Chambersbury Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 November 2022

Pupils at Chambersbury Primary School receive a good quality of education. They know staff want them to do well. Pupils benefit from carefully chosen visits to historical and cultural sites they may not normally experience. This helps them gain wider knowledge about the world around them. Pupils, including children in the early years, follow routines and respond well to leaders' high expectations. Pupils are kind and thoughtful, so bullying is rare. Pupils are confident that if it were to happen, adults would make it stop. Being able to confide in adults means pupils feel safe at school. Pupils relish the opportunity to take on leadership roles. Older pupils aspire to the role of 'house captain' and all pupils play an active part in electing who gets these roles. Pupils enjoy working in house teams to earn 'gold coins' to help win the sought after house trophy. Wider opportunities benefit pupils greatly. Fundraising for charities helps pupils understand the difference they can make in other people's lives. After-school clubs, including art, football, and yoga, allow pupils to realise and refine their talents. Pupils gain lots from the 'Wild Chambersbury' challenges. Pupils say these nature activities, including bird-watching, have improved their mental well-being.

What the school should improve

• In updating the curriculum, leaders have supported staff with training on subject knowledge and pedagogy in some of the foundation subjects. A small minority of staff are still getting to grips with this and, as a result, sometimes do not help all pupils to understand and remember key knowledge and skills. Leaders need to ensure these staff are confident in adapting the curriculum content for the needs of the pupils they teach.
• Assessment in the foundation subjects is at an earlier stage of development than in English and mathematics. Teachers check that pupils have understood recently taught knowledge and skills, but this does not give leaders and teachers information about how much key knowledge pupils remember over time. This means that, when pupils are about to begin a new sequence of learning, teachers cannot be sure that pupils are ready to move on to this new learning. Leaders should ensure that assessment information helps teachers to know when pupils have learned, long-term, the information they need to move on.

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