Sampford Peverell Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership by ensuring that:
  • subject leaders are given the support they need to allow them to lead their subjects effectively and to ensure that pupils make at least good progress
  • teachers’ understanding of how to plan, teach and assess writing improves so that it is consistently strong across the school.
• Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently at least good by ensuring that:
  • teachers have an accurate knowledge of what pupils know, can do and understand in order to plan learning activities that interest and motivate pupils
  • teachers’ questioning during lessons provides a good level of challenge for pupils, particularly for the most able pupils
  • pupils’ misconceptions are noticed and pupils are given the guidance that helps them to improve
  • there is a high expectation of presentation in pupils’ books, particularly for the quality of handwriting
  • there are appropriate opportunities for pupils to improve and edit their writing
  • pupils’ writing skills are used well to write in other subjects.
• Raise expectations in writing across the school so that:
  • pupils, particularly the most able pupils and those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make at least good progress in writing from their individual starting points.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The trust oversees the development of the school and has been quick to secure additional staffing, drawing from staff at the multi-academy trust in order to do so. The executive headteacher, who has been in place since the start of this school year, is currently providing operational leadership following the recent departure of the headteacher. She has drawn up a sharp, focused plan for improvement, which exemplifies her sound knowledge of the current strengths and weaknesses of the school’s provision.
• The trust has also provided a senior teacher to support the headteacher and to support improvements to the quality of teaching and learning across the school. The trust has a strong professional development network that school staff can access. Improvements are starting to show but have yet to be embedded. For example, following support from the trust, the leader for mathematics is trialling new approaches to the teaching of mathematics. Pupils benefit from learning about how to apply the mathematical skills they have to solve real-life problems. This leader is now in a position to ensure that all teachers share this approach in order to strengthen further the quality of teaching and learning in mathematics. This work has not yet started.
• Due to the improvements being made and the level of support from the trust, morale across the school is high. Governors, staff and parents are optimistic for the future. A typical comment from a parent was ‘This is a lovely school and with the right structures in place could be an excellent school.’
• Leaders have made recent improvements to how the curriculum is planned and this is already making a difference to the quality of teaching and learning that pupils receive across subjects. Leaders ensure that learning each term is planned around a theme and that there is a progression of skills that develop across the year groups. Pupils say that they enjoy this way of learning. ‘Teachers want to make our learning fun’ was a typical comment. Pupils enjoy extending their learning to the after-school clubs that are available including gymnastics, netball and arts clubs.
• Values such as trust, honesty, kindness and forgiveness, alongside teamwork and respect, are demonstrated through the strong respectful relations that staff have both with each other and with pupils and parents. Collective worship times are used effectively to focus pupils’ thoughts on these core values. Visitors into school, such as representatives from the local churches and local charities, further support pupils’ understanding and empathy for others.
• Governors and leaders ensure that the additional funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged is used in a targeted way so that pupils can thrive. Most pupils do well although there remain some who still need to catch up. Governors check the impact the funding is making on outcomes for pupils every term. A range of extra support is in place including ensuring that pupils have a good breakfast to prepare them well for the day, extra teaching in phonics and reading, and personal budgets to ensure that all pupils can access the range of visits that take place through the year.
• Physical education and sport premium funding is well managed. Sports coaches promote a high level of interest among pupils in a wide range of sporting activities, and pupils appreciate running the ‘golden mile’ in order to keep fit.
• Parents say that staff are approachable and welcoming. They are generally pleased with the information they receive about their children and many say that this has recently improved.
• The school receives a wide range of support from the trust particularly through the learning networks where staff can come together to share best practice. The trust also provides regular challenge from an educational adviser. Despite this level of support and challenge, the school has declined since the previous inspection. However, much has now been put in place to halt this decline and to secure rapid improvement.

