils to take part in sporting and performance events. The school ensures there is a strong take up by all pupils of these enrichment activities.

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

The school encourages respect for different cultures and beliefs and promotes an inclusive ethos. As a result, pupils are well prepared for life beyond the school. Carefully planned collective worship supports their spiritual and moral growth, and pupils can make links between many of their experiences and the school’s vision and values. 10 and 11 June 2025

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Trust leaders and those responsible for governance know the school’s strengths and development areas well. All leaders work collaboratively to maintain a high-quality education for all pupils. Staff are unanimously positive about working at the school and feel their time and efforts are valued. In turn, parents are overwhelmingly positive about the experiences their children have. A comment that sums up the view of many is that ‘Garsington Primary is a wonderful school, where every child is cared for’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some foundation subjects, the school does not have a clear understanding of the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning. This means that changes are not always made in a timely manner. The school should ensure that it has clarity about how well pupils learn and use this information to bring about any necessary improvements in the content and implementation of the foundation subject curriculum.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Garsington Church of England Primary, to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2017. 10 and 11 June 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). 10 and 11 June 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 22 and 23 January 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Garsington Church of England Primary School is part of the River Learning Trust. The River Learning Trust is a multi-academy trust which comprises 30 academies. The school joined the trust in May 2017.  This is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Oxford. Its last section 48 inspection for schools of a religious character took place in July 2023.  The school uses one unregistered alternative provision.  The school has a before- and after-school club.

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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. 10 and 11 June 2025

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 During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, the assistant headteachers and a range of school staff. The inspector also met with members of the local governing body and representatives of the trust  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  A wide range of documents were scrutinised, including those relating to behaviour, attendance, governance and leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for improvement.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils to discuss their views about many different aspects of their school and to talk about their work. The inspector also held informal conversations with pupils.  The inspector considered the views of parents submitted via the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. The inspector also reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for school staff.

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 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.

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Inspection team

Tracy Good, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 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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