A SOUTHAMPTON school has been told it must improve the quality of education.

St John's Primary and Nursery School has been rated 'requires improvement' in its latest Ofsted report.

Four of five categories - behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision - were rated 'good'.

Despite this, the French Street school was given an overall rating of 'requires improvement' following an inspection on September 27.

READ MORE: School where some parents say 'bullying goes unchallenged' told it must improve

Inspectors found that pupils do not learn as much or as securely as they should.

They found that leaders prioritised English and mathematics to begin developing curriculum plans.

But inspectors said that, in a number of other subjects, curriculum thinking is still being refined.

The report said: "This means that teachers are not always clear about the essential knowledge pupils should learn and remember, or the precise order they should learn it in.

"In addition, teachers do not always check that pupils are secure in their understanding. As a result, misconceptions are not always addressed."

READ MORE: 'Outstanding' school inspected by Ofsted for first time in six years

They also found that staff miss opportunities to check that children in the early years are learning enough new words to improve their learning.

The report highlighted that since the last inspection, a new headteacher has joined the school and has improved the educational offer for every pupil.

However, inspectors described the school as "caring" where pupils are made to feel that they are "valued, cherished members of the school community".

Inspectors said that pupils don't worry about bullying and know there are trusted adults to listen to them.

READ MORE: Secondary school where 'too many pupils have a poor attitude' slammed by Ofsted

"Leaders have created a compassionate culture for every pupil to be comfortable being themselves and to succeed," the report said.

Headteacher Kirsten Buist said: "As you can see from the report, all but one of the sections were graded as ‘Good’.

"There are so many positives within the report, and we are especially proud of the strong focus on our pastoral and emotional care and support, our inclusivity and support for all, particularly pupils with SEND, the behaviour of pupils and the high-quality teaching of phonics, reading and maths – all areas that have been a high priority within our school.

"The improvements required had already been identified in our school priorities this year and we are therefore confident that we are already addressing these areas to ensure that teaching in all subjects of the curriculum is consistently good.

"We have already taken steps to act on the feedback Ofsted have given."

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