Borrowdale CofE Primary School

Overview

Borrowdale CofE Primary School is described as a “small and family-centred” institution where “everyone is valued” and pupils are “happy”. The report states that the school provides a “Good” quality of education, with staff maintaining “high expectations” for both academic achievement and personal development.

Strengths

• Pupils benefit from a “broad curriculum” that has been carefully reshaped to suit “small, mixed-age classes”.
• Staff possess “strong subject knowledge” and generally deliver content clearly, fostering a “calm and focused” learning environment.
• Reading is “at the heart of the curriculum”, with a “well-structured phonics programme” enabling most pupils to become “fluent readers”.
• The school “promptly identifies” the needs of pupils with SEND and works to “remove any barriers to learning”.
• Leaders and governors are “highly invested”, providing appropriate support and challenge to ensure pupils receive the education they deserve.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects and early years areas, “subject-specific content is not as well defined”, which hinders pupils from acquiring all necessary knowledge.
• Teachers occasionally select activities that are “not effective in assisting pupils in their learning”, causing engagement to deteriorate.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective”.