Stoke Row CofE Primary School

Overview

Pupils benefit from attending this “safe and supportive school” where they “flourish” and demonstrate “positive and trusting relationships with adults.” The inspection found that staff effectively meet personal and learning needs within a small community, fostering a “joyful environment” where pupils treat each other with “kindness and respect.”

Strengths

• Pupils exhibit “positive attitudes towards their learning” and “independently follow” school rules and routines.
• Teachers have “secure knowledge of what they teach” and make “effective changes to lessons to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.”
• Staff are “expert teachers of phonics” who use assessments to identify gaps, leading to pupils becoming “confident and fluent readers.”
• The school provides activities that develop character, including assemblies where pupils “discuss and debate global topical issues” to build reasoned views.
• Leadership has established a “strong and ambitious vision” following recent turbulence, with staff feeling “inspired” and supported.

Areas to improve

• Whole-school absence remains “high,” meaning pupils miss learning time; the school must continue to embed strategies to improve attendance.
• Some foundation subjects lack precise sequencing and assessment clarity, preventing teachers from identifying specific knowledge gaps or planning “ambitious activities.”
• Curriculum changes in Reception are incomplete, resulting in some activities being “less well designed” and children not always learning as well as they could.

Safeguarding

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