Stondon Lower School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 November 2022

Pupils at Stondon school are happy and enjoy their learning. Pupils achieve well. They have positive relationships with each other and the adults around them. The breadth of the curriculum enables pupils to talk confidently about the wider world around them. Pupils take part in interesting trips and meet visitors, who help make learning 'real'. These experiences include the chance to attend three places of worship on a local faith tour. This help pupils remember key knowledge about what they are learning about. Pupils make choices that meet the high expectations the adults in school have of them. Consequently, pupils behave well. Pupils with social and emotional needs receive support provided by skilled adults. Pupils are safe and say bullying rarely happens. Pupils report that if someone is unkind, adults help them to think about and change their behaviour. The youngest children have settled well into school. This means they are already showing positive learning behaviours, such as learning to read. Older pupils have roles and responsibilities that they are proud of. These include the chance to be a school councillor and a trained sport ambassador. Many parents commented positively about the 'nurturing and caring environment' where their 'children thrive'.

What the school should improve

• Additional support provided for pupils who are struggling to learn to read is not consistently effective. Pupils are not given enough opportunities to revisit and learn the sounds and words that they are not confident with. This means that some pupils are not reading or writing as fluently as they should. Leaders must ensure staff provide helpful opportunities for pupils to practise and apply these sounds in their extra reading and writing sessions. Leaders must closely monitor that the extra sessions are having the intended impact.
• Some aspects of the early years curriculum do not specify exactly how and what children should learn. Consequently, opportunities are missed for children to learn and remember specific skills, vocabulary and content. Leaders need to ensure that staff are trained to deliver all areas of learning. Leaders must make it clear exactly what skills, vocabulary and content needs to be taught and when, so all children are better prepared for learning the key stage 1 curriculum.

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