The Coombes Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 July 2024

This is a school where pupils are increasingly inspired to grow in character and confidence. Equal priority is given to pupils' academic, personal and social development. Pupils thoroughly enjoy coming to school. They feel safe. They have trusted adults they can speak to if they have any worries. Pupils say that if bullying happens, staff take prompt and effective action to help. Pupils are keen to learn, and almost all behave well. Pupils understand and follow the 'Coombes code'. They say the code is fair and is applied consistently. Parents recognise the strengths of the school and appreciate the many improvements that have been made recently. The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, this ambitious vision is not yet realised. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should because the curriculum is not yet delivered consistently well across all subjects. Pupils benefit from many opportunities that broaden their understanding of the world. Pupils are particularly proud of their roles as play leaders, school councillors and worship leaders. They relish opportunities to support younger pupils and make a positive contribution to the life of the school.

What the school should improve

• There are inconsistencies in the teaching of reading for pupils at an early stage of learning to read. Consequently, some pupils struggle to read fluently. The school should ensure that all staff teach the reading curriculum effectively so that all pupils swiftly become fluent and accurate readers.
• Too often, teachers do not design tasks that enable pupils to learn the intended curriculum effectively. This means that some pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school needs to improve teachers' subject and teaching knowledge to ensure that they can support pupils to learn well across the whole curriculum.
• Teachers do not consistently identify and address pupils' misconceptions precisely. This impedes how well pupils learn and remember key knowledge long term. The school must ensure that assessment routines enable staff to make effective use of information to inform future teaching and help all pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

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