Bitterne Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 February 2025

Bitterne is a school where 'love, trust and forgiveness' underpin everything. Pupils are happy and kind to each other. They play well together and listen carefully in class. The school is calm, and everyone knows the rules for good behaviour. Teachers help to manage pupils' behaviour in a positive way. The school wants all pupils to do their best. However, some pupils do not achieve well. This is because of gaps in their learning, especially in English and mathematics. Some children in the early years do not secure the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need to do well in key stage 1. Although the school's new leaders are working hard to improve pupils' outcomes, there remains work to do. The school has made progress in tackling the areas that require improvement, but this is not yet realised in how well pupils are ready academically for the next stage of their education. Pupils learn to be responsible, respectful and safe. They know how to look after their physical and mental health, stay safe online and make good friends. The personal development programme is helping them grow as young people, build confidence and develop important life skills.

What the school should improve

• Some staff are not knowledgeable enough about the teaching of early reading and writing. Consequently, some pupils are not learning the literacy skills they need. The phonics programme has recently changed and is at an early stage of implementation. The school must make sure that all staff continue to receive training to teach the phonics programme so that pupils appropriately learn to read and write.
• In the early years, some adults do not support children effectively to build their learning. Therefore, some children are not routinely benefiting from activities that help them to learn the intended curriculum. The school should fully carry out its action plan to improve early years so that children achieve well.
• The teaching of the curriculum is variable across the school. Some teachers are not always effectively checking pupils' learning or providing ambitious tasks. As a result, some pupils are not reaching year group expectations. The school needs to improve teachers' understanding of where pupils need to be academically and how best to deliver what is planned.
• The school's quality assurance checks are not consistently providing the information needed to bring about improvements in outcomes for all pupils. As a result, some of the less effective aspects of the school's practice have not been addressed. This includes in relation to the teaching of the curriculum and how well pupils learn. The school has implemented significant changes since the change in leadership. The school must make certain that changes are fully evaluated and embedded to ensure continued improvement in pupils' achievement.

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