Tackley Church of England Primary School

Overview

Tackley Church of England Primary School is described as a place ‘where staff have unconditional positive regard for all pupils’, fostering a ‘highly inclusive environment’ following a recent merger. Pupils are reported to be happy, achieving well, and making a ‘strong start’ in Reception, supported by teachers who maintain high expectations and model ideas clearly. The school demonstrates effective leadership, with a focus on staff well-being and a curriculum that prioritises language, reading, and writing skills.

Strengths

• Staff teach early reading and phonics ‘effectively’, with thorough approaches that help pupils catch up quickly if needed.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils ‘achieve well’ through highly personalised programmes.
• There are ‘very strong, positive relationships between pupils and staff’, with pupils showing high levels of respect and confidence.
• The school supports pupils’ wider development effectively, helping them develop a ‘strong knowledge of how to manage their mental health’.
• Leaders are ‘highly ambitious’ for all pupils, ensuring a well-structured training programme and diligent consideration of staff workload.

Areas to improve

• In some wider curriculum subjects, assessment is not yet used well enough to check if pupils have remembered key knowledge, leading to gaps.
• Pupils ‘struggle to recall and use’ fundamental British values to deepen their understanding of life in modern Britain.
• In some sequences of work, staff do not always check carefully whether pupils have understood the learning, meaning mistakes are not identified quickly.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.