Woolhampton C.E. Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 November 2024

Pupils work hard to do their best. The school has ambitions for pupils to achieve their best. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils love learning. Most staff support pupils' learning. However, sometimes, the examples and feedback staff provide is not totally accurate. Pupils need this instruction and feedback to flourish. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Pupils are happy and feel part of a close school community. This is a small rural primary school but lives up to its value of 'koinonia' (community). The school has fostered this with purposely chosen opportunities such as a focus on outdoor learning. Pupils enjoy school and rush through the gates in the morning. They have warm relationships with staff. Pupils feel safe and know they have adults they trust to listen to them. The school has high expectations for behaviour and most pupils meet these. Pupils behave positively in most classes and reflect the school's ambitions of 'respect' and 'optimism'. Occasionally, there is some disruptive behaviour in lessons, but most staff address this appropriately. However, pupils recognise the inconsistency of expectations and do not always follow routines and rules as well as the school intends.

What the school should improve

• The school lacks a sharp focus on ensuring that pupils, including those with SEND, gain the foundational literacy skills to enable future learning. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could across the curriculum, including in early reading. The school must secure consistent teaching that sharply focuses on the intended curriculum content. The school must also check that the activities chosen for pupils to apply these skills are appropriately adapted for all pupils.
• Routines and expectations for conduct across the school are not consistently applied. As a result, pupils sometimes are confused about how they should respond to staff, what rules to follow or what the school expects of them. Consequently, valuable learning time is not routinely well used, and pupils do not concentrate on their learning sufficiently well. The school must ensure that expectations and routines are consistently followed by all staff to enable pupils to focus on their learning.

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