St John's Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, Frome

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 April 2024

Pupils enjoy attending St John's First School and are keen to do well. The school is a welcoming and nurturing environment. The values of kindness, safety and respect underpin the ethos of the school. They help pupils to recognise the importance of treating one another fairly and kindly. The school has undergone a number of recent changes, including to leadership. While the school has identified what needs to improve, the pace of improvement has been too slow. As a result, the curriculum does not yet ensure all pupils are ready for the next stage in their learning. Pupils and parents value the support and care that staff provide. Relationships are positive. Staff are friendly and warm, and they know pupils well. Pupils know that there are adults in school that they can talk to if they have a concern. This means they feel safe. Most pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. This starts in the early years where children enjoy playing and learning together. Children learn to take turns and to share. The school ensures that the curriculum extends beyond the academic. For example, pupils are involved in local community art projects, charity fundraising and working with a local care home. This helps them to become active citizens in the community.

What the school should improve

• While there are some green shoots of improvement, actions to improve the school have been too slow. As a result, expectations for what pupils can achieve are not yet high enough. The school needs to raise its expectations to ensure that the curriculum is implemented effectively in all classes and for all pupils.
• In some subjects, the curriculum is being developed and it does not identify the steps in learning pupils need to take so that they can build on what they know. As a result, some pupils' needs are not met well, including in some elements of the English curriculum. The school needs to identify the steps in learning pupils need to take and fully implement an effective curriculum. In so doing, it should ensure Frome 3 that there are consistent and high expectations for all pupils to learn the intended curriculum, so they are ready for the next stage in their learning.
• Provision for pupils with SEND is not yet strong. The support plans for some pupils with SEND lack sufficient precision to ensure pupils receive the help they need to learn a broad and balanced curriculum. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not build their knowledge well enough across the curriculum. The school needs to ensure that the quality and effectiveness of support plans are improved. It must ensure staff and subject leaders are trained well to implement the right support so that pupils with SEND achieve well.

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