Improvements well underway at Bicton Primary School

The headteacher of Bicton CE Primary School says improvements at the school are already well underway, following the school’s latest Ofsted inspection.

In the Ofsted report – to be published today [11 November 2021] – inspectors judged that ‘behaviour and attitudes’, personal development’, and ‘early years provision’ are all ‘good’. 

However, they found that ‘the quality of education’ and ‘leadership and management’ ‘require improvement’.

They rated the school as ‘requires improvement’ overall – the same outcome as for the school’s previous inspection in 2018.

In their report inspectors highlighted a wide number of strengths about the school and nursery.

They found that pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school where ‘leaders put pupils’ well-being front and foremost’, ‘they look after each pupil as an individual’ and ‘leaders have created a warm, caring environment where everyone is valued.’  

They found that pupils are kind, well-behaved and thoughtful, they look after and learn from one another and ‘are proud to look after the environment and help in the community.’

They also found that ‘children get off to a great start in the early years’ and ‘good communication with parents keeps them informed and involved in their children’s learning.’

Staff and governors say it is disappointing that they are not as far along their school improvement journey as they had hoped.

Natalie Johnson, Headteacher at Bicton C of E Primary School and Nursery, said:

“Despite the challenges that the pandemic has brought over the past 18 months, we have achieved all of the recommendations since the last inspection and are pleased that the inspectors acknowledged this, especially the improvements made in maths and the provision for pupils with SEND.

“Bicton is a happy, safe and welcoming community, where our pupils are well-cared for, and it is wonderful that the inspectors recognised the many strengths of our school and nursery.

“Our staff have worked tirelessly since the previous inspection to improve outcomes for our pupils and, whilst we did not receive the outcome we had hoped for, we were already focusing on the areas identified for improvement prior to the inspection and we are determined to address these swiftly.”

Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education, said:

“We want our children to receive the best possible education and we’re pleased that the headteacher, staff and governors have already achieved all of the recommendations made in their previous inspection, and that they’re determined to improve still further.

“We’ll continue to support the school to ensure that pupils have consistently good opportunities to learn and to fulfil their potential.”