Cuerden Church School Ofsted: Bamber Bridge school retains good rating

Cuerden Church School on Station Road was reinspected by the educational watchdog on January 12, and was told it continues to be a good school.

The school was also classed as good in 2017 and 2013, following a string of satisfactory ratings, and their recent Ofsted success comes off the back of another successful inspection, being classed as an 'excellent' church school in a Decemeber 2022 SIAMS Inspection Report (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools.)

What did Ofsted say was particularly good about Cuerden Church School?

The report begins: “Cuerden Church School is a happy and caring place to learn. The school’s values of love, hope, trust, respect, compassion, courage and forgiveness underpin how pupils behave towards each other and to staff. The school community looks forward to celebrating these values each week as part of ‘Being Brilliant’ assemblies.”

Pupils are said to be calm and purposeful, they “persevere when they find things difficult”, and all pupils, including SEND, “achieve well across a range of subjects”.

Inspectors noted that “leaders have designed a curriculum that reflects their high aspirations for all pupils”, starting in the early years, and most subject curriculums are organised so that pupils’ learning builds on what they already know.

Meanwhile, teachers “use their expertise to provide clear explanations for pupils”, they “routinely revisit earlier learning to ensure that pupils’ knowledge is secure”, and they quickly remedy pupils’ errors, meaning pupils learn well.

The school was also praised for providing pupils with “a rich and broad range of experiences beyond the taught curriculum”, and for the high priority placed on reading.

What does Cuerden Church School need to improve on?

Inspectors wrote that, as leaders have recently introduced a new phonics curriculum, “some staff are still honing their expertise in delivering this programme. This means that on occasion, some aspects of the phonics programme are not delivered as leaders intend.”

The report also stated: “In a small number of subjects, leaders have not finalised the knowledge that they want pupils to learn. As a result, some teachers are not clear enough about the most important knowledge that should be taught and checked. This leads to gaps in some pupils’ knowledge over time.”

What does Cuerden Church School say about their rating?

Headteacher, Nicola Sherry said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received two incredibly positive inspection reports about our school in recent months. OFSTED highlighted that our school continues to be a good school with high aspirations for all learners, where behaviour is calm and purposeful and attitudes to learning are positive. SIAMS recognised that we are an 'Excellent' church school with 'exceptional relationships that make a substantial difference to the everyday lives of the whole school community'. Cuerden most certainly is a happy and caring place to learn and we are thrilled that our strong, values-based ethos has been recognised. I am incredibly grateful to the entire staff team who have worked so hard to achieve this and extremely proud of every single one of the wonderful children in our school family.”