Clatford Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school fosters a warm and nurturing environment. It encourages pupils to 'learn and grow together with love, respect, and courage'.

Pupils feel happy and safe in school. They care for others. Year 6 pupils take pride in their roles as buddies to Reception children, supporting and guiding them.

Pupils show resilience and courage in learning. They embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. Pupils love winning pebbles for showing the school's values in action.

The winning class gets the honour of parading the golden candlestick to assembly, which is a moment of pride and celebration.Pupils are polite and very well mannered. In lessons, they are enthusiastic....

Staff nurture this strong learning attitude from early years, setting children up well for future success. The school has high ambitions for all pupils. The above-national-average results at the end of key stage 2 reflect this.

Pupils value their leadership opportunities and take them seriously. The school council helped to establish the new school values, checking with all pupils in the school. 'Singing ambassadors' lead warm-ups before assemblies.

Pupils actively contribute to school life, reinforcing the strong sense of community.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has created a broad and ambitious curriculum that is enriched with a variety of curriculum-linked trips. In most subjects, the school has chosen content carefully, ensuring that knowledge and skills are well sequenced.

For example, pupils understand the elements of music, such as texture, timbre and dynamics, well. They use these with increasing sophistication to describe music as they progress through the school.

Teachers deliver the curriculum well.

They present new content clearly. Pupils are motivated. They work hard, showing a strong desire to learn more.

Teachers help pupils to make connections to prior learning. They design learning tasks well and identify pupils' needs and barriers effectively. They adapt their teaching well so that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn the curriculum alongside their classmates successfully.

Pupils learn well, but they could learn even better in a few wider curriculum subjects. Sometimes, there is too much content in a subject and, as a result, pupils do not always learn deeply enough. Whereas the standards of pupils' written work in English and mathematics are high, this is occasionally not the case in the wider curriculum.

At times, teachers do not have the same high expectations. They do not challenge pupils when their handwriting, grammar and presentation slip.

The checks that teachers carry out on pupils' learning are particularly effective.

Teachers identify specific gaps and barriers in all subjects based on identified key knowledge. They address these gaps and barriers well. The school uses these checks to track the impact of the curriculum on what pupils know and remember effectively.

The school has made considerable improvements in the teaching of phonics. As a result, all pupils in Year 1 who sat the phonics screening check in 2024 achieved the expected standard. Pupils are set up well to be fluent and enthusiastic readers.

They talk about their favourite books, poems and authors animatedly. Pupil book ambassadors love recommending reads to their class. Any pupils who find learning to read a bit harder get well-tailored and effective support.

In the early years, children thrive in an environment that emphasises language development, strong relationships and high expectations. Staff encourage children to be independent. Purposeful activities help children practise skills and communication.

For example, children performed their own puppet show using story language they have learned.Pupils' personal development is a priority. The school provides many opportunities for pupils to develop talents and interests.

For example, all Year 4 pupils learn to play the clarinet and the violin. Pupils love representing the school in a range of sports teams, including cross country and football. Pupils learn how to stay safe online.

They understand the impact of their digital footprint. The school fosters pupils' spirituality well. For example, pupils talk about their 'window, mirror and door moments' eloquently.

They can explain how these moments help them explore their own spirituality and how this relates to their relationships with others.Governors are well informed about the school's strengths and the progress the school has made against its improvement priorities. Recent training has supported them well to ask the right questions of leaders.

The school has high attendance. Pupils are punctual because they know 'every minute matters'. Even with high attendance, leaders do not rest on their laurels.

The school monitors attendance rigorously. It provides effective support for families and pupils to reduce absences.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, expectations of pupils' written responses are not as high in some foundation subjects as they are in core subjects. Pupils do not apply their knowledge of basic skills, formation of letters and presentation consistently well. The school should ensure clarity in expectation so that these expectations are implemented consistently well across the school.

• At times, there is too much to cover in a few wider curriculum subjects. This means that pupils are not learning in enough depth in these subjects. The school should review the content of the curriculum in these subjects to ensure that pupils achieve highly.

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