St Peter's Church of England School, Alvescot

Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England School, Alvescot Alvescot, Bampton, Oxfordshire OX18 2PU

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Diane Axford. This school is part of the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust (ODST), which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Anne Dellar, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Kathy Winrow. 10 and 11 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are pleased and proud that they attend this small village school, which feels like a family. Staff know pupils very well and warm relationships fill the school, which makes pupils feel safe. The ‘superloopers club’ provides great support to the many service children who attend the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s values are successfully threaded through all aspects of school life. As a result, pupils behave very well in lessons and around the school. They show a high level of respect towards each other and adults. Playtimes are joyful and there is a wide range of activities and games that pupils can do.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for its pupils. Most pupils achieve well, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work hard and build a depth of knowledge across the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit greatly from an exceptional range of extra-curricular activities, trips and leadership opportunities. They gain valuable skills, such as debating, and broaden their understanding of the world beyond their immediate locality. Pupils actively contribute to the running of the school, carrying out leadership roles such as reading ambassadors, ‘eco-warriors’ and members of the school council.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has continued to refine and improve its curriculum. Across the full range of subjects, there is now a clear focus on the knowledge that pupils need to know and when they need to learn it. These changes to the curriculum have been made sensitively to avoid negatively impacting staff’s workload. Ambitious curriculum end points have been identified. However, the school has not fully developed strategies for checking that pupils have remembered key knowledge in learning beyond reading, writing and mathematics. This means that staff are not always clear about the gaps in learning that need to be addressed. Staff adapt the curriculum so that it meets the needs of pupils in the mixed-age classes across the school. They understand each pupil’s individual needs well. However, pupils are sometimes given work that is too easy and does not deepen their understanding.

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

In 2024, a small number of Year 6 pupils did not achieve as well as they should in national curriculum tests. The school has taken effective action to resolve this. In mathematics, for instance, pupils have more regular opportunities to practise using number facts and subject vocabulary. Pupils’ standards of writing are improving as a result of regular staff training. For example, in Years 5 and 6, pupils produce high-quality writing about the Ancient Greeks, drawing on their learning from both English and history lessons.

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

The school has improved its systems to support pupils with SEND. Staff identify pupils’ needs promptly, making routine checks to see if these pupils require further support. As a result, these pupils access the curriculum and achieve well. 10 and 11 June 2025

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Reading is central to the school’s curriculum. Children start learning phonics as soon as they start school in Reception. The school makes sure that all staff have the required knowledge to teach phonics well. Staff check children’s understanding accurately. Those who need extra help also read with their teachers regularly to help them master letters and the sounds they represent. This helps them to become fluent and confident readers. High outcomes in the 2024 phonics screening check reflect this success. Older pupils are expressive, fluent readers. They love reading for pleasure and discuss the plot and characters in the books they have read with enthusiasm and maturity.

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In the early years, children are very well cared for by nurturing staff. Children follow a well-considered curriculum. It ensures they develop strong foundations in learning. The stimulating learning environment encourages children to explore and discover new topics. Staff make effective use of the outdoors to develop children’s awe and wonder of nature, as well as their understanding of the world. Children often focus intensively on their learning. They are prepared well for key stage 1.

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The provision for pupils’ personal development is impressive. The school is tenacious in its ambition to equip all pupils with the skills and knowledge needed for life in modern Britain. Pupils have a strong empathy for others and demonstrate a deep understanding of issues such as healthy relationships. The very well-planned curriculum provides pupils with a wide range of meaningful opportunities and experiences. The school ensures that these opportunities are highly inclusive and takes intelligent action to make them available to all pupils. As a result, the uptake is strong.

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Trustees and governors have a strong and detailed understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and use this knowledge to challenge and support leaders appropriately.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 With the exception of reading, writing and mathematics, the strategies that staff use to check how well pupils have learned the curriculum are not fully developed. As a result, some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge while other pupils are given work that is not demanding enough. The school should ensure that teachers have the knowledge to use assessment to check on pupils’ learning, and to adapt their teaching, so that pupils complete work that enables them to secure their understanding of the curriculum. 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 21 and 22 January 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the ODST.  This is a Church of England school which is part of the Diocese of Oxford. The religious character of the school was last inspected in May 2018. The next Section 48 inspection is due to be carried out in the academic year 2025/26.  The headteacher took up their post in September 2023.  The school runs its own before- and after-school provision on site.  The school does not use any 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 10 and 11 June 2025

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provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with a range of leaders, including the headteacher and senior leaders, members of the trust executive team, subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. Inspectors also met with members of the board of trustees, the CEO, the local governing body and a representative of the diocese.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, history, mathematics and science. 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.

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 Inspectors also spoke to leaders, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work in some other subjects.  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 considered a range of information, including the school’s plans for improvement and behaviour records.  Inspectors considered the views of staff through Ofsted’s online staff survey. The views of parents were taken into account through the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. Inspectors met with groups of pupils formally and informally to discuss their views of the school.

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Inspection team

Mark Bagust, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sarah Brinkley Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 June 2025

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