Pre-inspection January 2025
Our inception started in the summer of 2022. Three years of prayer and diligence led to Ofsted visiting and approving us to open. Below are excerpts from their inspection report.
School Evaluation and Inspections
Our Ofsted Story
Vision, Curriculum & Education Quality
- “The proprietor’s vision is clear and aims for pupils to achieve academic excellence while promoting their personal development.”
- “The design of the curriculum ensures it takes into account the needs of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.”
- “The school’s curriculum provides information about the most important knowledge pupils need to learn in every subject.”
- “The proprietor intends to make reading a high priority.”
- “The school has given careful thought to pupils׳ personal development and well-being.”
- “The chosen curriculum approach aims to inspire pupils׳ love of learning.”
Overall Outcome
- “The school is likely to meet all the independent school standards when it opens”
Leadership & Staff Development
- “The principal has extensive knowledge of the curriculum and experience of school leadership.”
- “The principal talks knowledgeably about techniques and approaches to check and develop skills of teaching staff.”
- “The curriculum programmes are detailed and help teachers understand the intentions of what pupils need to learn at every stage.”
School Opening September 2025
On the 3rd September 2025, we opened as the first Christ-centered independent in Thurrock with 14 children. By January 2026, we had 24 children and a list of prospective pupils waiting to start the following academic year.
Ofsted inspection February 2026
Five months after we opened, we received three Ofsted inspection. Inspectors raised a range of issues outlined in their next steps below:
Next steps
- “The proprietor and governors must improve their oversight of the school to ensure that the independent school standards are consistently met.”
- “Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is designed to suit the needs, abilities and ages of all pupils. This is so that the essential knowledge for each age and stage builds logically over time, including in the early years.”
- “Leaders should ensure that staff have the necessary expertise to teach the curriculum effectively. This includes making adaptations to learning which match pupils’ needs and abilities.”
- “Leaders and governors should ensure that staff are using checks on pupils’ learning to inform next steps in teaching. This is so that pupils’ prior knowledge is secure before moving on to new learning.”
- “Leaders should ensure that the personal, health, social and economic curriculum and the relationship and sex education curriculum are well matched to the needs of all pupils, and delivered effectively so that any gaps in this important knowledge are filled.”
Unannounced Ofsted monitoring inspection June 2026
In response to the previous inspection, we swiftly made robust changes to ensure our vision for excellence was evident to all. We received an unannounced inspection on 17th June 2026. Below are excerpts from the inspection report.
Leadership & Quality Assurance
- “Leaders have strengthened quality assurance processes in the school.”
- “Leaders have a clear view of how well staff are implementing the new curriculum.”
- “There is a strategic approach to monitoring the school’s improvement plan.”
- “…the school improvement plan has an appropriate focus on the areas that require further improvement. The planned actions are the right ones to achieve the stated milestones and the overarching objectives.”
Curriculum & Teaching Improvements
- “Leaders responded quickly to the findings of the standard inspection. They implemented commercial curriculums for mixed-age classes.”
- “The early years curriculum has been redesigned… There is clear sequencing of learning from the time children start in early years to when they end Reception.”
- “The proprietor has invested in extensive training for staff. They can see the benefits of the new curriculum.”
- “Support plans for individuals have been sharpened. Staff now benefit from specific guidance on how to cater for pupils’ needs in lessons.”
- “The training for staff is having impact. Pupils are now in receipt of an appropriate curriculum. Staff provide clearer guidance to pupils to help them learn.”
- “Pupils have regular opportunities to revisit learning. This means they recall more the key content.”
- “In early years, phonics teaching is more specific to the ability and needs of the Reception children.”
Assessment & Student Work
- “Built within the units of work are key pedagogic approaches which help staff check learning as it takes place… Staff are using such approaches consistently.”
- “Pupils’ work shows marked improvement.”
- “Pupils receive extra sessions and one-to-one guidance on aspects they do not know that they should know for their age.”
- “Staff apply the checks they make on children’s phonics knowledge to choose appropriate resources in phonics lessons.”
Safeguarding
- “At the previous standard inspection, safeguarding standards were met. This remains the case. Staff continue to receive safeguarding training, so their knowledge remains up to date.
Moving forward
We eagerly await and encourage another full standard inspection so that our report card from February 2026 will be updated to show that we meet all of the independent school standards and that we are operating at at least the expected standard in all areas of the new Ofsted framework.
We ended the 2025-26 academic year celebrating the following academic achievements in Key Stage 1 and 2:
- 92.3% of our pupils are working above their biological age in mathematics
- 76.9% of our pupils are working above their biological age in arithmetic
- 84.6% of our pupils are working above their biological age in reading
- 84.6% of our pupils are working above their biological age in spelling
We use Cambridge University Assessments alongside our end of unit assessments to track pupil progress. The data above is from the externally marked and verified end of year Cambridge assessments.
Please find useful links below
School pre-registration inspection report (January 2025)
Self‑Evaluation & Improvement Plan (2026–27)
The Light Christian School EYFS CM VN
Ofsted Report on The Light Christian School
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