Carlton CofE Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 November 2024

Pupils at this school are confident and self-assured. For instance, they share their ideas and opinions enthusiastically with staff. Moreover, pupils and staff show kindness and respect towards each other. This fosters a positive environment and helps pupils to feel valued. Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour, and pupils meet these well. For instance, the transition from playtime to the classroom is calm. This is because pupils know how to walk in an orderly fashion. This means that lessons can start on time, and there are fewer disruptions. In lessons, pupils listen well and try hard to achieve their best. Pupils enjoy taking on additional responsibilities. This begins with the youngest children, who help to keep their classroom tidy. Older pupils help the school to run smoothly, for example by setting up for assemblies. Pupils who sit on the school council make decisions that help staff improve the school. These activities help pupils become vital members of the school community. They build essential skills for independence. The school has high expectations for pupils' learning. Pupils learn well in many subjects. They benefit from the broad and interesting curriculum, which helps them develop their interests and prepares them well for their next stage of education.

What the school should improve

• In some foundation subjects, staff do not have sufficient knowledge of the subject- specific curriculum content. As a result, they cannot design learning effectively to develop pupils' knowledge and skills. Also, they do not routinely check what pupils know and can do in these subjects. This means some pupils do not learn important knowledge, and gaps in their knowledge are not identified. The school should ensure staff receive guidance and support to understand and teach the curriculum content as the school intends, complete checks on how well pupils learn and use these checks to adapt teaching accordingly.
• In a few subjects, the school has not coherently organised the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn from the early years up. This creates a gap between the early years and key stage 1. Pupils sometimes miss out on learning essential knowledge. The school should ensure that knowledge and skills development in all subjects is organised logically from the early years so children are suitably well prepared for their learning in Year 1 and beyond.

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