Wickham Market Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 May 2023

Pupils at Wickham Market Primary School are kind and caring to one another. Adults ask much of them, and they step up to meet these expectations. In lessons, pupils are keen and attentive. They willingly share ideas and suggestions when invited by adults. They know that making a mistake is fine and that it helps to build their resilience. Bullying is rare. When issues do happen between friends, adults are quick to help mend relationships. Pupils know they can share problems with adults. There is a culture of mutual respect, which means pupils know it is ok to be different. They feel safe in school and can be themselves. Older pupils love the responsibilities adults give them, such as being a library monitor or school councillor. Pupils carry out these roles with great diligence, developing their independence as they go about their work. Pupils take every opportunity to benefit from the vast school grounds. Time spent in the forest area feeds their curiosity and helps them take well-calculated risks. Visits further afield, such as to a university, to theatres and into London, broaden their horizons beyond Wickham Market. Pupils leave the school at the end of Year 6 as well-rounded young people.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not set out clearly the specific knowledge they want pupils to learn. Consequently, in these subjects, teachers do not routinely refer to what pupils should have learned to help strengthen pupils' understanding. In these few subjects, pupils do not learn the depth of knowledge they do in other areas. Leaders should identify the exact knowledge they want pupils to learn, training teachers to understand how best to teach this and to check pupils' understanding over time.
• The curriculum to teach older pupils to form letters correctly is not sufficiently developed and adapted to address the learning missed during the pandemic. This means many pupils in key stage 2 do not form their letters correctly and consistently. Some of their writing is difficult to read. Leaders should ensure they put in place an effective programme to enable pupils to improve and develop their handwriting over time.

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