Burley St Matthias Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 June 2025

A sense of kindness permeates through this school. A high number of pupils join the school at different points during the school year. Many of these pupils are new to the country. Pupils are welcomed by staff who know them, their families and their individual needs well. Consequently, pupils enjoy coming to school. Pupils greet visitors and staff members with excitement. They are proud to show off their achievements. Staff have high expectations of behaviour. The school's new behaviour policy ensures that pupils conduct themselves well. There are warm, caring relationships between pupils and staff. Pupils are given additional support to improve their behaviour if they need it. In lessons, pupils listen well to their teachers. They show care to each other and listen to each other's opinions. At playtime, pupils play harmoniously together. The school has high expectations for all pupils. Since the last inspection, the school has experienced many changes to staffing, including leadership. It recognises that many pupils previously have not achieved as well as they could have. Improvements to the curriculum are ensuring that current pupils know more and remember more. Leaders are tenacious in their vision to improve the school further.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the implementation of the curriculum is not as effective as the school intends. Improvements required in these subjects are not identified or acted upon as quickly as they could be. Therefore, pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that the rigour taken to make improvements in some subjects is School 3 consistent across all subjects so that any areas for improvement can be identified and addressed with more urgency.
• The checks made on what pupils know and can do, do not effectively inform subsequent learning tasks. Pupils sometimes access learning that is too challenging and does not build on their current knowledge and understanding. The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge and expertise to adapt learning effectively based upon what they know about pupils' current knowledge or gaps in their learning.
• The school's wider offer beyond the academic curriculum is limited. The choice of extra-curricular activities is not varied, and opportunities are restricted. The school should broaden the range of opportunities or additional activities available to pupils.

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