Drayton Parslow Village School

Drayton Parslow Village School

Address: Main Road, Drayton Parslow, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0JR Unique reference number (URN): 110222

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Early years Strong standard

Children are very happy, confident and secure in the early years. Relationships between adults and children are warm and consistently responsive. Staff demonstrate calm, respectful behaviour, and predictable routines create a deeply nurturing environment.

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Early years Strong standard

Early reading is a clear strength. Staff's secure subject knowledge helps them to teach phonics consistently well. The curriculum is focused on books and stories. Books are tightly matched to children’s phonics knowledge. Leaders identify children at risk of falling behind, and ensure they catch up quickly.

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Early years Strong standard

Communication and language is a high priority. Adults skilfully engage children in sustained, meaningful conversations that extend vocabulary and deepen thinking. High-quality modelling of language and sentence structure is evident throughout the day. Consequently, children develop confident independent learning skills and play imaginatively and purposefully. For example, children built a complicated transport system for water using a range of carefully selected resources.

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Early years Strong standard

The curriculum is well thought out to ensure children make rapid progress through the early years, enhanced through imaginative subject links, for example ‘the drawing club’ where pupils write about their inspiring drawings. Physical development is well planned and prioritised. Learning builds over time, ensuring children achieve exceptionally well and are fully prepared for Year 1.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders have ensured that the personal development programme is rich, varied and reflective of the school’s community. Pupils learn about different cultures and traditions. For example, when learning about relationships, pupils learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others. They learn how to recognise if others are feeling lonely and help them to make friends.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders monitor participation in all aspects of the personal development programme carefully and take purposeful action to remove barriers for vulnerable pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. Pupils acknowledged their confidence, engagement and wellbeing has improved significantly through participation in these experiences.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils demonstrate a highly secure understanding of important aspects of personal safety and healthy relationships. For example, pupils spoke confidently about how to stay safe online and explained strategies for resolving disagreements respectfully and listening to the views of others, reflecting the school's deliberate work to develop pupils' social and emotional understanding.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils enjoy attending a variety of activities, including cookery, sports, performing arts and music. Pupils benefit from extensive opportunities to develop leadership, responsibility and active citizenship. For example, pupils have opportunities to become school council

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Expected standard

representatives, raising funds for charity and visiting a local food bank. They enjoy having the opportunity to meet and learn with other pupils from the school partnership, which helps them to prepare for their transition to other schools. Pupils regularly learn outdoors and benefit from a rich and broad range of visits and experiences. For example, pupils visited a museum to find out about how Florence Nightingale contributed to the war effort.

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Expected standard

Leaders have ensured that there are strong links with parents, through various celebration events and workshops.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils develop the knowledge and skills they need to progress to the next stages of learning. Children progress well through the curriculum in early years. This is because the language and communication skills that they have learned enables them to access the full curriculum. Through the secure teaching of phonics, pupils quickly become accurate and fluent readers. Pupils achieve above average national expectations in phonics. They apply their accurate spelling and use legible and fluent handwriting from an early stage. This prepares them well for their next steps.

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Achievement Expected standard

