A Herefordshire school has been praised following a recent inspection by Ofsted.
Ivington CofE Primary and Pre-School was praised following the inspection by Ofsted on 4th February 2025.
The report said:
This small, rural school is at the heart of the community.
As such, all pupils learn about the importance of farming and pupils are involved in other community activities.
Most pupils behave well and feel safe at school. Staff and pupils demonstrate resilience and cooperation.
This is particularly notable following the significant disruption caused by recent flooding at the school.
Pupils’ education continues to function effectively, regardless of these challenges.
The school is ambitious and expectations for achievement are high. Pupils work hard and are successful. The well-organised curriculum and support provided enable most pupils to reach the standards expected for their age, particularly in reading and mathematics.
This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Carefully chosen visits, clubs and experiences help bring learning to life.
Pupils enjoy the residential visits and fun sleepovers in school that staff organise.
Extra-curricular clubs enable pupils to extend their interests and skills beyond the classroom, these include chess, cricket and football.
Pupils are happy at school. They readily take on additional roles and responsibilities, such as prefects, bus monitors or digital leaders. These opportunities build pupils’ leadership and organisational skills. Older pupils demonstrate high levels of maturity when supporting younger children.
The school’s approach to teaching early reading and mathematics is systematic and effective. Staff are clear about what they want children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 to know and by when.
Learning builds gradually and sequentially as pupils move through the school. Staff who teach phonics have strong subject knowledge.
Pupils in key stage 2 who have not achieved fluency in their phonics, continue to have regular teaching. Younger pupils who struggle receive additional one-to-one support in the afternoon to help them catch up.
This strong focus on intervention ensures that pupils become confident and fluent readers.
The school has identified that writing is an area for improvement. Some pupils do not develop a fluent handwriting style. This mars the presentation of their written work.
Additionally, on occasion, staff expectations of pupils’ writing are too low. Some of the school’s approaches to teaching writing stifles pupils’ ability to write as well and as much as they should.
Staff adapt teaching appropriately to meet pupils’ needs, especially those with SEND.
These pupils enjoy the same curriculum as their peers.
Staff receive helpful guidance and training to identify pupils early and provide the right support, including those with complex needs. The range and quality of support provided helps pupils to succeed in school and attain well.
Provision in the early years is effective. Staff know when to interact and question, and when to step back and observe. Effective questioning and modelling by staff help children to build their communication and language skills. Activities are stimulating and engaging.
Children relish the opportunities to role play, for example, using farm animal face masks to mimic animal sounds.
They show great excitement when exploring hand painting and mixing colours. The early years curriculum prepares children well for Year 1 and beyond.
The school is a calm and orderly environment. Pupils behave well and demonstrate positive attitudes to learning.
Most enjoy school. There is a consistent upward trend in attendance due to the effective actions taken by the school.
The full report can be viewed by visiting – https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50271259
