Ferndown First School

Overview

Ferndown First School continues to be a good school, where pupils enjoy learning and build strong relationships with staff. The curriculum is suitably ambitious, with marked improvements in reading, writing, and mathematics, though some sequences of work do not yet enable all pupils to flourish academically when ready.

Strengths

• Pupils gain confidence year on year, becoming "great ambassadors for the school" who undertake leadership roles with integrity.
• The "Ferndown way" fosters kindness and courtesy, resulting in great relationships between pupils and staff.
• Achievement in core subjects is "rising markedly," supported by a strong emphasis on early reading and precise speech and language support.
• Subject curriculums are being refined to identify "big ideas" and specific vocabulary, helping pupils make better connections, particularly in history.
• Parents report that communication from the school is a strength, with almost every parent recommending the school.

Areas to improve

• There is insufficient oversight of the curriculum’s impact; some pupils do not receive immediate support when stuck, hindering their ability to persevere with new learning.
• The trust must ensure curriculum implementation is consistently strong so all pupils, including those with SEND, can progress sufficiently well in every subject.
• Systems to analyse persistent absence are not robust enough, making it difficult for the trust to measure the impact of attendance interventions.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.