St Keverne Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning, by:
  • ensuring that work in mathematics is sufficiently challenging so that pupils, especially the most able, develop greater depth in their reasoning skills, problem-solving abilities and understanding of algebra
  • developing pupils’ understanding of how to use English and mathematical concepts in other subjects.
• Develop rigorous monitoring systems so that leaders can quickly identify dips in pupils’ achievement, particularly in geography and history.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The leadership team, including governors, have high aspirations for all pupils. There is a sense of teamwork across the school with a joint focus on improvement. Consequently, standards in English and mathematics have improved in recent years.
• Leaders ensure that pupil premium funding is effectively spent to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make at least good progress in English and mathematics. Teachers identify barriers that may hinder learning and they help pupils to overcome these, often by helping them to work better with others. However, leaders do not check precisely enough on the impact of pupil premium funding across the full range of subjects.
• School leaders manage the performance of teachers well. They make effective use of the information provided by the monitoring processes which they have put in place. They discuss areas for development, including training activities. As a result, teachers receive the support they need to improve.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Many have an opportunity to play a part in the life of the school. Pupils take on responsibilities such as being members of the school council and ‘super six’ group. Pupils have a range of different jobs in school, for example helping with the younger children in physical education lessons. This supports pupils effectively to develop a sense of responsibility and respect for others.
• British values are skilfully promoted through themes and topics. Pupils learn about democracy through voting for members of the school council and mock elections. Pupils learn about the rule of law by drawing up rules to help the school run smoothly and support each other in making the right choices about how to behave in different situations.
• The curriculum is planned well, across mixed-age classes, to include enriching experiences that deepen pupils’ understanding. Teaching of topic work, including history and geography, is weaker than other subjects, especially for the most able. Pupils do not regularly apply their writing and mathematical skills to other subjects. Consequently, the standards that pupils reach in these subjects are not high enough. School leaders have recognised that this is an area for improvement and have planned for more rigorous monitoring of teaching.
• A wide variety of after-school clubs allow pupils to play sport and develop their creative skills.
• Pupils enjoy taking part in the wide range of sporting activities available to them, including sailing. The primary school sports funding provides for a specialist leader, expert coaching, teaching and equipment that are enjoyed by all pupils. Teachers work alongside the sports coach and this increases their expertise and confidence.
• Leaders ensure that most of the pupil premium funding is effectively spent to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make at least good progress in English and mathematics. Teachers identify barriers that may hinder learning and they help pupils to overcome these, often by helping them to work better with others. However, leaders do not sufficiently evaluate the impact of pupil premium spending on the lunchtime nurture group.
• Funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has been thoughtfully used to train teaching assistants. Staff welcome the specialised support and training that leaders provide to help them become better teaching assistants.
• Governors make sure that the pupil premium and sport premium are spent effectively and make a difference to pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governors understand and effectively carry out their statutory responsibilities, including those linked to safeguarding pupils. Governors are knowledgeable and undertake checks to ensure that safeguarding procedures are effective. They understand the importance of safety when recruiting staff and are well trained in this area. Governors take part in relevant training. As a result, their work to keep children safe is of a high quality.
• The governing body has a deep and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Governors are committed to addressing their identified areas for improvement. They routinely ask probing and challenging questions to hold school leaders to account. Governors understand about pupils’ progress. They ensure that the school’s performance management policy is robustly applied. Their secure understanding of how these arrangements relate to teachers’ pay allows them to make important decisions regarding increases in staff salaries.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders and governors place a high priority on keeping pupils safe. Safeguarding is at the forefront of the school’s priorities. There is an established and strong culture of safeguarding so that pupils feel safe and secure. All staff are well trained so they know what to do if a concern arises. Safeguarding features as a regular item on the agenda at both staff meetings and governors’ meetings. Staff and governors are clear about how to report concerns, and they know how to recognise signs of abuse or neglect. Views of parents, carers and other stakeholders confirm that the school keeps children safe.
• The school site is safe, clean and very well maintained.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Systematic improvements in the quality of teaching and assessment have led to improved learning and progress.
• Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge in English and use this well to challenge pupils to use adventurous vocabulary. Writing in pupils’ books shows pupils rising to teachers’ high expectations. Feedback provided to pupils is helpful in developing strong writing skills. Teachers have embraced the higher expectations of the new curriculum and provide challenging grammar, punctuation and spelling tasks for children. As a result, standards have improved over the past two years.
• Pupils talk with pride about their writing. However, pupils do not consistently apply the skills they learn in English in other subjects. Pupils have good opportunities to write for different audiences but they do not write in depth across different subjects.
• Reading is effectively taught. The teaching of phonics has been reorganised in response to evaluation by school leaders. Leaders rigorously check the progress pupils make in reading. The school’s current focus on developing the range and sophistication of pupils’ vocabulary is supporting all readers to deal with challenging texts.
• Teachers have increased expectations and this is evident in the greater proportion of pupils meeting and exceeding the expected standards. However, teachers’ assessments are not accurate enough to ensure good provision for the most able pupils.
• In mathematics, there is a lower level of challenge for the most able. This slows the progress of some pupils who are capable of extending their learning. Pupils are less secure in problem-solving and investigations. Pupils do not consistently apply the skills they learn in mathematics in other subjects.
• Teaching in science is effective. Pupils are given the opportunity to explore scientific concepts through experiments. They are taught how to use practical, investigation skills in their learning.
• Relationships between pupils and their teachers are strong. Pupils want to do well and work hard. They have positive attitudes to learning and know that their opinions are valued. This attention to detail is reflected in the quality of work in their English books.
• Teachers and teaching assistants work well together. Teaching assistants make a good contribution to pupils’ learning. Teaching assistants are deployed effectively and recent training has helped to develop increased confidence in the use of specific intervention strategies.
• Some parents say that they sometimes do not receive sufficient information about their child’s progress. They told the inspector they would like further information about how well their child is progressing across a range of subjects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are well prepared for life at secondary school by the time they leave St Keverne. Leaders use well-planned transition activities to promote the development of confidence and resilience. This means that pupils take an optimistic and positive view of secondary school.
• Pupils are confident, articulate and resilient young people. This is because the school is a safe environment where all pupils are known and respected. Staff provide a strong level of support to pupils. Pupils feel able to talk to any members of staff if they have concerns.
• Bullying happens rarely in school. When it does occur, it is dealt with swiftly and effectively. One pupil commented to the inspector, ‘We don’t have bullying; we all care about each other.’
• The school environment is a warm, inviting place that encourages pupils to take responsibility. There is a variety of information and there are colourful displays that celebrate children’s work and achievements. For example, in one classroom every child has their own area of a wall to display work that they are particularly proud of from all subjects.
• Pupils have a strong understanding of e-safety. They learn how to stay safe online, through activities in class and special assemblies. Pupils are able to provide good examples of inappropriate internet requests and how they would react. For example, they know not to provide personal details online. They know about cyber bullying and what to do should an incident occur.
• Pupils readily link British values to the school’s own values. They explain how they learn about ‘values for life’ in assembly and in personal, social and health education lessons. They are expected to demonstrate these in their daily lives and to help the school community.
• Staff and almost all parents feel that children are safe and well cared for at the school. One parent commented: ‘This is a wonderful school. Teachers have helped my child to shine and realise her full potential. It is such a wonderful school.’

