Warden House Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 March 2025

Pupils are happy at this nurturing school. They talk confidently about treating people equally and fairly. Pupils know the school's values. They explain values such as 'success' as knowing how to work together, and 'positive' as turning difficult challenges into positive situations. Pupils learn well about keeping safe, including when they are online. Staff have high expectations for pupils' behaviour and manage this skilfully. Pupils are motivated and have positive attitudes to their learning. They are respectful towards staff and each other. If any pupils present more challenging behaviour, the school works sensitively and caringly. Pupils love the opportunity to take on roles and responsibilities such as school councillor. They take part in democratic processes as well as a wide range of educational trips and visits. This gives pupils an increasing sense of confidence and belonging. In a number of subjects, pupils do not learn the curriculum well. They have gaps in their knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has not supported pupils effectively to address these gaps. This is reflected in the low published outcomes achieved in recent years. However, the school ensures that pupils at the earliest stages of reading, and in subjects such as art, are learning well.

What the school should improve

• The school has not ensured that teachers have the pedagogical knowledge to teach the curriculum as intended. For example, how new content is explained is not exact enough for pupils to understand. This means pupils do not learn the important knowledge set out in the curriculum as the school expects. The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge and expertise to teach the curriculum as expected.
• In some subjects, some activity choices do not help children learn the intended curriculum as effectively as they should. This means that some pupils are not learning securely and building their knowledge and understanding over time. The school should ensure that the staff knowledge and skills are effective, and that the curriculum is implemented and evaluated consistently well across all subjects so that pupils learn securely.
• Sometimes, the checks on what pupils know lack the accuracy to precisely determine where there are gaps in knowledge. This means that pupils are moved on to the next stage of learning before they are ready. They develop misconceptions and do not learn as securely as the school expects. The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge to test accurately what pupils know and adapt their approaches accordingly.

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