Chalfont St Peter CofE Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 20 May 2025

Pupils at this school are polite, respectful and welcoming. They describe their school as 'a really happy place where learning is fun'. Pupils understand how the school's 'Golden Rule' helps them to work towards their vision of fulfilment, joy and success. Pupils behave well, both within the classroom and beyond. They know that if they have any worries, staff will help them. Pupils attend well because they enjoy school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) thrive. This is because the school ensures that every child is able to participate fully in both the academic curriculum and a range of enrichment activities. The school has high expectations for all pupils. In English and mathematics, pupils achieve well. However, in many of the other subjects, an ambitious curriculum is not yet securely in place. Consequently, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should do. Pupils take on a wide range of leadership roles, which help them to develop a sense of responsibility. Pupils develop a sense of citizenship through active participation in the community and their local church. Pupils make visits to places of interest. Through experiences such as these, they learn about life beyond their locality.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the school has not constructed a curriculum that clearly sets out the logical progression and sequence for what pupils should know and remember over time. Where this is the case, pupils do not achieve as much as they should. The school should make sure that the curriculum is coherently designed with ambitious end points, so that it is clear precisely what pupils should learn and when.
• Some of the checks that staff make on pupils' understanding do not accurately identify gaps and misconceptions. That means, for some pupils, gaps in learning are not addressed, meaning they do not learn as well as they should. The school must ensure that staff use the school's assessment strategies efficiently to accurately identify and address gaps in pupils' learning.
• The school, including those with responsibility for governance, do not have a secure enough understanding of how well pupils learn across the curriculum. This means that they are not able to focus the school's future improvement priorities as sharply as they should. The school should ensure that leaders and governors strengthen how they evaluate the school's curriculum offer so that improvement work is more rapid.

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