Dovecot Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 June 2024

Pupils enjoy belonging to the 'Dovecot family'. They said that this makes them feel happy and cared for. Pupils told inspectors that staff help them to become independent learners. Pupils understand and follow the school's vision and behave well. They champion each other to make sure that they can 'learn and grow together'. This makes the school a safe haven for many pupils. It is a place where pupils know that their peers and the staff will be there for them when they most need it. Pupils have not experienced a good quality of education over time. The achievement of some pupils has been negatively affected by historically low expectations and turbulence in previous leadership. Pupils now benefit from more settled leadership. They are following new subject curriculums which reflect higher expectations for their achievement. However, these higher expectations are not embedded for all pupils in all subjects. Consequently, some pupils are still underachieving. Pupils relish the variety of opportunities that the school offers them. They are passionate about the charity work that they do. It teaches them to be responsible citizens. They are proud of their litter picking, which was featured on a national television programme. Through roles such as school councillors and buddies, pupils contribute well to school life.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the school is not sufficiently clear about essential subject content and the order in which pupils should learn it. This prevents pupils from gaining the depth of knowledge that they should. The school should finalise its curriculum thinking from early years to Year 6 so that teachers have enough information and guidance to design learning effectively.
• The checks that the school makes on pupils' learning, including for pupils with SEND, do not identify gaps in knowledge sufficiently well. This means that some pupils move through the curriculum with ongoing gaps in learning and misconceptions. The school should ensure that teachers are equipped to use assessment strategies well so that pupils' learning is secure before they introduce new concepts.
• The school does not ensure that teachers have consistently high expectations of what children can achieve. Alongside this, some teachers do not set a good example of accurate written communication. These factors contribute to the underachievement of a significant number of pupils and their consequent lack of readiness for the next stage in their learning. The school should ensure that teachers' expectations of pupils' achievement match the ambition of the new curriculums so that all pupils reach their full academic potential.
• Governors do not evaluate the school's curriculum well enough, therefore they do not challenge the school as effectively as they should. Governors should use information that they gather about the curriculum to challenge the school appropriately. In this way they can fully support the school's actions to improve the quality of education for pupils.

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