The school places a clear emphasis on developing pupils’ essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing and mathematics from the outset. Pupils demonstrate secure knowledge across the curriculum. They can talk about what they have learned in a range of subjects over time. Across the school, pupils who are at risk of falling behind are identified promptly and given effective support to help them keep up.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders ensure that parents and carers, and pupils are clear about why high attendance matters. Leaders have established clear systems to support pupils' attendance. Leaders use a range of effective approaches to improve attendance. The school emphasises positive relationships with families and this has improved attendance for most pupils, including those facing more complex challenges. Leaders’ nurturing approach, including personalised support and effective work with external agencies, removes barriers to attendance. As a result, attendance is slightly better than national figures, including vulnerable groups.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Relationships between teachers and pupils are extremely positive. Pupils' behaviour across the school is calm and respectful. The positive culture of behaviour in the school, is based upon kindness, courtesy and respect. Staff apply the behaviour policy consistently across the school. At playtimes, pupils cooperate and include others in activities. Older pupils’ demonstrate positive behaviour. Staff establish clear behaviour expectations which children follow consistently. As a result, pupils say that there is little or no bullying, with staff addressing any pupil concerns quickly. Leaders ensure that all pupils, including those from vulnerable groups, are supported effectively so they can engage fully and succeed alongside their peers.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have designed a broad, ambitious and logically sequenced curriculum that enables pupils to develop knowledge as they move through the year groups. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the quality of the curriculum and how well it is taught. Staff use questioning and clear explanations effectively and this supports pupils to generally achieve well. Across subjects, teachers routinely check pupils’ understanding and adapt their teaching to address misconceptions. However, sometimes, work is not matched closely enough to pupils’ needs. This means that, occasionally pupils do not deepen their understanding sufficiently well.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders prioritise language, reading, writing and mathematics as a gateway to the full curriculum. Early reading is taught effectively through well-considered phonics programme, and staff provide additional support for those who fall behind. Staff benefit from extensive training to support them, and they know and understand how to implement the programme as a result. Teaching for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is thoughtful and well structured. Pupils are given the opportunity to use and apply their language and literacy knowledge and skills across the curriculum. As a result, pupils write independently. For example, working on a one-to-one basis, pupils can rehearse previously learned knowledge, and use and apply it in different ways.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders’ commitment to the school’s core values ensures inclusive practices are realised. They promote diversity and inclusiveness. Leaders identify pupils’ needs accurately. They have a clear understanding of the barriers to learning for some pupils. This includes the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders develop highly productive relationships with external professionals and draw on these to proactively secure specialist external intervention. For example, external support has been secured for pupils who need speech and language therapy. Leaders take a systematic approach to supporting pupils with SEND which is underpinned by rigorous assessment and high-quality training for staff. Leaders set ambitious targets. Reviews show that pupils make notable progress against these.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Close relationships with families and carers ensures that pupils support and provision is well understood by parents. Families are involved closely with extra support and ensuring that targets set for individuals are relevant and are fulfilled.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders ensure that support for disadvantaged pupils is regularly evaluated to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. For example, the majority of disadvantaged pupils now attend new and existing clubs after school. Extra funding and interventions are targeted and reviewed effectively to ensure ongoing positive impact.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a clear, accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and the areas requiring further development. Leaders have reviewed the curriculum to ensure that it is broad and balanced. As a result, the curriculum clearly identifies foundational knowledge and skills pupils must secure to access later learning. Staff across the school benefit from extensive high-quality training to ensure that the programme in place is taught consistently. Improvement priorities are well chosen and actions are implemented with care and purpose. For example, strengthening pupils oracy skills. This reflects leaders’ commitment to making decisions that are in the best interests of all pupils.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and those responsible for governance have established a clear and ambitious vision for the school. Governors fulfil their roles effectively. They maintain secure understanding of the school’s performance through regular monitoring activities and the use of a wide range of information. Governors provide constructive challenge alongside appropriate support and would benefit from a more systematic approach to monitoring the impact of leaders' actions. Governors fulfil their statutory duties with diligence.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders welcome working with educational professional beyond the school. Leaders foster highly effective relationships with parents and carers, ensuring clear and purposeful communication. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Staff value the inclusive and collaborative culture that leaders have established. Staff also appreciate the thoughtful consideration given to workload and wellbeing. As a result, staff feel well supported to refine their practice and contribute positively to pupils’ learning and wider experiences.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school’s vision for an inclusive and exciting place to learn is evident in pupils’ positive attitudes and their growing confidence as learners from the early years through to Year 2. Pupils are proud to attend Drayton Parslow Village School. They arrive each morning with enthusiasm and are greeted warmly by staff who know them well. This helps pupils, including those who face barriers to their learning, feel safe, valued and ready to learn. As a result, most pupils attend regularly.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils show high levels of respect for each other and take turns to share their ideas and experiences. Behaviour throughout the school is calm and purposeful. Pupils say bullying is rare and, if it happens, staff deal with it swiftly. Children in early years show high levels of independence, curiosity and fascination. They engage well with a rich, carefully planned environment that helps them to develop the key knowledge they need to be ready for Year 1.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy their learning and approach lessons with interest and curiosity. They achieve well. Pupils benefit from a carefully planned curriculum that helps them to develop the basic skills they need to progress to the next stages of their education. Pupils are provided with the support they need to make progress from their different starting points, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place. Pupils value the wide range of opportunities available to them beyond the classroom. For example, pupils have had the opportunity to visit numerous places of interest and places of worship. The school council has raised money for other schools in Ghana and organised fun days to help the local food bank in Milton Keynes. Parents and carers, including those of pupils with SEND, speak very highly about the school.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that teaching activities meet pupils’ needs consistently well so that pupils deepen their understanding across all subjects.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Alison Terry.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the executive headteacher and other leaders, pupils and staff during the inspection. They also spoke to a representative of the local authority.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school does not currently make use of any alternative provision.

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About this inspection

Executive Headteacher: David May The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 23 June 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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