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The headteacher and staff continually model and reinforce high expectations for behaviour. The culture of high aspirations has ensured that behaviour in and around school is consistently good.
• Pupils are polite and courteous because school leaders stress the importance of respectful, considerate behaviour. A number of pupils greeted the inspector with ‘good morning’ and held doors open for others to pass through first. Pupils were often seen to be smiling and asking about the welfare of other pupils and staff.
• Conduct around school during breaks and lunchtime is typically positive and sensible. Pupils play well together, with older pupils generally looking after younger ones. In lessons, there is very little low-level disruption because teaching captures pupils’ interest and good use is made of rewards.
• Attendance overall is above the national average. Where attendance for certain groups of pupils has been lower than average, leaders have been active in their efforts to improve this by working more closely with parents and the education and welfare officer. Pupils are also provided with new attendance rewards such as ‘attendance Mickey’. However, leaders have not yet fully developed monitoring systems to see if better attendance is making a positive impact on pupils’ learning.
• Teachers apply the school’s behaviour policy consistently and so pupils understand and respond to their expectations. Pupils are all very aware of and understand the school’s values and act upon these.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over the past two years, pupils’ progress has improved due to better teaching, with teachers focusing more incisively on meeting the needs of the pupils to enable them to reach the expected standard. By the end of key stage 2 in 2016, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard or above in reading, writing and mathematics was higher than the national average.
• Some caution needs to be taken when interpreting achievement information due to the relatively small numbers in Year 6. Nonetheless, the work in pupils’ books, supported by the school’s own information, shows that all pupils currently in Year 6 are making strong progress from their starting points.
• Work in pupils’ English books shows consistently good progress in writing. Pupils are improving their ability to write for longer periods of time and are writing with flair and creativity. The most able pupils complete lively pieces of writing, using their knowledge of punctuation and grammar correctly. Pupils use their improving knowledge of sophisticated vocabulary in their writing. Pupils’ handwriting is neat and legible in English books but this high standard is not consistently applied across other areas of the curriculum.
• Lower-ability pupils make good overall progress because teachers plan effectively to ensure that they address their needs. Their progress is similar to other groups of pupils because staff effectively support these pupils when there are gaps in their knowledge.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are benefiting from specialist ‘precision’ teaching to meet their individual needs. This ensures that they make good progress in their learning.
• The most able pupils’ progress is improving from their starting points to meet the expected standard in mathematics. However, pupils do not always tackle the complex problem-solving tasks needed to help and develop their understanding, knowledge and skills quickly enough.
• Pupils achieve well in reading and make strong progress, especially in Years 1 and 2. Phonics is very well taught, with all pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check by Year 2. Pupils are reading regularly, which has resulted in confident readers who enjoy reading across a wide range of genres. One parent commented, ‘Just recently a new reading challenge has been set to encourage children to read regularly and my son enjoys coming home and telling me which country his reading passport has taken him to next!’
• Pupils make good progress in science in Years 3 to 6 because teachers use a wide variety of inspirational approaches to motivate pupils. For example, pupils in Year 6 learned about penicillin through the work of Sir Alexander Fleming. Pupils conducted independent research, hypothesised and grew a culture of mould in a practical investigation.
• Achievement across curriculum subjects, such as history and geography, is not as strong as in English and mathematics. Learning across these subjects is not developed quickly enough. Teachers do not provide pupils with enough thought-provoking and demanding activities to deepen their understanding and skills in these subjects.

