Ofsted Report
Ofsted Inspection November 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are really pleased and proud to be able to share with you our finalised Ofsted report, which you will find below. The inspection was rigorous but a fair, supportive process for school evaluation.
As a school, we are delighted that the inspection findings align with our own school self-evaluation, celebrating in particular how the personal development of our children underpins all we do and has corroborated our ongoing development work.
Whilst any inspection is ‘a point-in-time evaluation’, the reports produced often seem to insufficiently capture ‘a school’ and the incredible amount of work that goes into the inspection by both the school, and the inspectors. We therefore want to share with you some of the verbal feedback we received during the inspection period and information on the format of the report.
During the inspection period the inspectors provide ongoing verbal feedback, and at the end of each day there are feedback discussions with the headteacher and deputy head. During these the inspection team discuss evidence from their work, ask further questions and consider next steps. On the final day this is followed by feedback to the full governing body and senior leadership team on their findings and the outcomes of the inspection.
All feedback sessions are important because the final report has a short word count (set out across a maximum of 2 pages - 2 and 3), using wording and layout which follows strict guidance. It therefore cannot fully share all that has been seen and discussed. Pages 5 and 6 of the report explain what was undertaken by the inspectors, which included 5 deep dives into a variety of subject areas.
We have summarised the verbal feedback below and hope this provides additional detail on the quality of our school provision:
- Quality of education:
- Curriculum
- the school’s vision underpins all
- is broad, balanced and its design includes all learners
- is demanding
- refinement is on-going
- a “Love of reading is evident”
- “sharpest focus on phonics in MFL seen in a primary school” (Modern Foreign Languages_
- progression of plans in place, in line with National Curriculum, leaders refining further including KPIs (key performance indicators – assessment)
- Teaching and learning, SEND
- children typically achieve well, at least in line with National attainment but often above
- assessment effectively supports teaching and learning
- well managed interventions with a focus on informed action and review
- pupil voice is valued and responded to
- there is no lack of ambition for pupils with SEND
- there is a clear link between subject leader curriculum work and adaptation for pupils with SEND
- Curriculum
- Leadership - senior and middle (subject), governors:
- have a clear vision
- have clear and ambitious expectations
- are forward thinking
- are knowledgeable and highly focused
- are reflective and identify areas for development
- are incredibly enthusiastic, passionate
- d their best for pupils
- Early Years:
- emerging strength f provision
- strength of adult conversation modelling vocabulary to support language.
- precise modelling across all areas
- skillful examples in practice of practitioners moving in to support learning
- Strong progressive reception Long Term Planning providing rigorous assessment points
- same ambition for all children.
- Behaviour and attitudes
- safe happy environment where there are rules
- there is a sense of respect amongst pupils
- some children were a little over enthusiastic – ‘talking over each other’
- this is a place where children, especially those with SEND, want to come to school and be here
- attendance of children with SEND is higher here than most other schools
- Personal Development
- is not tokenistic and part of school culture
- leaders g above and beyond to develop leadership in children
- there is a depth of sense of belonging, difference, democracy
- children are empowered to make significant contribution to their school community
- children have a wide range of rich experiences
The area for improvement identified in the report is already part of this year’s school development work, which shows our strength of self-evaluation as we strive to provide the best provision for our children in an ever-changing society.
We would like to thank pupils, parents, staff and governors, for all their contributions to our inspection, from completing surveys to speaking with the inspectors and being observed in sessions. The whole school community came together to shine a light on the provision for our children.
The results of the Parent view survey can be found by clicking here – this does not provide any free text comments but a statistical overview.
If you have any queries about the report or the inspection in general, please contact us by email via the office (office@swavesey.cambs.sch.uk).
Kind regards,
Anna-Claire Norden Hannah Parish
Headteacher Chair of Governors