Friday Bridge Community Primary School

Friday Bridge Community Primary School

Address: Maltmas Drove, Friday Bridge, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 0HW Unique reference number (URN): 110633

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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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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The school has been on a journey of rapid improvement. Initial priorities included improving safeguarding, behaviour and the teaching of phonics. The result of these improvements can be seen in how pupils feel safe in school, that pupils behave well on the whole, and that reading is taught more effectively, with more pupils securing the knowledge needed to be fluent readers.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff feel well supported and are a close working team. There is a focused programme of staff development. This is based on evidence of what makes teaching highly effective. Leaders work closely with those new to teaching to develop their practice. As a result of this work, the quality of teaching across the school is improving, though inconsistencies remain.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

All actions that leaders and governors take are in the best interests of the pupils. Governors have put in place robust systems to ensure that they are assured that what they are told by leaders is accurate. They weave safeguarding and pupil voice into every visit to the school. The school works closely with the local authority and welcomes the support from different specialists, such as the mathematics hub, to improve the quality of education.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Relationships between the school and parents and carers are not always as good as they could be. Leaders are proactively working to improve these relationships, organising more family events and involving parents more in what their children are doing at school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The personal development programme has been a priority. This is because school leaders identified that pupils needed better skills in cooperating, playing and acting kindly towards peers. The impact of this work is clear in terms of pupils’ calm behaviour around the school and at playtimes.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Teaching to support pupils' personal development is delivered through assemblies, lessons, one-off sessions on keeping yourself safe and discussions in times such as play. The formal personal, social and health educational curriculum includes appropriate relationships and health education. Leaders have worked closely with families to help them understand what is being taught and that it is appropriate for pupils' age. Pupils develop a sound understanding of healthy relationships and how to stay safe in the community and when working online.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils have comprehensive knowledge of how different communities and cultures may have different beliefs. Pupils are very clear that despite any differences, everyone should be respected and valued for who they are. This is demonstrated in how pupils play in mixed groups across the ages at playtime. Pupils are highly inclusive, making sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully part of activities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils benefit from a range of activities where they can pursue their interests or try new things. This includes activities such as learning to ride a bike and attending a pantomime at a theatre. Leaders ensure all pupils, including those who are vulnerable, access these, with

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Needs attention

a mantra of ‘everyone or no one’. Pupils also have opportunities to take on responsibilities. Some run their own clubs such as dough club and wellbeing. Pupils enjoy the new leadership responsibilities they have, such as being peer mediators, and how these mean they can play a positive role in the school community and improve things.

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Needs attention

The school provides effective pastoral support. Pupils are genuinely well known by staff. Staff make sure that anyone who needs a little bit extra help, for example to separate from parents at the start of the school day, get this in a positive and warm way.

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Achievement Needs attention

Over the last 3 years, too many pupils have left the school without achieving what is expected for their age. This includes pupils who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The work of the current Year 6 indicates that while achievement is improving quickly, there remains further work to do.

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Achievement Needs attention

Over time, fewer pupils have attained the phonics knowledge expected by the end of Year 1. This has risen notably this year as a result of the high focus on core reading skills, but some pupils are still not achieving as well as they should.

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Achievement Needs attention

Leaders recognise that in the past, children have not developed the knowledge and skills that they should have by the end of Reception. They have improved the quality of education in the early years, but there is more progress to be made for children to achieve better.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils' achievement across the wider curriculum reflects that of English, mathematics and science. Too many pupils do not have an age-appropriate understanding of what they should do. This is due to the variations in the effectiveness of teaching, which impacts equally on pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and pupils without SEND.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Attendance is below the national average. Too many pupils have time off school, including term-time holidays. Pupils who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities also have attendance lower than these groups nationally. Leaders have a methodical approach to analysing attendance data and know precisely what pupils' barriers are to attending school. They work tenaciously to get pupils into school. They promote the benefits of regular attendance and appropriately using legal processes to reduce term-time holidays. This has resulted in a decrease in the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent, although leaders know this needs to reduce further.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Both pupils and staff state that behaviour has improved significantly in the last year. Both say that in the past, they sometimes felt unsafe, but that is no longer the case. This is reflected in the number of incidents of challenging behaviour, which have reduced substantially. Pupils are very positive about the impact of their peer mediator training and how this helps promote good behaviour at playtimes. Pupils understand what bullying is. Bullying occurs rarely. Pupils know that staff will deal with any serious behaviour incidents or bullying swiftly and effectively. Pupils are really clear that any new pupil, no matter their background, will be welcomed in their school. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The effectiveness of teaching varies too much. As a result, pupils do not always fully understand what they have been taught. Leaders have constructed a clear and well sequenced curriculum. Pupils retain some basic knowledge of facts. However, teachers do not consistently help pupils to learn what the curriculum intends them to in enough depth. Teachers' expectations about the quality and quantity of pupils' work are also too varied. Sometimes teachers do not adapt lessons and resources well enough for some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities so that they can access the learning successfully. Consequently, the effectiveness of teaching across the school, though improving rapidly, is inconsistent.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Where teaching is most effective, pupils make appropriate progress. However, teachers have to address lots of gaps in pupils' previous learning. This means that teachers have to go back over teaching far more of what pupils should already know from previous years, so pupils do not progress through the curriculum as quickly as they could.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have rightly had a high focus on improving the way pupils are taught to read. This is now of a better quality than other areas of the curriculum. Pupils enjoy their books and are motivated to read. Early phonics is taught clearly. Staff ensure that those pupils who need additional support to become fluent readers have this. For older pupils, there is a high focus on further developing their vocabulary. Younger children have had lots of focus on developing their speaking and listening skills, with success as children communicate clearly.