Governance

• Governors are skilled and ambitious for the school and have remained determined through the period of staff changes. Despite their determination, standards have been allowed to slip. Staff recruitment has been challenging and governors have worked closely with the trust board to secure a stable team.
• Governors have overseen the development of an on-site Nursery class, which is contributing well to a strong start for children as young as two years old.
• Governors hold leaders to account, asking suitably challenging questions. In turn, the trust board challenges as well as supports the governing body. Performance management is used effectively to ensure that teachers and leaders are held to account for the progress that pupils make.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and the culture of safeguarding is strong. Governors ensure that training is comprehensive and that all staff and governors have the appropriate information and updates in order to keep pupils safe.
• Leaders seek advice from external agencies in order to gain any extra help if needed. Staff know the signs to look for regarding concerns for pupils’ safety and the processes for reporting concerns. Parents report that their children feel safe and are well looked after in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching and learning is inconsistent. Too often, teachers do not have an accurate knowledge of what pupils know, understand and can do to in order to plan successful learning opportunities. Because of this, some pupils are not motivated to try hard or to improve their work. At times, teachers’ questions and follow-on activities do not provide sufficient challenge for the most able pupils.
• The development of writing across the school and across a range of subjects is a key area for improvement in the school action plan. Teachers’ planning of writing, particularly up to Year 4, does not ensure that pupils develop and apply their writing skills well or allow them to improve and edit their writing. Sometimes, teachers do not pick up mistakes that pupils make in their writing. Therefore, pupils continue to make the same errors.
• The role of teaching assistants has been reviewed and there is a development programme in place. This is helping teaching assistants to provide wider learning support for more pupils. This change is recent and therefore not embedded across the school.
• Where learning matches the needs and interests of pupils well, pupils work to a high standard and they apply their skills across a range of subjects. For example, older pupils carefully researched Tudor dress for homework in order to prepare for a real-life banquet that celebrated learning across a number of subjects including writing, mathematics, history and dance. This matching of pupils’ needs and interests to learning activities is yet to be embedded across the school.
• Mathematics teaching is generally effective and pupils enjoy chances to use their mathematical thinking to solve problems that are linked to everyday real situations. Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, for example, enthusiastically worked out the profit made by the school’s breaktime tuck shop.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. Work to ensure that pupils are aware of how to be a successful learner is at an early stage. Pupils do not have the skills to identify their own strengths in their learning and the areas in which they need to develop.
• Some pupils have been emotionally unsettled by recent staff changes. Some parents expressed concerns about the effect this has had on pupils’ well-being. They are pleased that this situation is now far more stable.
• Some pupils do not take a pride in their work due to the inconsistent level of expectation for presentation. Some pupils display a weaker attitude to their learning activities because work is sometimes not matched well to their needs. On these occasions, pupils are not motivated to do the best that they can.
• Pupils’ physical needs are well developed both through the use of the outdoor spaces for play and through the wide range of sporting activities on offer both during and outside the school day. Pupils have regular information about how to be healthy and how to eat healthily.
• Pupils understand about different types of bullying and say that it very rarely occurs in school. When it does, however, they say that staff deal with it quickly and effectively. A range of talks from outside agencies inform pupils of how to stay safe online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Pupils are polite and courteous towards visitors and generally conduct themselves well at playtimes and as they move around the school. However, some pupils do not have strong attitudes to their learning and, as a result, some low-level disruptive behaviour occurs during some lessons.
• There are high levels of adult support in classrooms and although this can be useful to support learning, pupils sometimes rely on reminders to behave well rather than show an ability to manage their own behaviour.
• Pupils attend school well. The school works effectively with families to support better attendance should this be needed. A number of pupils who previously had weak attendance are now attending well due to the extra advice and support that the school and other agencies have provided.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Children arrive at the school with skills that are broadly typical for their age. In recent years, pupils’ outcomes by Year 2 and again by Year 6 have at least matched national standards. In 2016, fewer pupils reached higher standards in writing in Year 2 and Year 6. Progress in writing by Year 6 was also lower than in reading and mathematics.
• In the Reception class, a number of children are not motivated to write across the areas of learning and there is insufficient evidence of independent writing.
• Pupils’ books show that writing skills for current pupils are not well developed. Throughout the year groups up to Year 4, pupils’ writing shows some improvement but as there are few opportunities to extend, improve or edit writing, pupils’ progress is slow. Older pupils, however, catch up somewhat as they benefit from a wider range of opportunities to write and to apply their writing skills to a range of contexts. These pupils are highly motivated to write.
• Expectations of what pupils, particularly the most able pupils, can achieve are too low. Pupils’ writing and topic books show that pupils up to Year 4 do not often use their writing skills to write in any depth across a range of subjects. This limits the progress pupils make in their writing. Pupils do not consistently write in a fluent, joined style, which also slows the progress they make.
• The new leader who leads the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has put in place systems for checking the progress of these pupils and for reviewing the extra help they receive. Due to extra, focused teaching, pupils generally make better progress across subjects than in the past. Some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, however, have significant catching up still to do.
• Phonics outcomes in Years 1 and 2 in 2016 were above the national average although, according to the school’s own data, progress in phonics for current pupils in Year 1 is not as strong.
• Pupils’ books show that most current pupils, including the most able, are becoming increasingly fluent in basic numeracy facts, although the subject leader recognises that there is more to be done to improve this further. Pupils are helped to apply and think more deeply about the skills they learn through solving problems. This is helping to improve progress in mathematics.
• Pupils read a wide range of books and pupils, including the most able, have increasingly positive attitudes to reading, especially throughout Years 3 to Year 6. Volunteer readers and teaching assistants effectively support reading and this helps any pupils who need extra help to catch up with their peers to do so.
• Pupil premium funding is used to support targeted, additional teaching. This is generally effective in supporting the small number of disadvantaged pupils in the school to make progress in line with their peers. However, the school’s work to target support at the particular needs of the least and most able disadvantaged pupils is in its early stages.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children arrive at the school with skills that are generally typical for their age. Many attend the Nursery class and this provides a strong start to the school. Staff ensure that children are supported well emotionally and that they develop the social skills they need in order to be successful learners in the Reception class.
• Children are taught in a small group in the Reception class and have high levels of support from adults. This particularly helps children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The extra support also ensures that disadvantaged children do well in the Reception Year. After a dip in outcomes in 2015, most children achieved expected standards in 2016 and were, therefore, well prepared for learning in Year 1.
• This school year, there have been some changes to staff. Parents are generally very happy with the provision and say that their children enjoy school and are secure and settled. Children particularly enjoy their learning outside, where there are plenty of opportunities to explore and develop their understanding of the world. Relations between adults and children are strong and children play alongside each other happily.
• Some children, however, are over-reliant on adult support for their learning. They are not developing the independent skills or the motivation they need to allow them to make good progress particularly in their writing.
• Time is not used effectively in order to secure sufficient depth of learning, particularly for middle- and higher-ability children. Much time is taken, for example, on transitions from learning to playtimes.
• Leaders ensure that staff receive support from the schools in the trust. This is yet to have an impact on the quality of teaching, which currently requires improvement. More children need to make at least good progress from their starting points, particularly in writing.
• Leaders have ensured that the provision is safe and secure. Welfare requirements including risk assessments are in place.

