A Bristol primary school has been downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ seven years after being rated ‘good’.

A Bristol primary school has been downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ following a recent Ofsted inspection. Horfield Church of England Primary School, in Westbury-on-Trym, has been downgraded overall since a ‘good’ inspection seven years ago.

The primary school, which has 411 pupils, was inspected on April 16 and 17 after an ungraded inspection found evidence that the new grade could be lower. While Ofsted found the school is ambitious and wants pupils to achieve, it is still in the early stages of curriculum change and therefore pupils are “not yet receiving a good quality education”.

In a letter to parents, Horfield Primary said the “requires improvement” grade matched its own assessment. It added that it would address the report’s recommendations and communicate the changes with parents and carers in the “coming weeks and months”.

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Ofsted noted in its report that the school had gone through a difficult period, saying: “There have been many changes in staff which have left the school feeling unsettled. This had an impact on staff morale and hindered the school’s efforts to improve. Many parents feel that the school does not effectively address the concerns they raise.”

Ofsted said the school had started making changes to the curriculum. Maths, in particular, has seen early signs that students are making better progress, but other areas of the curriculum are still in early development and there are currently gaps in what students know and remember.

Horfield Town Hall has been praised for enabling a “positive culture” for reading. Ofsted added: “Children learn to read as soon as they start their reception year and adults use assessments effectively to identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind. Older students love to read and talk enthusiastically about their favorite authors.”

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Shortcomings in safeguarding and SEND pupils’ education

But systems for identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are “not effective”. Ofsted said: “Pupils’ needs are not clearly understood and sometimes the work does not match their needs. Staff do not have the expertise to adapt learning.”

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Ofsted also reported that, within the school’s wider curriculum, the use of assessments to check learning and understanding is not developed and the school lacks an understanding of the impact of its curriculum. The students also said that there were incidents of bullying, but they felt that adults would not be able to solve it.

Horfield Primary also has failings in safeguarding processes and procedures, including not carrying out timely checks on adults working at the school. There is no clear induction process, which means staff may not have the most up-to-date training at the start. Ofsted warns that pupils are “not at immediate risk of harm”.

Ofsted listed four key areas for Horfield Church of England Primary School to improve on:

• “The school must ensure that all staff, including those new to the school, have a well-developed understanding of safeguarding processes and that all pre-employment checks are completed within the statutory timeframe.”

• “Governors should ensure they are fully equipped to carry out their duties effectively and hold the school to account for its actions to make the necessary improvements, including raising staff morale and responding to parents’ concerns in a timely manner.”

• “The school needs to strengthen all aspects of SEND provision so that adults can support pupils with SEND well and pupils fulfill their potential.”

• “The school needs to identify the most important knowledge it wants the students to remember and then check the students’ understanding.”

“Now is the time to look forward”

In a letter to parents, the primary school says that since the last qualified inspection, the education sector has undergone “unprecedented” change and the new framework, introduced by Ofsted in 2019, has higher expectations and more weight is given to what is observed in the lessons. The letter, written by headteacher Rae Harris and Karen Dunmall, chair of governors on behalf of the Governing Body, accepts the report’s findings.

The letter said: “While it is disappointing to be judged as ‘requires improvement’, it is reassuring that inspectors have identified the very issues which are already a core feature of our School Development Plan and those things we have already worked on. In other words, there were no surprises in the inspection process and we were already very focused on areas for improvement.

“Over the next few weeks and months we will be communicating with parents and carers the actions we will take to address the recommendations in the report, and we will also be setting up a parent forum with representatives from all grades so that parents have the opportunity to ask questions and to provide feedback on how the school is developing.

“With the publication of the report, now is the time to look forward and continue to address the issues that concern you most as parents – ensuring that all children at our school receive the high quality education they deserve they deserve an environment where all children are supported to reach their potential.”

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