Oakfield Primary and Moderate Learning Difficulties Resource Provision

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 14 January 2025

Pupils are happy and safe at Oakfield Primary and Moderate Learning Difficulties Resource Base. They know that staff care deeply about their well-being. Pupils enjoy attending each day because of the warm relationships that exist across school. The school has an ambitious vision for pupils' education. However, this is not lived out in pupils' day-to-day experiences of the curriculum. Pupils gain the English and mathematics knowledge that they need to start their next stage of learning with confidence. However, the quality of the curriculum in most other subjects is not good enough. Where this is the case, pupils do not learn well and find it hard to remember enough of their learning over time. The majority of pupils behave well. Incidents of poor behaviour sometimes occur but are dealt with swiftly by staff, so there is minimal impact on pupils' learning. Pupils say that bullying is rare. They have faith in the systems in place to share any concerns they may have with staff. Many parents and carers feel there have been recent positive changes to the communication that they receive from the school, including information about their child's learning.

What the school should improve

• The school has not identified the most important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember across the wider curriculum. Pupils do not deepen their understanding as well as they could. The school should set out the key knowledge in all wider curriculum subjects so it is clear what pupils need to know and remember.
• The school has not ensured that staff have the subject knowledge that they need to teach the wider curriculum well enough. For some pupils, learning is not broken down into clear meaningful steps. Too many pupils, including those with SEND, do not learn as well as they could and find it hard to remember their learning. The school should make sure that staff have the knowledge and skills to deliver the curriculum in line with leaders' expectations.
• The school's curriculum is not designed well enough so that pupils' learning activities help them to learn the intended learning outcomes. Where this is the case, pupils do not build new knowledge securely. The school should improve how it makes checks to ensure that the curriculum delivery meets its expectations.

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