Hilperton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 5 April 2022

Leaders want the very best for pupils at Hilperton. The school has a caring ethos through which adults teach pupils to be kind. Staff have high expectations of behaviour and learning, and pupils respond well to this. Pupils are polite, courteous and well mannered. There is a calm and orderly atmosphere in school and on the playground. Pupils say that bullying does sometimes happen. However, they are confident that adults in school will deal with it quickly. Pupils say that there is always an adult with whom they can share any worries. They value the pastoral support and advice offered through 'time to talk'. Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities. School councillors and sports leaders take their roles seriously. There is a wide variety of lunchtime and extra-curricular activities available. For example, pupils can play games organised by the sports coach or visit forest school. Despite significant staffing changes, pupils have broad learning experiences, and most pupils enjoy school. Leaders are putting a new curriculum in place. This is raising staff aspirations and pupils are learning more now. However, in previous years, the curriculum did not include everything that pupils needed to know and remember in each subject. Much work is being done to put this right.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the knowledge that pupils need to remember is not as well identified as it is in others. This means that pupils have gaps in their knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that they set out clearly in all subjects what pupils need to know and in what order, to help them remember more over time.
• Some parents expressed concerns about the number of staffing changes. Leaders need to build on the work that has already started to strengthen links with parents, so that any concerns raised are dealt with quickly.
• The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in some subjects. However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they are in the process of bringing this about. Leaders need to complete the process of reviewing the curriculum in all subjects within their identified timescale. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.

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