Milton Ernest CofE Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 November 2022

Pupils are hardworking and polite. Their classrooms are a hive of activity. Pupils listen to staff, knowing it helps them complete their work well. Pupils see how staff watch them carefully, stepping in to help pupils if they need it. Beyond the classroom, there are roles and activities that strengthen pupils' character and broaden their horizons. The elected school council make pupils' ideas a reality, such as making an outdoor reading area. Visiting different places of worship brings to life the many ways people practise their faith, helping pupils to understand and respect difference. Pupils behave kindly and sensibly. They move in an orderly fashion around school and carefully cross the road to get to the village hall at lunchtime. In the early years, children learn to share and look after resources. This helps pupils work well in partnerships as they grow older. They will place a storybook between them to take turns reading or listening to each other's ideas about how to complete a calculation. Such strong relationships mean bullying rarely occurs. If it does, pupils can count on staff to put a stop to it. Being able to turn to staff for support contributes to pupils being safe in school.

What the school should improve

• Staff ensure pupils at an early stage of reading receive books that are closely matched to their phonic knowledge. However, supervised reading practise does not always sufficiently allow pupils to develop fluency and expression. A small proportion of pupils make slower progress towards reading with speed, accuracy, and comprehension than they should. Leaders should ensure all staff understand how to support pupils beyond initial decoding ability, so all pupils quickly become proficient readers.
• The governing body's current practice for checking the school's work does not sufficiently identify key aspects in need of improvement, such as the minor weaknesses in safeguarding record keeping. This means that some issues are not identified or addressed in a timely way. Governors should receive training in establishing monitoring systems for all aspects of school life, so that these are as efficient as they could be.

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