Castlemorton Church of England Primary School

Overview

Pupils are described as happy and thriving at this small community school, where staff establish "warm and nurturing relationships" from the outset. The report states that the school is "well led and managed" and continues to run smoothly despite recent changes to staffing and leadership. Leaders have designed an "exciting and ambitious curriculum" with content sequenced well to help pupils build and retain learning over time.

Strengths

• Staff are attentive to pupils’ needs, and bullying is rare, with a ‘peacemakers’ system helping to resolve disputes.
• The curriculum is carefully mapped, with skills and vocabulary sequenced to support long-term retention; pupils achieve well for their age and ability.
• Reading is a high priority, with daily phonics lessons and initiatives like ‘funky readers’ ensuring most pupils become "competent, fluent readers".
• The school is inclusive, with teachers making adaptations so pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities can access all lessons.
• Leaders provide rich experiences, including clubs, visits, and music festivals, ensuring disadvantaged pupils are fully included.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure clear progression and continuity between the early years and key stage 1 curriculum so pupils have the necessary basic knowledge and skills.
• The approach to assessing what pupils know and remember in foundation subjects is at an "early stage of development," limiting leaders’ knowledge of achievement across the whole curriculum.
• Pupils’ understanding of British values and cultural diversity is not secure; leaders should provide more opportunities to experience communities beyond their immediate environment.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff receiving up-to-date training and acting on reports to protect pupils who may be at risk of harm.