The Vale Primary School and Nursery

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 May 2023

Pupils are happy at this friendly and supportive school. They like the way they are greeted by teachers and how everyone says, 'Good morning.' Pupils describe how 'when you walk in, you feel welcome'. Expectations are high. These are set out in the school's values, which pupils strive to meet. This helps to ensure that behaviour is good. Any rare hint of bullying or unkindness is responded to quickly by staff. Pupils feel safe. Pupils feel valued. They appreciate the way teachers make learning fun and that playground facilities are regularly updated. Pupils explain that this helps them feel that their needs are important and recognised. School council meetings, which are attended by governors, ensure that leaders seek out pupils' views. Pupils are positive about the opportunities they have to contribute to the school community, for example by being a 'Vale Ambassador'. They know that it is important to be a good role model. Pupils are enthusiastic about the variety of clubs on offer, such as cooking, choir and calligraphy. Parents like the family feel of the school. A parent summed up others' views by saying: 'The Vale is a caring school where every child is known and allowed to flourish.'

What the school should improve

• Occasionally, some learning sequences within the foundation curriculum are not precise enough. When this happens, teaching sequences do not help pupils to systematically build knowledge as well as they could. Leaders should continue to refine the foundation curriculum so that all teaching sequences support pupils in building their knowledge and skills effectively.

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