Whittlebury Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 15 December 2022

This is a happy school where pupils are well looked after and cared for. Pupils enjoy attending. They say that everyone knows each other and gets on well. They work hard. As one pupil said: 'It's like being part of one big family. Teachers make learning fun and give us freedom to learn.' Leaders aim for the school to be 'small enough to care, large enough to inspire'. They expect pupils to be curious, confident and creative, to be part of the community and to demonstrate Christian values. Pupils try hard to live up to these expectations. They describe the school as inclusive. They enjoy learning about people from different backgrounds and with different views and beliefs. Behaviour is exemplary. Pupils are polite and courteous. They are respectful to adults and to one another. They are motivated by the rewards on offer, including verbal praise, star awards and earning points for positive behaviour that they can cash in for prizes. Being selected as a monthly VIP, including walking the red carpet, is highly prized. Pupils understand the school's sanctions. They know how 'school service' can be used to put right poor behaviour. However, they say that this is very rarely required.

What the school should improve

• A small number of subjects are not yet fully planned and sequenced. As a result, in these subjects, pupils do not remember curriculum content as consistently as they could. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum, across all subjects, is well planned and sequenced.
• Beyond phonics, the school's reading curriculum sets out end points. It does not build incrementally on what pupils should know and be able to do at each stage of their education. Leaders do not have the milestones they need to check on how well pupils are acquiring the reading curriculum. Leaders should ensure that the reading curriculum builds incrementally and makes clear what pupils are expected to know at each stage of their education.
• Assessments in the early years are based on what children are expected to achieve by the end of the year. They do not check closely enough on how well children acquire the termly milestones of the curriculum. This means that leaders do not have a precise view of how children are acquiring curriculum content. Leaders should ensure that assessment in the early years checks on how well children acquire the termly milestones, across each of the areas of learning. This is in pursuit of children achieving even better.

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