Goodnestone Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 June 2024

Goodnestone is a happy, friendly little school. It has a strong sense of togetherness. Staff are warm and friendly. Pupils are understanding and accepting of others' differences. They learn to work and play together, treating each other with care and respect. In this very small community, close relationships lead to both tight bonds and occasionally fractious friendships. The school works patiently to try to resolve any issues. As one parent aptly put it, 'It is a real community and everyone supports each other.' The school wants the best for all pupils. Staff sensitively adapt their approach using their excellent knowledge of each individual. Pupils are motivated to do well. Classrooms are calm places of focus and concentration. Pupils find learning fun, from regular lessons at the farm to messy activities recreating representations of the digestive system. Pupils learn well across subjects, but the school could help them make the quality of work in their books even better. Pupils have a say in the running of the school and choice of clubs. This has led to a wide range of activities from sporting experiences to the Rubik's cube club, as well as to the formation of the school's rock band, 'Duck Tape'.

What the school should improve

• Pupils are not consistently well supported to produce work of a high quality. Sometimes, tasks do not fully support pupils to show what they have learned. Some pupils are not given enough help and practice to develop the necessary physical dexterity to write neatly and fluently. These factors limit the quality and quantity of what they can produce. The school should support pupils to increase their transcription fluency and stamina, set tasks that match the intended learning closely and maintain consistently high expectations of the work that pupils can produce.
• Some subjects are delivered in intensive bursts with sometimes long gaps in between. This makes it harder for pupils to retain and recall aspects of important knowledge and doesn't always give pupils enough opportunity to practise and build valuable skills as strongly as they might. The school should implement plans to reorganise how the curriculum is delivered to optimise the chances for pupils to consistently build on their previous learning towards even better outcomes.
• Despite a marked improvement, some pupils still miss too much school. This limits their potential progress and means they do not do as well as they otherwise might. The school should continue to use all possible and relevant strategies in working with parents to raise attendance further so that no pupil is unnecessarily disadvantaged by their absence.

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