Ospringe Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 June 2023

Pupils thoroughly enjoy attending Ospringe School. A culture of kindness and care pervades the school. Everyone is welcome, included and appreciated. Pupils feel happy and safe. They benefit from warm and productive relationships with the staff and their friends. Pupils say that there is no bullying in school and that they trust adults to help them with any worries that do arise. The school's ethos of 'Nurture-Grow-Succeed' is apparent in all aspects of school life. There is a strong focus on emotional well-being, based on leaders' view that 'to learn well, you need to feel well'. In addition, leaders and staff set high expectations for pupils' effort and behaviour. Pupils successfully rise to these ambitions. Pupils are enthusiastic learners. They benefit from a wide curriculum, complemented by frequent trips and visits and opportunities to learn outdoors. Pupils are particularly skilled at working together in pairs and small groups to plan, discuss and review their learning. Pupils have delighted in the planned introduction of a range of new playtime resources. These include used tyres, pallets and mountains of bark chippings. In addition to their enjoyment, during playtime pupils are using, developing and practising a wide range of skills.

What the school should improve

• Pupils do not make routinely good progress in writing. This means that pupils are not achieving the standards of which they are capable. Leaders should continue with their work to ensure that teachers are confident to teach all elements of the writing curriculum. Leaders should check that teachers know precisely what is required for pupils to achieve, or exceed, age-expected standards in writing. This will ensure that pupils are better prepared for writing in English and across all curriculum subjects as they progress through school and beyond.
• In many subjects, leaders have carefully reviewed the knowledge and skills that they want pupils to learn and in what order. Leaders have also considered how much time should be allocated to these subjects and how they want pupils to learn new knowledge. However, this is not the case across all foundation subjects, and therefore pupils do not benefit from a consistently strong quality of education in all subjects. Leaders should ensure that the remaining subjects are reviewed so that pupils benefit from a consistently well-considered and implemented curriculum across the range of subjects.
• Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. This means that they are missing out on curriculum learning and wider personal development opportunities. These pupils are at risk of falling behind. Leaders should continue their extensive work with pupils, families and wider agencies to ensure that the pupils who are persistently absent attend school routinely. This is so that all pupils benefit from the good education on offer.

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