OVERVIEW OF KEY STAGE 2 RESULTS 2023

We are pleased that the children in our Y6 cohort had made progress from their starting points and know that they will do well as they transition to secondary school.  

National combined data in 2024 was 61% - we achieved 67%. This means that the percentage of children achieving the national standard was higher at Fernhurst than the national average.  

We were particularly pleased with our greater depth results, which outshone the national average too, with 44% of our children performing above the expected level in reading, while 22% and 33% exceeded expectations in maths and grammar, punctuation, and spelling, respectively.

Pupil data for KS2 SATs is available on the DfE website:

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/141266

OVERVIEW OF END OF YEAR 1 PHONICS SCREENING CHECK 2024

We are delighted that 81% of our children in Y1 met the Phonics Decoding Check..  

OVERVIEW OF END OF EYFS RESULTS 2024

We are pleased that our youngest children have started their education well with 84% of pupils achieved the Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of Reception.  

SWIMMING

There is an expectation for all KS2 children to be able to swim at least 25m before they leave primary school.  In 2022, 95% of Y6 children left the school being able to swim at least 25m with a range of strokes and 82% in 2023. 

OFSTED 

We were delighted that the inspection team saw so many positives when they visited the school in February 2023, such as:

‘Fernhurst pupils treat each other with respect and kindness.’ ‘Pupils feel safe and are safe.’   ‘Leaders expect pupils to behave well and they do. Unkind behaviour and bullying are rare.’   ‘All adults have high expectations for behaviour.’   ‘Pupils are polite and courteous.’  ‘Learning is rarely disrupted.’  

‘Teaching pupils to be responsible and how to look after their mental and physical health has high priority.’   

‘Activities are adapted, or adult support provided, so that the carefully identified needs of pupils with SEND can learn the same curriculum as their peers.’   

‘In Reception, children get off to a quick start in the autumn term to learn their sounds.’   

‘Leaders provide a wealth of opportunities to inspire pupils beyond the taught curriculum.’   

‘Leaders provide a curriculum that tackles stereotypes and helps pupils to understand that Britain is a multi-cultural country.’  

We are proud that the behaviour and attitudes and personal development of our children were judged as good. As a school, we place a high priority on mental and physical health because of the wealth of opportunities we offer and the packages such as Melva and CareFirst that are available to children, families and staff.  It was positive to receive the validation that the changes in our behaviour policy over the last two years have had a positive impact with bullying being described as rare and a clear message that any incidents are swiftly dealt with.  Our children are safe and treat each other with respect and kindness.  They have welcomed new peers, including those from other countries as a result of the curriculum that is in place.  We are proud of our pupils - they are making progress not only in their learning but as valued young people.   

We were pleased that the inspectors recognised the value of the support in place for staff.  Our staff team have been working hard to bring about the changes needed to curriculum.  We have invested in training with research schools in a wide range of foundation subjects and training with specialists in relation to retrieval practice and SEND.  We have been well supported by the Trust with further training for middle leadership development and development with all subject areas.  The impact of this is evident with our end of year which were at and above national levels in early years and year six.  We know that there is more work to do to ensure that even more children reach these expectations and are proud that the inspection team recognised the work that has taken place to ensure pupils with SEND receive the same ambitious curriculum as the rest of the school.    

You will read in the full report that the changes that we have put in place are not all embedded yet.  It is right that we have an ambitious curriculum and, as at the time of the inspection, we had not yet taught all of the units of work as it is a two-year cycle.  The inspectors made a judgement that mirrored our own evaluation of the school, that the ambitious curriculum is not yet fully embedded and as a result have made a judgement that we are a school which requires improvement.  This means just that: we need to do better in some areas to be securely good.  While we would rather not have this label, we are not daunted by the challenge to improve and are pleased that the inspectors noticed many aspects of our school which are already at a good standard.    

The inspectors were very clear in their feedback that the school has made great strides forward and is moving in the right direction.  We were pleased that the strengths of the school were so evident to the inspection team.  Some of their findings, following their time with staff, parents, children and looking at a host of books, reports and other evidence included recognition of the progress made since the changes have been put in place and the positive way in which our children respond to each other.  They recognised the inclusive practice we have and the way that we ensure a range of experiences are available to everybody.   

In 2022, the data in early years showed that the children were achieving better than other schools across the country with our data being 7% above national figures.  Similarly, in phonics, our results were strong with 90% of the year one children achieving the required standard in the phonics decoding check.  By the end of KS2, children were achieving in line with national averages following the hard work of our teachers to help the children catch up with their lost learning.   

Most children were achieving at a much faster rate than in the previous year, at the time of inspection.  This is as a result of a lot of hard work from children, staff, parents and the Governing Body to effect change and improvement.    Within our Ofsted feedback. It was confirmed that we are firmly on the right track and just need time to consolidate this. 

Make no mistake: we are on an upward trajectory, thanks to the hard work of our staff team, our children our parents. We are looking forward to building upon the successes of the last two years so that, when the inspector calls again, s/he will see some good and outstanding achievement and progress and reward the school accordingly.  

Please contact the school if you would like to arrange a tour of the school to see Fernhurst Primary in action and speak about where the school is on the journey to excellence.  

Parents are warmly invited to give their views on our school via ParentView on the OFSTED website: www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

The full report is available to see at https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50211914