Thorpedene Primary School & Nursery

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 7 January 2025

Pupils at Thorpedene Primary School are very well cared for. Relationships between staff and pupils are caring and kind. If a pupil is worried or upset, they have someone to talk to who will help them feel better. Pupils really enjoy coming to school. They like playing with their friends and they look forward to their lessons. Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs on offer. Dodge ball, karate, tennis and football are popular. As well as helping them to be healthy, sports clubs help pupils to develop their friendships. Pupils also enjoy attending the cooking club and developing their singing skills at choir. Each year group benefits from a trip such as visits to the planetarium or the science centre. This enhances their understanding of the subjects they study. Pupils often display positive attitudes towards their learning. They are settled and calm in lessons and eager to learn. The school is ambitious that pupils have the right opportunities to succeed. However, it does not have consistently high enough expectations for what pupils can achieve. For instance, the work given to pupils does not always allow them to deepen their knowledge or understanding. This limits how highly pupils achieve.

What the school should improve

• The support for developing pupils' early reading is not as effective as it should be. Staff are not all appropriately skilled to deliver the phonics programme as the school intends. As a result, too many pupils fail to develop suitable standards of reading fluency. Leaders must ensure staff deliver the phonics programme consistently and effectively. Additionally, it must also ensure that older pupils at the early stages of reading, receive timely and effective support to build their reading skills and confidence.
• The school does not use assessment effectively to support pupils' learning across the curriculum. This means that staff do not provide clear and regular feedback to address pupils' misunderstandings or help pupils improve their work, including their written work. As a result, pupils do not always know how to improve from their starting points. Leaders should ensure that staff are confident in checking what pupils know and can do and use assessment information well to provide pupils with clear feedback to help them achieve well.
• The school does not consistently identify pupils' SEND needs accurately or provide staff with sufficiently clear guidance on how to support pupils with SEND. As a result, staff do not always adapt pupils' learning effectively to help them achieve as highly as they should. Leaders must ensure precise identification of pupils' needs and provide staff with the guidance and resources needed to help pupils with SEND achieve well from their starting points.
• In the early years, several areas of the curriculum lack detail, leaving staff insufficiently equipped to support children's development fully. As a result, children do not consistently receive targeted support to develop their skills in key areas such as writing, phonics, and language and communication. Leaders must implement a robust curriculum in all areas of learning. They must also ensure that staff know how to tailor activities to meet children's individual needs, preparing them effectively for the next stage of their education.

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