A primary school has been told it needs to make improvements by Ofsted inspectors.

Stanley Road Primary School in Worcester has been given a ‘requires improvement’ rating by Ofsted in its first inspection since joining the Perry Hall Multi Academy Trust in 2019.

The school has gone through “significant changes” in recent years with the majority of senior leaders including the current headteacher only appointed in September 2021.

Ofsted said that while many improvements were being made, with the school showing a “relentless focus” on improving behaviour, more needed to be done.

The school actually received ‘good’ ratings in all but one of the categories that Ofsted judges, with behaviour and attitude and personal development both marked highly.

The school’s leadership and management and its early years provision were also rated ‘good’ by Ofsted but it was the quality of the school’s education that was deemed to ‘require improvement’ which brought the school’s overall rating down.

Ofsted said several improvements needed to be made to the school’s curriculum and how it was assessed.

“Leaders are ambitious for pupils,” Ofsted said. “They have focused on developing key elements of the curriculum, especially English and mathematics. Pupils are now achieving better in these subjects.

“However, while pupils do access a suitably broad and balanced curriculum, the key knowledge they need to learn and remember has not been set out precisely enough.

“Leaders have not precisely set out the key knowledge and skills pupils need to learn and remember in all subjects. Where this is the case, teachers are unclear about what should be taught and when.”

Ofsted said all of the school’s curriculum needed to be put in order and tested properly across all subjects so that teachers could see for gaps in knowledge.

“Subject leaders have not checked how well the curriculum is being delivered in their subjects or how well pupils are achieving,” Ofsted said. “This means they do not have a clear understanding of how effective the curriculum is and what improvements need to be made.”

Inspectors said behaviour at the school had improved and pupils were now learning and playing “calmly and happily” with each other.

The school has “created a culture where the whole-school community works together as a team and where everyone wants to ‘reach for the stars,’ Ofsted said.

Inspectors said the school was “ambitious” and had high expectations for its pupils and its “relentless focus” on improving behaviour had been “highly effective.”

“Pupils are kind, respectful and want to learn and achieve,” the report by Ofsted said.

“Pupils learn how to respect one another right from the early years. They celebrate and value the diverse community within the school.”

Despite telling the school to improve, Ofsted did praise the school for starting to turn things around in recent years.

“The trust has been instrumental in stemming the decline in the school’s performance,” Ofsted said.

“Leaders, governors and trustees work in partnership, with a strong focus on what is best for the pupils. All staff work together as a cohesive and supportive group.

“This is helping to improve the school at pace.”