BOW Community Primary School has been rated “good” in all areas at its latest Ofsted inspection, an upgrade on its previous “requires improvement” classification in 2023.

The education watchdog visited to the school on February 4 and 5. It described it as good in the five areas it assessed, namely quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

It said the small rural school “has undergone a period of rapid improvement”, but leaders know there is “still more to do to fully embed the improvements they have made”.

Ofsted said the school has strengthened its early reading programme since the previous inspection, with children in reception getting “off to a flying start”.

Staff make sure that each child keeps up and provide “effective teaching to address any gaps and help pupils to catch up if they have fallen behind”.

Nevertheless, leaders “know that there is more to do before all teaching staff can provide effective support for pupils who struggle with reading”.

The curriculum and its teaching “help pupils to build secure knowledge across many subjects”, the education watchdog continued.

Pupils also “develop positive attitudes toward their learning and take pride in their work”.

However, pupils “have gaps in their knowledge of subjects that were less well developed in the past” which sometimes “makes it difficult for them to make sense of new ideas”.

With regard to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), Ofsted said the school makes “every effort” to ensure they learn and develop successfully, adapting the school and the curriculum to give pupils the best possible experience. It said the school is determined “to be the best it can be” for pupils with SEND.

Pupils also benefit from “strong relationships” with staff and from the “valuable support” the school provides to many families.

Pastoral care is strong too, and pupils learn to talk about their emotions, “keeping mentally as well as physically healthy”.

Responding to Ofsted’s findings, Headteacher Clare Wilmott, who joined the school in April 2022, said: “We were pleased that Ofsted captured the essence of Bow Community Primary School, recognising our effective teaching and commitment to providing the best possible experience for our pupils.

“Strong relationships with our families and the school community help foster pupils' positive attitudes towards learning, and we are proud of the pride they take in their work."

Ofsted has a four-tier rating system: inadequate, requires improvement, good and outstanding.

This academic year, it is no longer giving state-funded schools overall grades but instead handing out grades for inspection sub-categories.

It follows a coroner’s inquest which found the Ofsted inspection process had contributed to the death by suicide of Ruth Perry in January 2023, after inspectors told her they would downgrade her school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

“School Report Cards” will be introduced from September, which will provide parents with a “full and comprehensive assessment” of how schools are performing.

You can read the Ofsted report online by visiting: reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/113060.