Early years provision Good

• Teaching in the early years is effective. It has a positive impact on the learning and progress of all children, who make good progress from the time they begin school. In 2016, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development was above average. Children are well prepared for transition to Year 1.
• The leadership and management of the early years are highly effective. Standards have improved year-on-year. In 2016, three quarters of children attained a good level of development, more than the national average. Leaders use comprehensive information on children’s attainment on entry to Reception class and constantly monitor their progress in a wide range of learning areas.
• The engaging environment in the early years effectively supports learning. There is a careful balance of activities that are led by adults and those selected by children. For example, during the inspection children enjoyed a treasure hunt outdoors which improved their knowledge of number. Teaching assistants provide focused and effective questioning to develop thinking, confidence and social interaction.
• Children access a stimulating environment indoors and benefit from a range of resources, which they choose independently and treat with respect. Leaders have secured recent improvements to the outdoor learning environment. This is helping children to become independent and learn to cooperate with each other.
• Assessment procedures are thorough and linked to learning targets. This accurate information about children’s progress is communicated well to parents. Parents are involved in their child’s learning by, for example, contributing with ‘WOW moment’ forms, commenting on their view of their child’s progress.
• Children’s behaviour is exemplary. They are confident, listen to each other, share and take turns. They are polite and courteous. They are keen to learn and play and collaborate well together. Adults are kind, encouraging and calm. Consequently, children build positive relationships with one another and with the adults around them.
• Phonics knowledge is improving rapidly. For example, some children write their names and use their phonics knowledge to sound out the letters correctly. This helps them to develop early reading and writing skills. During the inspection, they read to the inspector using their knowledge of letters and sounds.
• Safeguarding is effective. Staff are well trained and knowledgeable about how to keep children safe and there are no breaches of welfare regulations. Children are effectively supervised and the learning environment is well organised.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140642 Cornwall 10024893 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 63 Appropriate authority The Academy trust Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Pam Miller Tom Harman 01326 280539 www.st-keverne.cornwall.sch.uk head@st-keverne.cornwall.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school and pupils are taught in mixed-age classes. There is provision for children in the early years in the Reception class. These children attend full time.
• Most pupils are of White British background and very few speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities who are supported by an education, health and care plan is well below average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards. These set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• There is a breakfast club and an after-school club for pupils.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed learning in lessons, sometimes jointly with senior leaders.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, groups of pupils and representatives from the governing body.
• Among the documents scrutinised were the school improvement plans and the school’s own analysis of its performance. The inspector also looked at information regarding pupils’ progress as well as documentation showing how the school keeps pupils safe.
• The inspector scrutinised pupils’ work and observed their conduct at break and lunchtimes.
• The views of parents were taken into account by analysing the 17 responses to the online survey, Parent View. The inspector also met informally with parents during the inspection. The views of staff were taken into account by considering the 11 responses to the staff survey.

Inspection team

Susan Costello, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector