Clifton Hampden Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Clifton Hampden is an extremely happy school. Delightful pupils enjoy playing and working with their classmates and caring for each other.

The school is one of harmony because, throughout the school day, pupils behave impeccably and are keen to learn. Outside on the playground, the whole school mixes together to play. Older pupils are kind to younger pupils and act as superb role models.

The school sets high academic ambition which begins in early years. Pupils attend school very regularly and they work so conscientiously in class. As a small school, every child is known personally and teachers want the best for all pupils.

School life runs seamlessly because... of clear rules and routines. Pupils help to prepare the classrooms for mealtimes. Older pupils eat with their younger peers to demonstrate excellent table manners and conversation.

Pupils take enormous pride in their school and eagerly tidy up so that everyone is ready for afternoon learning.

High-quality enrichment opportunities ensure pupils leave school with 'curiosity, courage and compassion'. Pupils are encouraged to develop many aspects of their character.

Community Week is a highlight with the whole school working in the village to learn about careers and what actions pupils can take to make a difference.

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

The school is led with clear direction and moral purpose. Every parent surveyed would recommend the school.

There is a compelling vision of high standards and wanting the very best for pupils. This is particularly seen in pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The identification of pupils with SEND has been sharpened.

This means that the school knows exactly which pupils may need suitable adjustments to enable them to learn the ambitious curriculum in place. Pupils with SEND learn very well alongside their peers because adults know each pupil's starting points and specific needs.

Pupils learn an ambitious curriculum which identifies the core knowledge that they need to learn across the whole school.

In early years, staff know that when children are playing, that there is deliberate planning of what children need to focus on. The school has worked well on strengthening curriculum thinking in early years because previous impact for children was not high enough. Now, appropriate activities are planned to help children acquire important child development milestones.

The approach to helping pupils learn to read has been revamped. The school has implemented a new phonics programme which is serving pupils very well in learning to both read and write. Pupils benefit from skilled staff who know the programme's content securely and its teaching sequence.

Additional reading interventions closely align with the school's phonics programme. The school also makes use of many reading volunteers so that every child is heard read in the school each week. However, pupils are not routinely reading books that best match the sounds they know.

This is impacting upon their reading fluency and how quickly they learn to read.

Teachers demonstrate passion and knowledge in teaching pupils. They know the curriculum journey well and ensure that there is regular practice of previous content.

This is helping pupils to sharpen their recall in mathematics for example. Teachers check carefully pupils' understanding and know what to do to help a pupil when additional support is needed. When teachers set work across the curriculum, they think carefully about the planned knowledge and where pupils can further develop their writing skills.

There are many opportunities to promote pupils' personal development. Pupils are tolerant and very accepting. The school's values are strongly instilled in pupils.

In early years, children concentrate well on tasks. The school has made recent changes to the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum. This is to ensure that moving forward, pupils have a deeper knowledge of life in modern Britain, including fundamental British values.

Leaders and staff are growing in their expertise in checking the impact of the curriculum. They have accessed training to ensure they focus on the right priorities. However, they are not always clear about how effective the implementation of the curriculum is across the school.

Equally, there have been new changes in the governing body. Governors are now better understanding their core strategic functions. However, their oversight of the quality of education has not drilled down sharply enough into the school's strengths and where practice needs to improve further.

Staff are very positive about their work at Clifton Hampden. It is a united team who conscientiously focus on school improvements. They know that working in a small school carries many additional responsibilities.

Leaders are mindful of this and ensure workload and well-being are considered and supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Within the phonics programme, pupils are not always reading books that closely match the planned teaching sequence.

This slows down some pupils' progress in learning to read quickly. The school needs to ensure that staff provide pupils with reading books that fully align with the sounds they know so they can develop their reading fluency practice. ? Checks of the impact of the quality of education are developing.

Teachers and governors are beginning to know how best to assure themselves that pupils are achieving highly. At times, the school can be unsure about whether the teaching of the curriculum is embedded securely across the different age groups. The school should continue with providing training to enable leaders and governors to fulfil their roles with greater impact.