Shirley Warren Primary & Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 July 2025

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. It aims to give pupils the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. However, pupils experience a variable quality of education. Staff do not implement the curriculum consistently well. Therefore, pupils do not achieve as highly as they should, as reflected in the school's published outcomes at the end of Year 6 in 2024. This friendly school welcomes and accepts everyone. Many pupils join partway through the school year, some unable to speak English. These pupils benefit from peer support from the 'young interpreters'. This helps new pupils make friends and feel part of the school. Many pupils live up to the school's core values. They show 'respect' by holding doors open for others and using good manners. However, a minority of pupils lose focus in lessons and disrupt the learning of others. Despite this, pupils know that staff care for them and will help them if they have any worries. The school raises pupils' aspirations during 'into university' sessions. Here, pupils get the chance to learn about future careers. However, pupils would like more opportunities to take on responsibilities and make a positive contribution to school life.

What the school should improve

• The school does not implement the curriculum consistently well. There is variability in how well staff adapt learning and check what pupils know and remember. As a result, pupils develop gaps in their knowledge and do not achieve as well as they should. The school should ensure that approaches to adapting the curriculum and checking what pupils know and can do are applied effectively so that pupils gain the important knowledge they need.
• The school does not prioritise the teaching of early transcription, including handwriting, with sufficient rigour. This hinders the quality of pupils' writing. The school should ensure it implements a consistent approach to developing important writing skills so that pupils gain the necessary knowledge and skills to become proficient writers.
• The school's expectations of behaviour are not securely embedded. As a result, a small minority of pupils do not live up to the school's expectations for behaviour, including at social times. The school should implement the behaviour policy consistently so that its expectations are understood by all, and pupils behave well in lessons and at social times.
• The school has not fully achieved its aims for developing pupils' wider personal and character traits. This limits the chances for pupils to make an active and positive contribution to school life. The school should ensure that it equips pupils with the skills and qualities to support their wider personal and character development.
• The school's ambitious vision for improvement has not been fully realised. This leads to inconsistencies in how well the school's aspirations are followed and negatively impacts some pupils' learning. The school should ensure that its work to embed consistent approaches continues, so that its vision is clearly reflected in shared values and day-to- day practice.

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