14th December 2018
Oxfordshire County Council conducted their annual inspection of school last week and had many positive things to say.
In her summing up, inspector Sandra North said:
‘‘The headteacher reports that she has a strong team, strong support from effective and knowledgeable governors with a whole school cohesive approach to high expectations.
The school is ambitious for every pupil and rightly proud of all its achievements and their ambitions for the school include an aspiration to be judged outstanding at the next Ofsted.
In my opinion it is likely that they are correct and, if the school continues on this current trajectory, I would be surprised if they were not awarded this judgement.’’
‘‘The headteacher reports that she has a strong team, strong support from effective and knowledgeable governors with a whole school cohesive approach to high expectations.
The school is ambitious for every pupil and rightly proud of all its achievements and their ambitions for the school include an aspiration to be judged outstanding at the next Ofsted.
In my opinion it is likely that they are correct and, if the school continues on this current trajectory, I would be surprised if they were not awarded this judgement.’’
Oxfordshire County Council conducted their annual inspection at school last week and had many positive things to say about school. These are some of the inspector’s comments:
‘The school has begun to explore increased rigour and quality of teaching in foundation (non-core) subjects. There are progression strands for non-core areas, and there will be a renewed focus on the broader curriculum going forward.’
‘The school has begun to explore increased rigour and quality of teaching in foundation (non-core) subjects. There are progression strands for non-core areas, and there will be a renewed focus on the broader curriculum going forward.’
This means that the school has a strong focus on all subjects and not just the teaching of the core subjects: English, maths and science. It also means that teachers monitor the progress of children in all subjects and not just the core subjects.
‘The weekly newsletter gives a very clear indication of the breadth of the school’s enriching and enhancing provision – they work with local groups, artists, environment groups, Big Me (leading to careers advice), opportunities for developing ethnic diversity, eg, a trip to a Gurdwara in Birmingham, Sheldonian Theatre visits, music lessons etc. The children also have a link with local care homes for the elderly, which they visit regularly.’
‘There is significant after school provision with Breakfast and After School Clubs as well as additional enrichment clubs offering cookery, photography, judo, football and science.’
‘The school is a key part of the community and the PTA (FoLS) raise money through their significant fundraising profile with up to £12K a year.’
‘The school is well-staffed with high adult-pupil ratios so teaching is often carried out in individualised and personalised groups, with a focus on the learning for the individual child.’
‘Safeguarding procedures were robust when I visited the school – I was challenged, badge checked, given a visitor’s badge, advised to read the information about safeguarding etc.’
‘The headteacher feels well-supported by the dedicated and committed governor team.’’
‘There are significant areas of good practice (attainment and progress) which have been recognised at the highest level.’ (Ms North was impressed here because the Department for Education had written personally to school inviting us to become a leading teaching hub so that we could train other teachers to teach English (including phonics), maths, science, history and geography. Nick Gibb, MP and Minister of State for School Standards, has also written to school congratulating us on our phonics success, which puts us in the top 3% of all primary schools nationally).
‘Safeguarding procedures were robust when I visited the school – I was challenged, badge checked, given a visitor’s badge, advised to read the information about safeguarding etc.’
‘The headteacher feels well-supported by the dedicated and committed governor team.’’
‘There are significant areas of good practice (attainment and progress) which have been recognised at the highest level.’ (Ms North was impressed here because the Department for Education had written personally to school inviting us to become a leading teaching hub so that we could train other teachers to teach English (including phonics), maths, science, history and geography. Nick Gibb, MP and Minister of State for School Standards, has also written to school congratulating us on our phonics success, which puts us in the top 3% of all primary schools nationally).
