London Colney Primary & Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 March 2023

Pupils flourish at this friendly, inclusive school. They feel safe here. They have warm, respectful relationships with each other and with the adults who help them. This is a thriving and diverse community. Pupils are helped to overcome challenges and reach their full potential. Behaviour at the school is extremely positive. Pupils play happily across year groups in the playground. They support each other to meet the adults' high expectations. In lessons, pupils try their best. They strive to earn badges for demonstrating values such as curiosity, bravery and respect. Pupils know what bullying is. They are confident that the adults will deal with it on the rare occasions it arises. The programme of wider development at the school is exceptional. Pupils have a say in the range of extracurricular clubs on offer. They develop skills and talents in activities such as crochet, journalism, mindfulness, football and gymnastics. Pupils take on numerous special responsibilities. Year 3 hosts serve lunch to their peers in the dining room, model good behaviour and keep the room tidy. Year 5 peer tutors help younger children learn to read. All pupils know that leaders listen to their ideas through the members of the London Colney Parliament.

What the school should improve

• Teachers' pedagogical approaches do not always closely match the needs of the pupils they teach. When this happens, some pupils struggle to answer questions or complete the tasks set. Leaders need to ensure that teachers are supported to refine their knowledge of how best to teach each subject, so that tasks match pupils' needs more closely, enabling them to achieve their best.
• The standard of pupils' presentation, punctuation and grammar in their English books is higher than the standard of their work in other subjects. Pupils do not always remember to apply what they have learned and they make mistakes, sometimes repeatedly. Leaders should ensure that staff's expectations for recorded work are consistently high across all subjects, and that errors and misconceptions are addressed, so that pupils achieve as well as they can.

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