Burlescombe Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 June 2025

Pupils are proud of their village school. Their positive behaviour reflects the school's values of responsibility and respect. Pupils are safe. They value the warm and caring relationships they have with adults at the school. They know there is a trusted adult they can speak to if they have a concern. There is a renewed sense of ambition of what pupils can achieve with the recent appointment of a substantive headteacher. However, pupils have not learned the important knowledge that they need to be ready for the next stage of their education. This means pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Pupils build their confidence through opportunities the school provides, such as speaking as an 'inspiring speaker' during assembly. They also grow as 'inspiring young leaders' by taking on roles of responsibility such as school councillors. Pupils explain how voting for their school councillor helps them to build an understanding of British values such as democracy. Pupils appreciate the residential trips to outdoor education centres. They learn new skills such as paddle boarding and orienteering. These trips help pupils to build independence and resilience. The wide range of competitive sporting activities helps to develop their talents and interests.

What the school should improve

• The school has not identified the essential knowledge that pupils need to know. This means that sometimes teachers do not know which knowledge to emphasise and revisit. As a result, pupils do not consistently recall and make connections in their learning. The school should identify the essential knowledge pupils need to remember over time, so teachers know which content to focus on to build pupils' knowledge well.
• The school does not use assessment effectively enough to check what pupils know and remember. Teachers do not design tasks which are ambitious or take into account what pupils already know and can do. This means pupils do not build knowledge securely. The school needs to ensure that teachers use assessment effectively to check pupils' understanding and design tasks that help pupils to know more over time.
• The targets that teachers set for pupils with SEND are not sufficiently accurate. This means that pupils with SEND do not receive the support that they need to access the curriculum well. The school and trust need to ensure that staff have accurate and informative plans for pupils with SEND so that pupils receive the support that they need in a timely manner.

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