Trythall Community Primary School

Trythall Community Primary School New Mill, Penzance, TR20 8XR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils enjoy school, make good progress and achieve well in all subjects.  The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection and has resulted in higher standards in English and mathematics by the time pupils leave the school.  Lessons are expertly planned to meet the needs of all pupils, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs. Teachers are supported well by committed teaching assistants.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage benefit from high-quality teaching in creative, stimulating environments, including their weekly visits to the Forest School. This enables them to settle quickly and achieve well.  Pupils talk about their school with passion and pride. Their behaviour is good and they have positive attitudes to learning in lessons. They feel safe and secure and have confidence in the adults around them.  The headteacher provides the school with

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

strong leadership. Developing the ‘whole child’ to aspire to do their best and preparing them for the future is core to the school’s values of high expectation and aspiration.  Governors have supported the headteacher effectively to improve the quality of teaching and monitor teachers’ performance. This has been successful in securing and sustaining some rapid improvements in pupils’ achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Teachers occasionally do not provide pupils with hard enough work, especially the more able, which would enable them to make even better progress.  Teachers do not use a common way to provide feedback to pupils on their work and this causes some confusion among pupils.  Pupils are not given regular opportunities to reply to the comments given by teachers to improve their work. This limits their usefulness.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice and took place over two days.  The inspector visited 10 lessons and observed five teachers. The headteacher joined the inspector for a number of observations.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, staff, pupils, governors and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including the school improvement plans, priorities for development, achievement data and documents relating to safeguarding children.  The inspector took account of the eight responses to the online Parent View survey and the 10 responses to the staff questionnaire during the inspection.

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Inspection team

John Cavill, Lead Inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Trythall is a much smaller than average-sized rural primary school.  Children are taught in two classes; one for pupils in Key Stage 2, and the children in the Reception Year are taught in the same class as pupils in Key Stage 1.  The school expanded its Early Years Foundation Stage provision in September 2012 by opening a Nursery class for children every morning.  Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. There are no pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is slightly below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium is average. This is additional funding for pupils entitled to free school meals.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum

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Information about this school

expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ achievement through improving the quality of teaching to outstanding by:  ensuring teachers respond in lessons to the progress of individual pupils, especially the more able, to reshape tasks and improve learning  making sure teachers use a common format for marking and assessing pupils’ work to build on the good assessment practice already in place and to help pupils to be clear about how to improve  ensuring teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to review and improve their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start in the Reception class, and more recently in the Nursery class, with skills and abilities that are generally below the levels that would normally be expected for their age, particularly in literacy and numeracy. For some children this is also the case for their emotional and social development. However, there is variability between the different small cohorts and the range of abilities is often wide.  All children, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs, make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and reach at least expected levels by the time they move into Key Stage 1. Literacy and numeracy levels remain slightly lower than those for other areas.  The focus on developing the ‘whole child’, both personally and academically, ensures that quick gains are made in children’s social and emotional development. Children in the Nursery class can confidently serve themselves and interact well at their snack time demonstrating their well-

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The achievement of pupils is good

established routines.  Pupils continue to make good progress throughout the school and are redressing some underachievement that existed previously. This has resulted in average attainment at the end of Year 6. It has also had the effect of closing the gaps in achievement that existed between English and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are, wherever possible, fully integrated in lessons promoting equality of opportunity. They are supported well in this inclusive school by teaching assistants and make similarly good progress to other pupils.  Learning the sounds and names of letters is helping pupils read and write. They are fluent readers and blend sounds well. Pupils in Year 2, for example, were observed writing words confidently from the teacher speaking them, using the letter sounds to support the spelling.  Pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium make good progress. Additional

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The achievement of pupils is good

staffing to support these pupils with intervention activities, including the dedicated sessions at Forest School, has led to an improvement in their achievement.  Pupils are very articulate and able to communicate well verbally. In a Key Stage 2 numeracy lesson, for example, pupils were able to give precise directions, using angles and distance, to each other and then transfer this to remote control model cars.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good with some that is of high quality and this enables all pupils to make good progress in all subjects.  All parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire were very happy with the quality of teaching at the school and thought that their children made good progress. Pupils thought that the lessons were fun and their teachers were good.  Teachers plan lessons with precision using their subject knowledge well. This ensures that the tasks are generally well matched to the abilities of all pupils, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs.  In a highly effective Key Stage 2 literacy lesson, for example, pupils were developing a start to an adventure story and the teacher carefully ensured that the work continually challenged all pupils to extend their learning with high-quality questioning to monitor individual progress. However, in some lessons some pupils, especially the more able, occasionally lose focus as they

