A SCHOOL in Buckinghamshire was inspected by Ofsted for the first time.

Chesham Bois CofE School on Bois Lane in Chesham Bois was visited by the education standards watchdog Ofsted.

The primary school with 217 pupils was rated good for its overall effectiveness. Behaviour and attitudes and personal development were rated ‘outstanding’.

During the first routine visit since the school stopped being exempt of inspections, Ofsted found “the values of the school run like a golden thread through all it does.”

The report said: “Pupils are confident to share their feelings and opinions.They value and celebrate differences in one another, and this is reflected across the whole school community.”

The children, aged four to eleven, wanted to learn “enthusiastically”, while their behaved “exceptionally well in and out of lessons”.

This meant bullying was “extremely rare,” the inspector noted. 

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Various activities, such as live ‘Radio Christmas’ broadcast, sign language club and coding, help the children develop their resilience and independence, the report noted.

Safeguarding arrangements were effective, and the school leaders were commended for creating “a culture where safeguarding is always at the top of every agenda.”

Ofsted said: “Staff are proud to work at Chesham Bois because they know they provide excellent support for pupils. They appreciate that leaders value their work and take their workload into consideration.”

Staff identified pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) “quickly and accurately.”

The curriculum was designed to be broad and ambitious for all, including pupils with SEND.

What can the school do better?

Although activities were chosen to inspire curiosity and help children remember important things, “these ambitions are not yet fully realised” in some foundation subjects.

This meant that some pupils “do not achieve as well as they could,” Ofsted warned.

The curriculum should continue to be embedded across all foundation subjects, the inspector told the school leaders.

Some staff were “not as confident as others in teaching phonics,” Ofsted noted.

“This means that not all pupils are benefitting as much as they could in the early stages of learning to read. Leaders should continue to embed the phonics scheme so that all staff are experts in delivering all aspects of it,” the report said.