St Osyth Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 May 2023

There is a warm, caring and safe culture at St Osyth's Church of England Primary School. It is a nurturing environment in which pupils learn well. Pupils love the chickens and Otis, the school dog. Pupils consider the school a family, where everyone is welcome. Pupils have high expectations of themselves. They are respectful and attentive in lessons, which is helping them to learn well. Pupils model the school's core Christian values of compassion, friendship, hope, trust and thankfulness through their attitudes and behaviours. Pupils are clear about what good behaviour looks like, and about the consequences when they make the wrong choices. Pupils play well together and are kind and friendly. Pupils say bullying is rare. If it happens, they are confident that leaders will deal with it quickly. Pupils have leadership opportunities for roles such as worship leaders, prefects, school council members and eco-council members. This helps pupils contribute to the wider school community. Pupils develop their interests and talents; they talk positively about the trips, visits and different sports offered, such as golf. Parents are overwhelmingly appreciative of the approachable nature of leaders and staff. They feel they are well supported.

What the school should improve

• In a few foundation subjects, teaching is not routinely as effective in delivering the intended curriculum. Instruction is not clear enough to help pupils learn. Assessment is not precise enough for teachers to spot gaps and misconceptions. This means that pupils are not able to learn the intended curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that training supports teachers to design the most appropriate approaches for specific subjects. Leaders need to ensure that teachers have the assessment skills needed to spot and quickly remedy misconceptions.
• In some subjects, where subject leaders are newer to their role, the checking of the quality of the curriculum is not as secure. Where this is the case, leaders are not as able to accurately identify and tackle issues relating to the quality of the content being taught. In these instances, teachers are not supported well enough to ensure that pupils receive the learning experience leaders intend. Leaders need to ensure all subject leaders have the training and support to carry out their role as effectively as is the case in most curriculum areas.

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