Oxenhope CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's values of love, growth and community are central to the life of the school. Adults care for pupils. They create a warm and supportive environment where pupils feel safe.

Visitors feel this nurturing atmosphere as soon as they walk through the door.

The school sets high expectations for learning and behaviour. Staff reinforce these through well-established routines.

Pupils including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. They enjoy school and attend regularly. Pupils understand the school rules, rewards and consequences.

They are polite and respectful. Pupils move around the school calmly and transit...ion quickly between playtime and lessons. Staff regularly provide strong pastoral support for pupils who need it.

Pupils are aware of and manage their feelings well. Parents and carers value the support that their children receive.

Pupils have an exceptional understanding of British values, equality and diversity.

They connect meaningfully with pupils from another school through visits, letter writing and projects like the 'Reggae' project. Through a wide range of clubs and activities, they explore their talents, such as building confidence in 'open mic mornings'. Pupils actively address local issues by writing to their MP, raising money for charity and visiting residents in sheltered housing.

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

The curriculum is ambitious and well thought out. It is carefully structured so that key knowledge is revisited to strengthen understanding. Pupils learn well and build their knowledge over time.

Pupils remember what they have learned and link this to new knowledge. Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They check pupils' learning regularly.

However, in some areas of the curriculum, the school has not yet ensured that new knowledge is presented clearly. Where this is the case, pupils don't always achieve as well as they could.

Pupils with SEND are quickly and accurately identified.

Staff identify precise targets and check progress carefully. Pupils access support in lessons with carefully chosen resources and access to spaces like 'The Nest'. Pupils with SEND receive personalised support that ensures they learn effectively.

Reading is taught consistently. Phonics teaching starts on day one in Reception. Pupils access daily phonics lessons in small groups.

Well-trained staff support them to learn sounds and read words accurately. Books are well matched to pupils' phonics ability. This builds confidence and fluency.

Adults make regular checks to support pupils who need extra help. As pupils get older, they practise reading in lessons and improve their understanding of texts. In writing, younger pupils focus on basic skills like forming letters and writing grammatically accurate sentences.

Older pupils build stamina to write at length. The school has recently made changes to the writing curriculum to deepen pupils' knowledge. However, this needs to be strengthened further to provide greater challenge for pupils' writing skills.

The early years curriculum prioritises developing children's communication and mathematical knowledge, as well as their social skills. It is well structured to ensure that children are ready for Year 1. Ongoing checks are used to identify gaps in learning and where children need extra help.

Activities are carefully designed to develop children's independence. There are many opportunities for children to practise their learning. For example, key pads on doors help children to remember phonemes.

Adults support children by asking questions and giving prompts to challenge them. Children are engaged, confident and enjoy learning with each other.

Behaviour is calm and positive.

Pupils follow routines and show respect for each other by listening and taking turns when speaking. In lessons, pupils focus on learning and engage well with adults. Pupils value the school's system of rewards for behaviour such as house points and the headteacher's award.

The school excels in promoting pupils' personal development, driven by its vision and values. This focus ensures that all pupils are prepared for future success. The personal development offer has been skilfully adapted to include key issues like mental health and spirituality.

The school maps out its wider development offer carefully ensuring it is tailored to pupils' age and needs. Pupils take on leadership roles, like 'safety squad' and 'peace pals'. They engage purposefully in the community, developing character and a sense of responsibility.

For example, the 'head students' create a termly video report for governors about what is working well in the school and posing key questions.

The trust provides a consistent approach while enabling the school to focus on the needs of its community. Governors align with the school's vision providing appropriate challenge and support.

Staff feel well supported by leaders, who consider their workload and well-being. Staff benefit from development opportunities that align with the school's priorities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The writing curriculum and the feedback pupils receive do not precisely identify how they need to be challenged to make further progress in their writing. As a result, some pupils do not deepen their knowledge over time. The school should continue to refine its writing curriculum to deliberately incorporate opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills and make sustained progress.

• The school does not always ensure that activities are modelled effectively or concepts are explained clearly in some lessons. As a result, pupils do not always achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure it has the knowledge and expertise to deliver the curriculum as intended.

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