Ofsted praise Hope Valley school where curriculum ‘excites’ pupils

Inspectors visited Edale CofE Primary School and said pupils enjoy attending and behaviour is good.

Rakesh Patel, part of the inspection team which visited the school said: “The curriculum here excites pupils.

“The school has constructed a curriculum that enables all pupils to study the breadth of subjects stipulated in the national curriculum.

“The school has broken down the aims of what pupils need to know and remember, and it has logically ordered this in all subjects.

“This helps pupils build on what they have learned before.”

It was noted in the report that teachers have planned curriculum cycles for mixed-age classes so that common themes that all pupils study have different levels of progression.

In core subjects, such as reading, science and mathematics, this is highly effective, as the knowledge pupils know is precisely broken down for each year group, says Mr Patel.

This enables pupils to gain a depth of understanding.

It was noted the curriculum is successfully adapted for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils with SEND achieve and learn in line with their peers.

The report noted pupils develop a ‘love for reading’.

Pupils can link what they have read in books such as the ‘Viking Boy’ and ‘Secrets of the Sun King’ to what they have learned in history, says the inspector.

The school provides pupils with opportunities to borrow books from the visiting book bus, and it plans visits to the local library.

Mr Patel said: “Children in the early years receive a strong start.

“The learning environment and activities are well planned so that children develop across all areas of learning.

“They sing songs and familiar rhymes to develop language and communication skills.“Looking to the future the education watchdog says the school curriculum in some foundation subjects does not identify precisely enough the knowledge that pupils in different year groups need to learn.

Mr Patel said: “As a result, when these subjects are delivered in mixed-age classes, some pupils do not get the depth of understanding they should. The school must ensure that knowledge in these subjects is more precisely identified so that pupils can build a depth of understanding as they progress.”