Southcote Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 7 March 2023

Pupils are proud of their distinctly caring community. They feel happy and go about their school day in a thoughtful, kind and considerate manner. Pupils live up to leaders' high expectations. The 'diamond rules' flow through all aspects of everyday life. Children in early years earnestly look after the environment. They go out of their way to make sure that everyone feels appreciated, included and valued here. As one Year 4 pupil said, 'We treat everyone with respect. We are all different and it is not for us to judge anyone.' Staff promptly deal with any incidents of bullying or harassment. If pupils have a worry, they trust that adults will help sort things out straightaway. Pupils are safe and feel safe. They like that through the junior leadership team, they make a positive contribution to their school, for example through choosing playtime equipment and influencing the lunchtime menu. Pupils enjoy growing food, which they use to cook nutritious, tasty meals. Through practising yoga, mindfulness and taking relaxing walks in the local area, pupils learn to look after their mental health and well-being. Furthermore, they value the support they receive from adults in school to keep themselves fit and healthy.

What the school should improve

• In a few foundation subjects, leaders have not identified with enough precision what teachers need to teach and when they need to teach it. As a result, pupils do not always build their knowledge consistently well across all subjects. Leaders need to strengthen and refine the curriculum further so that all pupils achieve as well as they could.
• A significant minority of pupils do not attend school regularly and miss out on important learning. Leaders should continue their efforts to ensure that pupils' attendance is consistently high.

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