School details

Unique reference number 137651 Local authority Devon Inspection number 10025029 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 2 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 120 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Matt Huddleson Headteacher Claire Baillie Telephone number 01884 820 284 Website www.sampford-peverell-primary.devon.sch.uk Email address sampford@ventrus.org.uk Date of previous inspection 22 23 May 2012

Information about this school

• The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary 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 became an academy in 2013 and is a member of the Ventrus Multi-Academy Trust, previously known as the Primary Academies Trust.
• An educational adviser from the trust visits the school to check the progress it is making.
• The school includes a Nursery class for children from the age of two years. Children attend the Nursery on a part-time basis. Children attend full time in the Reception class.
• The school meets the current government floor standards.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is lower than average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is just above average.

Information about this inspection

• During this inspection, observations of learning in all classes were carried out on learning walks alongside the headteacher and senior teacher. The inspector also looked at a wide range of pupils’ books alongside senior leaders.
• Key school information and documents were scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation, the development plan, information that the school uses to assess pupils’ progress and a range of documents relating to safeguarding, including risk assessments.
• A meeting was held with two members of the governing body including the chair. Two meetings were held with the chief executive of the trust. The inspector also spoke on the telephone to the educational adviser from the trust.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders and subject leaders. Staff’s views were gathered throughout the inspection.
• Pupils’ views were also gathered throughout the inspection and at a meeting with pupils at lunchtime.
• Parents’ views were gathered at the start of each day. The inspector also received some written responses from parents and took into account the 34 responses on Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Tonwen Empson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector