Outstanding Coton school now requires improvement - Ofsted

A previous outstanding grading, and delays caused by the pandemic, meant Coton Church of England Primary School was not inspected until November

A school rated as outstanding 15 years ago has been downgraded to "requires improvement" by inspectors.

Children's quality of education and early years provision were found to require improvement at Coton Church of England Primary School, near Cambridge.

It was last inspected by Ofsted in 2008 but the previous regulations meant it did not need further inspection until 2020.

Sarah Jarvis, headteacher, said: "We are naturally disappointed."

A two-day inspection was carried out in November 2023 after Covid delayed an earlier visit.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Ofsted inspectors praised and rated the school as "good" for children's behaviour and attitude, personal development, and leadership and management.

They concluded: "Everyone at Coton Church of England Primary School is proud to belong to this caring community.

"The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour, including for the children in the early years. Pupils respond well to this."

On leadership, it said the "school has an accurate picture of its strengths and weaknesses", that staff had high-quality training and found teachers "rigorously" checked pupils performance when it came to reading and mathematics.

However, inspectors said other areas of the curriculum were not as strong.

"While improvements have been made, some of the curriculum content does not ensure that children routinely access the learning opportunities they need to be fully prepared for Year One, " they reported.

Inspectors also judged the the school did have an "accurate picture of its strengths and weaknesses".

Ofsted will inspect Coton Church of England Primary within 30 months, or at any time if concerns are raised.

Ms Jarvis said: "We are naturally disappointed with Ofsted's overall judgement, but pleased that the three areas of behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management were all rated as good.

"Inspectors said the school had an accurate picture of its strengths and weaknesses.

"The school had not been inspected for 15 years, and inspectors acknowledged that there had been 'significant' changes in leadership over the last five years, and that the current headteacher and deputy headteacher had both been appointed within the last seven months.

"We are confident that with the support of our governors, parents and the local authority, the school is on track to be providing a good standard of education in all areas."

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