J H Godwin Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 9 June 2026

Pupils enjoy being part of this kind and welcoming school. They arrive happily and settle quickly into morning activities. Pupils have warm and positive relationships with caring staff. They know that staff will support them if they have any concerns. This includes rare instances of bullying, which staff resolve quickly. Pupils benefit from recent improvements to teaching and learning. Leaders are aspirational for what pupils can achieve. Pupils have generally positive attitudes towards their learning. They develop their knowledge and skills successfully in key stage 1, particularly in early reading. However, leaders’ improvements are recent and are not fully embedded. Pupils’ attainment in Year 6 has been below national averages over time. While pupils’ learning is improving, they have some gaps in their knowledge. They do not achieve as well as they should by the time that they leave school. Children in the early years make a positive start to their education. They benefit from effective teaching that ignites their curiosity and imagination. Children follow their interests and successfully lead their own play, such as making watches from craft materials and building pirate ships. Pupils behave well across the school. They are respectful towards staff and their peers. Leaders quickly identify and address the barriers to learning and wellbeing that pupils face, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, too many pupils do not attend school regularly. This means that they miss out on important learning. Pupils benefit from trips and visitors that broaden their horizons and aspirations. They take on a variety of responsibilities. Leaders have started to improve the provision for pupils’ wider development. As these changes are recent, pupils have not benefited fully. They are not as prepared as they should be for life in modern Britain.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should fully embed recently improved approaches to teaching and ensure that staff deliver the curriculum consistently well.
• Leaders should continue to support staff in swiftly identifying and addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged.
• Leaders should ensure that pupils’ overall achievement in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 improves.
• Leaders and governors should ensure that their actions to improve attendance have the intended impact to raise pupils’ levels of attendance and reduce persistent absence.
• Leaders should improve the personal development programme to provide pupils with broader opportunities and ensure that they secure the knowledge that they need for life in modern Britain.
• Those responsible for governance should strengthen their oversight and assurance across all aspects of the school’s work, to hold leaders fully to account and ensure that improvements are sustained.

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