Vauxhall Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 29 November 2023

Pupils at this school are very happy. They enjoy learning in a calm environment. Pupils reflect the school's core values in their everyday activities. For example, they are kind to one another and they respect each other's similarities and differences. Pupils feel safe in all parts of the school and they know they can talk to any adult if they have any worries. Pupils like that teachers listen to them and give them the chance to explain things. The school is ambitious for all pupils. In early years, the curriculum places no ceilings on children's learning and what they can achieve. Children enjoy creative and purposefully designed indoor and outdoor spaces where teachers carefully plan what they want children to learn. Older pupils are excited by the range of subjects that they learn in school. They are keen readers and enjoy choosing books from the school and local library. Pupils are keen to do well. They are focused on their learning. From the start of early years, children learn how to identify and manage their feelings and emotions. This approach is used throughout the school and helps pupils to take responsibility for their own behaviour and be independent. Pupils are keen to help one another. This can be seen at breakfast club where reading ambassadors read with younger children.

What the school should improve

• The school's work to prioritise writing and improve how the curriculum supports this aspect of pupils' learning is recent. This means that pupils have not been consistently well supported to become accurate and clear writers. The school should embed the changes made to the curriculum and check that these changes enable pupils to write accurately and clearly.
• In a few subjects, the school has not thought about the sequence that knowledge and skills need to be taught in so that pupils build well on their prior learning. In addition, activities to assess what pupils know and remember in these subjects are not always linked to the knowledge that has been taught. As a result, this reduces how effectively pupils remember the most important knowledge and skills needed for the next stage of their learning. The school should ensure that all subjects are sequenced in a way that allows pupils to build on prior knowledge and that assessments are appropriate to the subject matter being learned.

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