North Petherton Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 December 2025

Pupils experience a school that brings everyone together and where relationships matter. They start the school day on a positive note. Staff and leaders greet pupils warmly, and Year 6 ‘good morning ambassadors’ make them feel included and valued. These routines help pupils feel safe and give them a sense of belonging, which makes them want to come to school. Pupils enjoy the calm atmosphere that the school provides. They demonstrate friendliness, good manners and respect. As a result, most pupils behave well and demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning. Pupils understand what bullying is. Pupils trust staff to help them if they have any problems. The school has set out what pupils should learn. However, delivery of the curriculum in the early years is inconsistent. Furthermore, expectations for what pupils can achieve, particularly in key stage 1, are not high enough, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. New leaders have recently introduced necessary changes to the school. They have begun to develop the skills and expertise of staff in how best to deliver the curriculum. However, many of these improvements are in their early stages and so have not had time to fully impact on pupils’ learning. Despite this, by the time pupils leave the school, most achieve in line with national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. The school provides a wide range of trips and visits that broaden pupils’ horizons. Pupils actively live out the fundamental British values through leadership roles as school councillors or ‘foresters’. Elections for these roles teach pupils the importance of democracy. The ‘no outsiders’ approach helps pupils to appreciate difference. They explore discrimination and equality through discussions in class and assemblies. As a result, pupils share a sense of pride in the school.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure staff have the knowledge and expertise to remove learning barriers and ensure that daily teaching meets all pupils’ needs. • Leaders should improve the quality of the curriculum and its implementation for pupils in key stage 1 so that it consistently builds their core knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics. • Leaders should raise expectations so pupils secure important foundational knowledge in handwriting, sentence construction and number formation before moving on to the next stage of their education. • Leaders should ensure that opportunities to grow children’s language and vocabulary are prioritised so that children benefit from high-quality adult interactions as they learn through play. • Leaders should build on their work to embed approaches to analysing and responding to behaviour incidents. • Leaders and governors should ensure that they develop their ability to offer support and challenge to improve the quality of education that pupils receive and they fulfil their roles with more precision.

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