Raynsford Church of England Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 November 2024

Pupils at Raynsford love their school. They are proud of their school's strongly held core values, such as forgiveness and inclusivity. They strive to be respectful, considerate and good friends towards each other. Pupils feel safe and well looked after at school. They implicitly trust in staff to help them with any worries they might have. Pupils behave consistently well and are extremely polite. They understand the school's approach to behaviour and willingly follow it. Pupils learn to recognise the negative feelings which might lead to mistakes in their behaviour. Their resulting self-awareness helps them to regulate their conduct. This approach especially benefits pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), some of whom join the school mid-year after an unsettled start to their education. These pupils feel that they belong to the school community. The school's high expectations for pupils are consistently met. Most pupils attain nationally expected standards by the time they leave the school in Year 6. Pupils commit to working hard in lessons and many join the school's varied clubs outside lessons. Pupils' positive attitudes towards school start in the early years, where children, including two- year-olds, learn to engage with interest in their learning activities.

What the school should improve

• Occasionally, pupils in the early stages of writing do not receive enough practise to develop fluent, legible handwriting. This limits their ability to express their ideas in writing as they progress through the curriculum. The school should prioritise the development of fluent, legible handwriting, enabling all pupils to develop strong writing skills and express their ideas with greater confidence and clarity.
• In the wider curriculum, occasionally, learning activities are not matched well enough to what pupils already know. As a result, they sometimes do not learn in as much depth as they could. The school should continue its ongoing review of the wider curriculum, ensuring that staff receive the necessary training to develop sufficient knowledge across all subjects.

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