Cutteslowe Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Cutteslowe Primary School Wren Road, Cutteslowe, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX2 7SX

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Outcome

Cutteslowe 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 Gillian McDermott. The 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 Paul Warwick Long.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Cutteslowe is a welcoming, nurturing and inclusive school. There is a strong sense of community and a shared passion to provide all pupils with a broad, high-quality education. The school’s ethos of ‘be kind, be respectful and meet the challenge’ underpins every aspect of school life. Pupils live the school’s values enthusiastically, taking on positions of responsibility. This includes looking after the school’s animals and volunteering at the local community food larder.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Behaviour management strategies are clear and they are consistently applied. Consequently, the school is a calm, orderly environment. Pupils are safe and happy and have positive attitudes to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is aspirational for all pupils. Pupils enjoy learning here and rise to the high expectations set by staff. This is reflected in pupils’ positive attitudes to learning and the strong quality of work they produce. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support. Parents and carers of pupils with SEND are positive about the impact the school has on their children. The school ensures that every pupil is able to participate fully in both the academic curriculum and a range of enrichment activities. Consequently, pupils achieve well. 17 and 18 June 2025

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

Reading is central to the school’s curriculum and children get off to a strong start in the early years. From the Nursery Year onwards, staff model the use of ambitious vocabulary. This supports children’s speech and language development. The school makes sure that staff have the required knowledge to teach phonics well. Staff articulate and model sounds clearly to pupils. They ensure that pupils read books that are well matched to the sounds pupils know. There is a sharp focus on supporting pupils who need additional help with their reading to catch up quickly. Consequently, pupils learn to read fluently and with understanding. They develop a love of reading.

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

The school has a broad and ambitious curriculum. Throughout the school, most subjects are well considered and organised with the knowledge pupils need to learn. This is particularly true in relation to English and mathematics. Here, effective training helps teachers maintain a strong subject knowledge. Pupils’ learning is regularly checked, and well-targeted activities help them apply their prior knowledge in new situations. Pupils confidently recall how their knowledge and skills have built steadily over time. Pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly. Where needed, the school works with external specialists, such as speech and language therapists, to ensure that pupils with SEND receive the support that they need. As a result, they achieve well.

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

The curriculum in a few of the wider subjects is less well developed. The essential knowledge and skills are not set out clearly. This means that teachers are sometimes unclear about how to help pupils build their learning towards the challenging curriculum goals that have been set.

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

Staff typically have strong subject knowledge and they explain ideas thoughtfully and plan activities carefully. However, some of the tasks that are given to pupils in the wider curriculum subjects are not matched closely to the curriculum aims. Sometimes, opportunities are missed for pupils to learn as much as they could, and a few pupils have some gaps in their knowledge.

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

Pupils and their families prize the strong community connections that are at the heart of the school. These, along with the school’s values, help pupils to understand the difference between right and wrong and become kind and responsible citizens. There is a sharp focus on supporting pupils’ physical and mental health. The school has regular opportunities for pupils to explore how they can keep themselves healthy. Pupils are knowledgeable about ways to stay safe, including online. Pupils take pride in their elected leadership roles, such as school councillor or ‘eco-leader’. These positions help pupils to develop their understanding of good citizenship and the democratic process.

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

Pupils attend school regularly. The school’s proactive approach includes regular checks and effective communication with parents. Pupils behave well. Any incidents are addressed promptly by staff. From the start of the Reception Year, children settle into school routines quickly. They are kind, share resources and respond positively to the warm, caring support they receive. 17 and 18 June 2025

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A strong sense of unified purpose is evident through each level of leadership and staff. Leaders, including trustees and governors, know the school’s strengths and areas for development well. They support and challenge staff effectively, with a clear focus on school improvement and staff’s well-being. Staff appreciate leaders’ support to help them manage their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some of the wider curriculum subjects, the school has not constructed a curriculum that clearly sets out the logical progression and sequence for what pupils should know and remember over time. Where this is the case, pupils do not achieve as much as they could. The school should make sure that the curriculum is coherently designed with ambitious end points so that it is clear precisely what pupils should learn and when.  Sometimes, the design of tasks across the wider curriculum is not as ambitious as it could be. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that the lesson activities are closely aligned to the curriculum aims to support pupils to achieve well across different subjects.

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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. 17 and 18 June 2025

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This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2020.

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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). 17 and 18 June 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 March 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school currently uses one registered and one unregistered alternative provision.  The school is part of River Learning Multi-Academy Trust, which is a group of 31 schools in Oxfordshire.  The school runs its own breakfast and after-school 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 visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 17 and 18 June 2025

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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.  The inspector held discussions with school leaders, the director of primary education, representatives from the governing body and the board of trustees.  The inspector analysed responses to the staff survey and spoke to staff about their views of the school.  The inspector met with groups of pupils and spoke to them about their views of the school.  The inspector took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View and the additional free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Clare Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 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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