Bitham Brook Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 20 June 2023

Pupils live out the school's vision of, 'In a community of kindness where all belong, be positive, be resilient, be creative'. They are polite, respectful and welcoming to all. Relationships across the school are warm. This helps all pupils to feel safe and well cared for. They know there are trusted adults who will help them if they have problems. Parents are positive about the school. They value the opportunities the school provides to develop their children's interests. They say their children are 'always doing things'. Activities including musical theatre, dance and art develop pupils' creativity. Trips and visits support pupils to develop their confidence. The benefit of these show in pupils' attitudes to learning. They show determination when faced with challenge and persevere to overcome difficulties. Pupils feel their voice counts. They are proud that their ideas contribute towards school improvement. For instance, the recently introduced 'Bitham Badges' reward pupils for demonstrating the school's values. Pupils realise that the school has undergone many changes and say these are for the better. They recognise the improvements leaders have made to the quality of education.

What the school should improve

• Where the curriculum is not as fully developed or embedded, learning is not made explicit enough. As a result, the learning that pupils are given does not always match precisely what leaders want them to know. Leaders need to ensure that the work to refine the curriculum is complete, so that the curriculum in all areas is as well embedded and ambitious as those already more established. This will ensure that pupils develop deep knowledge across the whole curriculum.
• Teachers' expectations of pupils' written work do not consistently reflect the same ambition of the curriculum. As a result, pupils do not consistently apply their knowledge of spelling, grammar and punctuation or present their work well. Leaders need to ensure that teachers raise their expectations of pupils' writing across all subjects, so that pupils apply what they know consistently, accurately and with pride.
• Assessment is not consistently used to identify pupils' gaps in learning across all areas of the curriculum. This means that learning is not always based upon pupils' prior knowledge and that important misconceptions can go unaddressed. Leaders need to ensure that assessment is robust across all subjects to ensure that learning is based upon pupils' starting points and the key knowledge they need to learn.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)