St Nicholas CEVC Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 June 2025

The smiling faces of pupils show how much they look forward to coming to school. They are happy in their learning and at breaktimes. Staff provide engaging equipment during playtimes that allow pupils to play happily with their friends. Pupils keep physically active as they excitedly climb across the trim trail or play ball games. The expectations of what children can achieve in the early years are high. However, the expectations for pupils in key stage 1 and 2 are not as high as they should be. Here, pupils are not routinely provided with work that challenges them, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means they are not fully prepared for the next stage in their education. Pupils feel safe at school. They know that if they have worries, caring staff will provide effective support. The school is calm and orderly because it has high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning, and there is rarely disruption during lessons. The school is determined to develop well-rounded individuals. They celebrate pupils who demonstrate the school's values by showing kindness and respect to others. There is a broad range of clubs where pupils can develop their talents and interests.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum is not as ambitious as it should be. This means that the work some pupils complete is too easy for them, and they do not achieve as well as they should. The school needs to ensure that teachers design learning activities that help pupils deepen their understanding and use of the important knowledge and skills they need to be ready for the next stage of their education.
• Assessment strategies are not used effectively to check how well pupils are learning the content of the curriculum. Misconceptions are not routinely identified and addressed, and some pupils repeat the same mistakes over time. The school should ensure that procedures are in place to consistently identify and address any misconceptions and gaps in pupils' learning.
• At times, the school does not use appropriate information about the needs of pupils with SEND to adapt the delivery of the curriculum effectively. This hinders how well some pupils with SEND learn. The school should ensure that staff use the information available to them to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.
• The school does not have sufficient oversight of the weaker aspects of its provision. Leaders do not have an accurate understanding of the effectiveness of curriculum implementation or pupil achievement. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should across the curriculum. The school should further develop the systems and processes used to evaluate how well pupils are learning.

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