Fordley Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 27 November 2024

Pupils enjoy positive, caring relationships with staff. This helps them to feel safe and happy in school. Pupils show resilience in the face of challenges and the school's 'respect' values support them to develop positive character traits. The majority of pupils demonstrate respect for staff and their peers. Pupils are clear that bullying is not a problem in the school. Pupils have confidence in adults to resolve any issues of bullying or name-calling quickly. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They are attentive in lessons and take pride in their work. Many pupils strive to achieve the school's high expectations and achieve well. They can talk about their aspirations for the future, such as becoming a teacher or an artist. From the early years, pupils learn about potential careers. For example, children in the Reception Year talk about the work of paramedics, doctors and fire fighters. The school provides opportunities for pupils to contribute to both the school community and the wider community. Some pupils have worked with local volunteers to develop a nature reserve, for example. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about educational visits, particularly residential ones. They know that these enhance their learning and help them to develop skills such as teamwork and perseverance.

What the school should improve

• Staff do not consistently address weaknesses in pupils' early writing skills. This includes motor skills, pencil grip, letter formation and basic sentence construction. As a result, pupils are often moved on to complex writing tasks before they are ready. The school should ensure that teachers focus on developing and securing pupils' physical strength and basic writing skills before expecting them to progress to more complex writing activities.
• In the early years, some interactions between adults and children are not precise enough. They do not develop children's language or learning effectively. The school should further develop staff's expertise so that interactions across the early years provision are consistently high quality.

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