Victoria Park Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 April 2026

Pupils are proud to attend their school. Pupils say that staff care for them and are there to support them. The school is calm, and pupils are happy and safe. Pupils and the school’s community embrace and live out the school’s values of respect, curiosity, kindness and determination. Children in the early years begin their educational journey with momentum. They build the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. However, while published outcomes for older pupils are generally positive, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Expectations for pupils' accurate use of handwriting, spelling and grammar are inconsistent. Furthermore, the misconceptions of older pupils are not always identified, which means they continue in their learning with gaps in their knowledge. Throughout the school, pupils behave well. They are kind and caring towards one another. Incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils enjoy learning and coming to school. This is reflected in positive rates of attendance. The provision for pupils’ personal development and wellbeing supports them to be highly prepared for life beyond school. It ensures that pupils develop the cultural understanding needed to contribute to society as responsible members of the community. The school council supports pupils to raise money for charity. Pupils value opportunities such as ‘Game Makers’ to develop their leadership skills and support younger pupils in their play. Pupils enjoy visits to farms, where they develop an understanding of the natural world. Visits to see local aviation attractions, Roman sites and historical ships help pupils to deepen their knowledge of what they have learned in class. Pupils are particularly proud of the opportunity to showcase their artwork when the school opens its doors to the public during the ‘Art on the Hill’ event.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that the school’s work on improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils is having the intended impact and that governors and trustees hold leaders to account for the effectiveness of this work.
• Leaders should ensure that assessment and feedback are used consistently well to support teachers to design learning activities that build on what pupils know and can do.
• Leaders should strengthen writing across the Key Stage 2 curriculum, ensuring that there are high expectations for the accuracy of spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar.
• Leaders, governors and trustees should ensure that monitoring of teaching and learning, including the review of written work across Key Stage 2, focuses clearly on the impact on pupils’ achievement. This will enable them to identify promptly where further improvement is needed.

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