Castle School, Cambridge

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 14 May 2024

Pupils enjoy attending school. They are welcomed every day into a nurturing environment. Pupils are cared for by adults who understand their specific needs. Pupils are proud of their school values. They are polite and respectful. There is a renewed sense of aspiration from leaders as to what all pupils can achieve, regardless of starting points or needs. Many pupils are now learning well. Pupils enjoy lessons. They are starting to benefit from the reviewed curriculum leaders have recently put in place. However, there has not been enough time for changes to take effect. Older pupils in particular wish changes could happen more quickly. Pupils learn in a calm and well-ordered environment. They focus and pay attention to their teachers. In social times, pupils play happily together. They take advantage of the play equipment and activities offered to develop their movement and coordination. Pupils enjoy a comprehensive enrichment offer. This provides pupils with a breadth of experiences. They develop a strong sense of independence through real-life experiences. Older pupils gain valuable experience in colleges and the workplace. This helps them as they transition out of the school and prepares them for adult life.

What the school should improve

• Updates to the curriculum are still being finalised in some subjects. This means teachers are not yet fully clear as to what specific knowledge they need to teach or to check what pupils have learned. The school should ensure that these curriculum updates are all completed so that teachers can precisely know firstly what they need to teach, and then how best to check that pupils have retained this knowledge before moving on to learning something new.
• The reading curriculum in the secondary phase is not as fully developed as leaders intend. Pupils develop fluency. However, there are limited opportunities for them to learn other important reading skills such as comprehension and inference. This hinders how well some pupils can achieve what they are fully capable of. The school should ensure that all teachers are trained to deliver a reading curriculum that supports these pupils to develop a rich understanding of what they read.
• Some teachers have not been fully trained to support pupils access learning as leaders intend. This means that, sometimes, teachers select activities, explanations or resources that are not the most appropriate to support pupils achieve their personal learning goals. The school should ensure that all staff are trained in a range of bespoke pedagogical approaches that enable them to choose the most suitable learning activity to enable pupils to learn the intended curriculum as successfully as they can, so that they consistently achieve well.

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