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Early years Needs attention

Children do not achieve as well as they should by the end of Reception. Leaders' actions are bringing about swift improvements, but current children still have gaps in their knowledge.

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Early years Needs attention

The children have had stable, clear routines introduced. They have had a high focus on speaking and listening. The results of this are clear: pupils able to talk to each other and collaborate in their play. Staff introduce different vocabulary and help children practise this in their play. This includes children who are vulnerable or have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children are well known as individuals. Close tracking of teaching objectives means that anyone who needs it receives additional help or practice of what they are learning about.

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Early years Needs attention

There has been a renewed focus on early phonics, revisiting sounds that had not been remembered by the children. Children have made rapid progress with their writing and more of them are writing simple decodable sentences. However, children are still not achieving what they should by the end of Reception and are not fully ready for Year 1. Children are happy in the early years and encouraged to be kind to each other, to take turns and share. There are close working relationships between parents and carers and the staff in the Reception class.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Barriers to learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are now identified rapidly. The school's systems for planning on how to meet these needs are in a period of review. The school has worked closely with specialist advisers on how to best meet pupils' needs, particularly where they have multiple needs or the highest level of need. As a result, these pupils are now fully part of their classes, working alongside peers. However, the way that teachers adapt lessons to meet the needs of those who do not need such significant help is inconsistent and they are not supported well enough. Leaders' strategies to providing support mean that some pupils are still too reliant on adult support.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders systems and processes to overcome barriers to learning and/or wellbeing for pupils other than pupils with SEND are more effective. Leaders work closely with outside agencies, such as the the virtual school to personalise provision. This is particularly successful for pupils who previously were unable to access learning because of behavioural needs, who are now fully part of their classes.

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Inclusion Needs attention

A large proportion of pupils are in receipt of the pupil premium funding. Leaders use this appropriately to focus on improving the quality of education as a whole in the school, although they recognise that the overall quality of teaching is currently not where it needs to be. Leaders also use some of this funding to provide additional interventions such as play therapy and other intervention groups focused on supporting pupils' wellbeing.

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

Pupils are happy to attend this school. They arrive enthusiastically in the morning to be greeted personally by staff who know them all well. Pupils explain how their experience of school has improved over the last year. They know that their teachers are teaching them more clearly than in the past. Pupils describe how behaviour has improved significantly. They are a close knit group, with a family feel. Pupils really enjoy their playtimes. They cooperate and work together building structures and dens. Both the youngest and the oldest enjoy digging in the sandpits and dressing up. Leaders ensure that any extra-curricular activities, such as learning to ride a bicycle or going to the panto, are offered to everyone.

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

Pupils feel safe. They know who they can talk to if they are worried about something. Pupils know that if others are unkind, adults will help to resolve problems if the older pupils who are peer mediators cannot. On the rare occasions that bullying happens, staff deal with this appropriately and effectively. Some pupils' attendance is lower than it should be. Staff at all levels work closely with families to support these pupils getting into school more and not taking term-time holidays. Families of children in the early years have close regular contact with staff to work together on meeting their children's needs. Although teaching is improving, pupils are not taught consistently well. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should. They still have many gaps in their learning. This includes pupils who are vulnerable and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The barriers that these pupils face are beginning to be overcome, but this work

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that teachers develop stronger skills in how to effectively deliver the curriculum, including adapting the curriculum for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders should ensure that attainment at all stages of the school improves, so that more pupils gain the knowledge needed for the next stage of their education. Leaders should continue to review and further develop their strategies to reduce absence and persistent absence, so that more pupils attend school regularly. Leaders and those responsible for governance should further develop positive working relationships with parents and carers so that more parents have an understanding of the school's work and are supportive of this.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors is Sue Rudge.

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About this inspection

The school is part of a federation called Fenland Schools Federation. The schools in the federation have the same executive headteacher and governors. Leaders work across both schools in the federation.

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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 school leaders, governors, a local authority officer, staff, parents and pupils during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school: The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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About this inspection

The current headteacher has been in post since September 2025.

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About this inspection

There is a separately run and registered pre-school operating in the school premises.

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About this inspection

Executive Headteacher: Maria-Anne Higgins

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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.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

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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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 71% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 56% 59% Close to average

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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gap

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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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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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 5.6% 5.5% Close to average

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Persistent absence

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

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 18.8% 16.2% Close to average

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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.

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Urgent improvement

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

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