Oaklands School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 July 2023

Pupils are proud to welcome visitors to their joyful school. Everyone plays their part in helping this community to thrive. Pupils are ambassadors for subjects and aspects of school life, such as anti-bullying. The 'junior leadership team' assist with running the school. Their achievements include writing the pupil-friendly behaviour policy. Staff frequently welcome parents into school to share experiences with their children, such as painting and cooking. The school's methods of 'consistently calm adults' and 'together everyone achieves more' are well-embedded. Relationships between staff and pupils show trust and understanding. If pupils make mistakes, they embrace chances to put things right themselves. This has led to a warm and inclusive culture across the school. Outdoor learning and swimming lessons take place onsite for all pupils every year. The farm and allotment are successfully educating pupils about growing food through first- hand experiences. Trips are meaningfully planned. When learning about World War Two, pupils visited reconstructed war-time trenches to understand what life was like for soldiers. Pupils love the running track and wide range of sporting opportunities. They are thrilled to welcome schools from across the trust for competitions, such as the action-packed cricket festival that took place during the inspection. Music is also a high priority. Pupils learn instruments such as guitar, piano and violin.

What the school should improve

• In some foundation subjects, curriculum implementation does not fully match the aims and ambitions of the curriculum design. As a result, pupils do not always know and remember their learning across all subjects. Teachers should design lesson activities with greater precision to ensure that learning in every subject is retained in pupils' long-term memories.

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