Cassop Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 March 2023

Leaders of Cassop Primary are proud that it is a school where adults and pupils promote awareness of children's rights. Leaders encourage pupils to share their ideas, care for others and to develop self-confidence. Pupils feel safe here. They behave well in lessons and during social times. Leaders plan activities that help pupils to be both resilient and courageous. This can be seen as pupils focus on learning challenges and play together outside. For example, at playtimes, pupils enjoy climbing trees and making dens together in the school field. They feel safe doing this because the adults look after them well. Pupils know to tell trusted adults about any problems. They say bullying is very rare. The local Easter tradition of 'egg jarping', or competitive egg-cracking, showed how pupils are learning to cope with adversity. They did not mind when their eggs cracked, and they cheered the pupils who won the competition. Leaders have high expectations for pupils. They are developing the curriculum to be challenging and interesting. They include opportunities to learn about the local area and local people. Leaders help pupils to know about, and be proud of, the local mining heritage. However, they also recognise that pupils need to learn more about the world beyond the local area.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, leaders have not clarified exactly what knowledge should be taught and in what order. This means that teachers do not have sufficient support to plan lessons that enable pupils to build on prior learning. As a result, in these subjects, pupils often do not remember their learning. Leaders must specify exactly what pupils must know in all areas of the curriculum and identify how this should be taught progressively across the mixed-aged classes.
• In some foundation subjects, the curriculum content progression from early years to key stage 1 has not been considered carefully enough. This leads to the unnecessary repetition of some learning. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum builds in clearly sequenced steps and prepares children for their next stage of learning.

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