Cradley CofE Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 March 2024

The school prioritises pupils' well-being. Its nurturing environment provides pupils with the confidence and resilience to manage their emotions. This work begins right from the start of school. Children in the early years quickly settle into expected routines and show positive attitudes to their learning. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in all aspects of school life and have equal opportunities to succeed. Pupils know the school's behaviour expectations. They work hard to meet these and behave well. Staff and pupils have positive relationships. Pupils feel comfortable talking to adults about any concerns. As a result, pupils feel happy and safe at school. The school is ambitious for pupils and wants them to achieve well. The school has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum. However, the implementation of this curriculum is still in its early stages and many aspects are new. Teachers are still developing the expertise to deliver the curriculum effectively. As a result, pupils do not develop the depth of knowledge they should. The school has not yet fully established a consistent approach to the teaching of reading. In some cases, the books chosen for pupils to read are not precisely matched to the sounds they know.

What the school should improve

• Some staff do not have the necessary expertise to deliver the phonics programme well enough. As a result, some pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to practise and become fluent readers. The school should ensure that all staff are suitably trained to be able to deliver the reading curriculum well so that pupils learn to read accurately and fluently.
• Teachers' subject knowledge is not yet secure across all areas of the curriculum. This means that in some lessons, opportunities for assessing what pupils know and can do are missed and gaps in pupils' knowledge persist. The school should provide staff with training to develop secure subject knowledge and establish systems to check and address pupils' understanding and misconceptions.
• The school has not checked how well the curriculum is being implemented. As a result, teachers are not yet receiving the correct guidance they need to deliver the curriculum well enough. The school should strengthen systems to monitor the effectiveness of the curriculum and provide teachers with the necessary guidance and support the effective delivery of the curriculum.

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