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The quality of teaching is good

are not being moved on quickly enough to more demanding work.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Creative planning of activities, making good use of the stunning outside environment at the school and expecting children to learn for themselves, ensures that they have a good start to their education.  Children in the Reception Year benefit from working with pupils in Key Stage 1, especially when they visit the local woods each week for Forest School. The awe and wonder in these pupils’ eyes when an apple was cut open to reveal a star, as part of a storytelling session, allowed them to share a very special moment together and develop spiritually and socially.  Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work is of a high quality and provides pupils with praise and ways to improve further. However, teachers do not present this to pupils in the same way and this can be confusing, especially in classes that are shared between teachers. Pupils understand the

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The quality of teaching is good

feedback that they are given on how to improve their work, but are not always given regular opportunities to reflect upon the comments and make the necessary improvements.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy their learning and are well behaved.  They settle well to their work and are respectful of each other and of their teachers. Generally, their behaviour is good in lessons and they have a positive attitude towards their learning. On the very rare occasions when there is some inappropriate behaviour such as chatting to each other or losing concentration, it is because the teacher has not provided pupils with hard enough work.  All parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire agreed that behaviour at school was good, there was no bullying and that their children were kept safe. Pupils agreed. They reported that they were confident the adults in school would quickly resolve any problems that they may have.  Pupils showed a good understanding of the different forms of bullying and said that there is no bullying of any kind, including physical, emotional and cyber bullying.  The school is a vibrant, happy community and pupils said that they were very proud and happy

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

to be at Trythall. The school council provides pupils with a voice and they were very keen to discuss their involvement in the design of the playground markings. Pupils also said that they were very lucky that their school was in the country and liked looking after the school animals.  Outside of lessons pupils play together well and move around the school in a calm manner. All pupils, including those in the Early Years Foundation Stage, say they feel safe and very secure.  Pupils are keen to come to school and are punctual. The attendance for the vast majority of pupils is above average. However, there are a small number of pupils who do not attend regularly enough for a variety of reasons, but these are being closely monitored by the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides the school with visionary and committed leadership. He has ensured that there is a clear focus and determination to improve the life chances of all pupils. Supported by a highly effective team of teachers and experienced governors, rapid improvements since the previous inspection have been secured and sustained in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Major improvements in the Early Years Foundation Stage provision, including the new Nursery class, have enhanced children’s chances in these vital early stages of their education, and have secured improved achievement.  Leaders understand that high-quality teaching is necessary to secure high levels of achievement and therefore manage the performance of teachers well. They ensure there is a good match between how well teachers are paid and how well pupils learn. Individual professional development needs are monitored well to ensure that school improvement needs are met and

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The leadership and management are good

enhanced. All staff share a common belief that they and the school can improve still further.  Pupils’ progress is regularly assessed and recorded. Leaders check this to ensure that targets are challenging and overall performance is monitored effectively. Intervention activities, both in and out of the classroom, support learning. The progress of pupils who are disabled or with special educational needs is monitored to ensure that additional provision is effective.  The curriculum is creatively planned and responds quickly to pupils’ changing needs and interests. It makes outstanding use of the outdoors, both within the school grounds and in the wider community, with residential trips and visits to places like Pendennis Castle in Falmouth to stimulate learning on a topic about the Tudors.  The whole-school production of Jack and the Beanstalk in the new outside performance area that the pupils helped design and build, and taking part in the local Golowan Festival with a

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The leadership and management are good

model they made together, demonstrate the commitment of leaders to ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fully embedded in everything that happens at the school.  Leaders robustly manage all statutory requirements relating to safeguarding.  The local authority provides light touch support to this good school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body works closely with the headteacher and knows how well the school is doing. Governors have supported the headteacher in his efforts to improve the quality of teaching and have challenged successfully where teachers were not performing well enough. Governors review teachers’ performance regularly to ensure that salary progression reflects the quality of teaching and leadership responsibilities. Improvement planning is understood and governors monitor how well pupils are doing at the school. This ensures that any changes

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The leadership and management are good

have a direct impact on improving pupils’ achievement. Governors monitor funding to the school effectively, especially that received through the pupil premium, and evaluate the benefits. Leaders are required to justify the impact this spending has on the outcomes for pupils. For example, the achievement for pupils in receipt of the pupil premium is checked by monitoring the success of the additional intervention activities provided specifically for this group.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupil’s needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupil’s needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school

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Grade Judgement Description

is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 111791 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 401202

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 50 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clare Roberts Headteacher Matthew Strevens Date of previous school inspection 7–8 December 2009 Telephone number 01736 362021 Fax number Email address head@trythall.cornwall.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille,

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School details

please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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