St Philip and James' Church of England Aided Primary School Oxford

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 July 2023

Pupils are proud to be members of the 'Phil and Jim' community, where they embrace the school values of love, compassion, and community. Pupils are welcoming and place considerable importance on being friendly to others. Kindness is evident during playtime when pupils across year groups use and share the equipment considerately. They invite others to join their play. Leaders have high expectations of pupils' achievements and behaviour. Pupils strive to meet these, which means they behave well in lessons and around school. They value recognition of their successes, taking pride in seeing their work displayed around the school and being awarded house points. Pupils have warm and respectful relationships with their teachers. They are confident that teachers will address any concerns, and incidents of bullying are rare. This caring and attentive ethos means pupils feel happy and safe. Pupils benefit from the many wider learning opportunities across the school. They value the many clubs and talk enthusiastically about their learning on trips, including the Year 6 residential. Leaders are determined for pupils to be curious and ambitious. Themed events like the Year 4 'Roman Day' and visiting speakers promote deeper thinking among pupils about which topics and professions they would like to learn more about.

What the school should improve

• Assessment in some foundation subjects is not linked to the important knowledge being taught. This means that teaching does not identify gaps in pupils' knowledge well enough, so teachers do not know what knowledge pupils have not learned successfully. Leaders need to ensure that assessment across all foundation subjects informs future teaching so that teachers can address pupils' knowledge gaps.

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