Furneux Pelham Church of England School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 February 2025

Pupils enjoy attending this warm and welcoming school with a close-knit family feel. From the moment children start in the Reception Year, they quickly settle into school life. Staff typically have high expectations of pupils. Pupils work hard to meet these expectations and, overall, they achieve well. The school provides a range of enrichment opportunities that enhance the curriculum. Pupils benefit from a wide variety of trips, events and extra-curricular activities. These broaden pupils' horizons and open their eyes to the world around them. For example, pupils value the chance to plant trees in the school grounds or represent the school when singing at The Royal Albert Hall. There is a clear culture of respect for differences across the school. Pupils freely debate their own opinions during lessons in a respectful and thoughtful manner. They develop their confidence by leading assemblies about their own cultures and beliefs. This helps pupils to learn from each other. It also builds the positive relationships pupils share. Pupils look after each other when playing on the playground or when sitting together to chat during lunchtime. All of this helps to establish the strong sense of community that exists in the school.

What the school should improve

• There are occasions when staff give pupils work before they have the prior knowledge they need to access it. In other instances, staff do not provide pupils with the work they need to deepen their existing knowledge. When this happens, pupils do not build on their understanding as well as they could. The school should ensure staff understand how to adapt the work they give to pupils to what pupils need. This is so pupils better secure or deepen their understanding of important knowledge.
• Sometimes the school expects pupils to apply important technical features of writing before they know how to. When this happens, pupils make errors in their writing. The school should ensure that teachers provide pupils with the opportunities they need to secure their understanding of important knowledge in handwriting, grammar, punctuation and spelling. This is so pupils better apply this to their independent writing.

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