A PRIMARY school in Herefordshire has been able to turn things around after Ofsted warned it might lose its rating of good.

When Ofsted inspectors visited Bridstow CE Primary School, near Ross-on-Wye, in 2021 to check whether it was still good, it warned that the next inspection would be graded and it might lose the rating.

Inspectors said there was not a whole-school curriculum plan in place for every subject, some subject leaders did not have sufficient oversight of their curriculum subject beyond their own classroom and there was some low-level disruption in each class.

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But revisiting the school a year later, inspectors graded the school as good.

In the report, published on January 27, 2023, inspectors said leaders had worked hard since the last inspection to put an ambitious curriculum in place. They ensured that in most subjects, pupils’ learning was well-sequenced, which helped to deepen their knowledge over time.

They said safeguarding was effective and the school was welcoming and caring, with parents saying staff were very nurturing towards pupils and that children love going to school.

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Children, who show sensitivity towards one another, were said to get off to a flying start in reception, sharing in an exciting curriculum within a safe, stimulating environment.

The inspectors, Gareth Morgan and Jonathan Leonard, said after the inspection on December 6 and 7 that throughout the school, pupils continued to take pleasure in learning and took part in wider school activities such as musical instrument tuition.

They were also very skilled at using electronic devices to create, organise, edit and store their work.

Despite improvements to the curriculum, inspectors said pupils struggled to remember some of what they learned because lessons did not build well enough on previous learning.

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But they said the school, with 89 pupils aged between four and 11, set reading as a priority from the moment children joined reception class – some more consideration still needed to be given to the quality of the texts though.

Leaders, under headteacher Dan Brearey, ensured pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities learned well, and were quick to act if some pupils struggled with their behaviour.

The inspectors said leaders and governors knew the school well and where improvements were needed.

Another of those improvements needed was that pupils had limited opportunities to develop fluency and stamina in their written work, which meant the quality of work which children produced in their books was not always of high quality.