Millfields Church of England (Controlled) Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 March 2024

Pupils enjoy belonging to the Millfields' family. They said that this helps them to feel cared for and happy. Pupils live by the school's values. They champion each other to make sure that everyone is welcome in their school. Pupils said that they enjoy their lessons. Typically, they behave well in class. Pupils told inspectors that the changes to the school's approach to their behaviour mean that they feel safe and well supported. They said that they particularly benefit from the 'reset' part of the behaviour approach. The school has raised its expectations of what pupils can achieve. Children in the early years are well prepared for Year 1. Older pupils are beginning to benefit from the school's well-designed curriculum. However, some teachers do not deliver the curriculum well enough to ensure that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve as well as they should. Pupils relish the variety of opportunities that are on offer to them. They are enthusiastic about the charitable work in which they participate, as it helps them to learn how to be responsible citizens. Pupils are proud of their leadership roles, especially those with the role of well-being ambassador. In this role, pupils check and support other pupils' mental health and happiness.

What the school should improve

• In several subjects, staff lack the expertise to design learning that enables pupils to build on their prior knowledge. This means that pupils do not remember their learning over time in these subjects. The school should ensure that its ambitious curriculum is well delivered by staff.
• Some staff do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can and should achieve. This limits pupils' progress through the curriculum. The school should ensure that staff raise their aspirations for what pupils can accomplish in their learning.
• The school does not identify the small steps of progress in the curriculum that pupils with SEND should make. This means that some pupils with SEND do not secure basic foundational knowledge before moving on to new learning. Consequently, these pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff provide the support that is needed to help pupils with SEND to be successful.
• The school does not ensure that some groups of pupils attend school regularly enough. As a result, these pupils miss out on important learning. The school should address the barriers to attendance that some pupils have so that pupils with low attendance attend school more often.
• Governors do not evaluate the school's actions well enough. As a result, governors are not able to support the school sufficiently well to bring about improvement. Governors should use the expertise gained from recent training to provide appropriate challenge to the school.

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