Grendon Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 November 2024

The school's logo, 'We Can', sets the tone for this positive and aspirational school. It underpins the school's values, known as 'Grendon's Goals'. These set out how pupils should behave. Pupils understand the importance of working hard to achieve well and be successful. They enjoy learning and participate enthusiastically in lessons. The school has high expectations of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The well-designed curriculum ensures that pupils build their knowledge and skills step by step in all subjects as they move through the school. This is particularly successful in reading and mathematics. Most pupils reach the standards expected by the end of Year 6. This ensures that they are ready for their secondary education. Pupils feel safe and are confident that the adults who work with them will help and support them. They behave well, and disruption to learning is rare. Pupils understand the new behaviour policy, and this supports their behaviour. This includes pupils with SEND who sometimes need additional support to manage their behaviour. Parents and carers are fulsome in their praise of the school. As one parent put it, 'The staff care, they nurture, and they support all children, no matter what their abilities are.'

What the school should improve

• Some lower-attaining pupils do not receive sufficient support to develop the skills needed to become successful readers. As a result, they do not achieve the expected standard in phonics in Year 1 or reading at the end of Year 2. The school should ensure that pupils who find early reading challenging receive the support needed to prevent them from falling behind and to become accomplished readers.
• Pupils do not routinely apply the writing skills they learn in English to other subjects. This reduces the accuracy and quality of their written work in subjects such as history and geography. The school should ensure that teachers have the same high expectations of pupils' writing in all curriculum subjects.
• The school does not analyse which pupils participate in the extra-curricular activities provided. As a result, staff do not know if all groups, especially disadvantaged pupils, are fully included. The school should analyse participation rates of extra-curricular clubs to ensure that all pupils benefit from the school's valuable offer.

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