Shipham Church of England First School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 October 2024

Pupils enjoy coming to this welcoming and inclusive school and attend regularly. Pupils feel safe. They are confident they can share any worries or concerns and trust that the school will listen and act promptly. Many parents and carers praise the school and what it achieves for their children. The school creates a calm and purposeful environment for pupils to learn. Staff work as a team to ensure they meet the needs of individuals. They respond calmly and sensitively when pupils struggle with their emotions. The school has high expectations for how pupils should behave. These expectations start in Nursery where staff teach children to be kind and respectful, two of the school's values. The school has high expectations for all its pupils. Pupils show positive attitudes to their learning, work hard and achieve well. In some subjects, the school checks to find out the knowledge pupils remember. This supports pupils to build on previous learning. However, in a few subjects this is not the case. The school provides high-quality pastoral support to pupils and their families. They teach pupils how to stay safe, healthy and keep active. Pupils talk openly about differences and how it is important to celebrate diversity.

What the school should improve

• In the foundation subjects, the school has not fully established effective systems of assessment to check pupils' learning. Therefore, pupils do not remember some of the most important knowledge they need for their subsequent learning. The trust should take action to ensure that assessment is effective and supports pupils to know more and remember more of the wider curriculum in all subjects.

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