Ampney Crucis Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's motto is 'Together we live, learn and flourish'.

This reflects what it is like to attend this school. It is a friendly, harmonious community. Everyone is welcome, valued and cared for.

Staff focus on making sure that pupils are safe, happy and achieving well. When something is not working to that end, the school changes it.

The school's values are respect, courage and compassion.

These qualities shine through all elements of school life. Pupils speak to each other respectfully in class and in the playground. Staff encourage pupils to be brave and push themselves beyond their comfort zone.

Pupils' compassion is seen in the way th...ey resolve disputes and fallings-out.

Pupils value their education highly. They approach lessons with enthusiasm and interest.

They want to do well, and they work hard to achieve this. Pupils' appreciation of school shows in the fact that their attendance is so high.

The school's curriculum provides pupils with a broad, rich range of experiences.

A carefully designed programme of additional activities enhances the offer considerably. This combination prepares pupils very well for their next steps in life. It helps them to develop confidence, self-awareness, moral purpose, empathy and an appreciation of the world around them.

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

The school puts pupils' best interests at the heart of every decision. If something is not working as well as they wish, leaders change it. For example, uncertainty about staffing over the past year has presented much challenge.

The school focused its efforts on providing the best possible teaching to pupils under the circumstances. This is because meeting pupils' needs is seen as crucial.

The school's aim is to develop well-rounded, well-educated and socially responsible pupils.

This is described as a 'toolkit for life'. This is established through an intricately crafted approach to developing their character. It builds pupils' leadership skills systematically, from Reception through to Year 6.

Every single pupil in Year 6 has a leadership role. This might be as a head pupil, house captain, reading ambassador or a sports captain, for example. As a result, pupils are very well equipped to move on to secondary school.

Pupils learn to appreciate difference. They show a sophisticated degree of tolerance and respect for people from all backgrounds. This leads them to behave exceptionally well.

They care about, and actively support, one another as a matter of course. For example, older pupils encourage younger ones to join in their activities at lunchtime. The older ones help the younger ones to carry heavy equipment, climb higher or jump further.

Teaching pupils to read is central to the school's vision. Children begin to learn to read immediately when they start in Reception. Phonics lessons help them learn letter sounds quickly.

As pupils move through Year 1, lots of reading practice helps them to become fluent at decoding words. This well-delivered reading programme ensures that pupils learn to read confidently and fluently by the end of Year 2.

Reading continues to be a priority as pupils get older.

Books are an important part of school life. Pupils enjoy hearing their teacher read high-quality novels every day. 'Reading ambassadors' take a lead in promoting reading among their peers.

For example, they make recommendations about books to read. They also organise reading-focused events, such as the highly anticipated school literature festival.

The school's curriculum is continuously under review.

This is to align it to pupils' changing needs. For example, following last year's published outcomes for mathematics, the school took swift action to adapt how the subject is taught. Pupils now spend much more time thinking mathematically in lessons.

These changes are making the difference that the school wanted. Pupils' mathematical understanding is now more secure.

The school caters for several pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders ensure that pupils' needs are identified swiftly and accurately. Staff take the time to understand these needs and support these pupils to learn effectively. Teachers break down learning into manageable steps, when needed.

This helps pupils with SEND to learn the same curriculum as other pupils at an appropriate stage for them.

Most pupils achieve well across the curriculum. However, a small number could achieve better.

This is because they lack the basic skills needed to write their ideas quickly and accurately. They are not confident in handwriting, spelling and punctuation. This gets in the way of them completing written tasks in other subjects.

A committed and hardworking board of governors sets a clear direction and ethos for the school. The governing body provides support where needed. Equally, it holds leaders to account diligently for the quality of pupils' education and their wider development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils in Years 1 and 2 are asked to carry out complex writing tasks before they have mastered their basic writing skills. These skills include handwriting, spelling and punctuation (transcriptional skills).

As a result, a few pupils move into Year 3 and beyond with insecure transcriptional skills. This stops them being able to write ideas down quickly, which gets in the way of learning in some subjects. The school needs to make sure that pupils develop secure transcriptional skills to prepare them for the demands of key stage 2.