Setting

Ms L Tamblyn The Acting Headteacher Burraton Community Primary School Fairmead Road Saltash PL12 4LT

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 29 November 2012, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the outcome and inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses in September 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During this inspection, meetings were held with the acting headteacher and one of the acting deputy headteachers, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. The local authority’s statement of action and the school’s improvement plan were evaluated.

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Context

Since the last inspection, the acting headteacher has continued to lead the school. She has been assisted by two part-time acting deputy headteachers and an assistant headteacher. Procedures to recruit a substantive headteacher are well advanced. One part-time teacher has left the school and four other teachers will leave the school before the end of the academic year. The school has plans in place to replace these teachers through recruitment and by deploying existing teachers differently. At Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 3115307 Direct F 0117 3150430 Direct email : emma.thomson@ tribalgroup.com the time of the monitoring visit, the Chair of the Governing Body was absent. The governing body was being led by an acting Chair and Vice-Chair. One member has joined the governing body recently.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Senior leaders have begun to monitor the quality of teaching and learning more regularly. Leaders have visited lessons several times to watch pupils learning and look at their work in books. There are encouraging signs that the quality of teaching is beginning to improve and incidents of inadequate teaching have reduced. Leaders at all levels check the progress that pupils make and the standards they achieve more often. Leaders have set challenging end-of-year targets for pupils’ achievement in each year group that reflect the higher expectations that have been set. However, these are not included in the school’s improvement plan so it is difficult for leaders and governors to evaluate the difference that actions have made across the school.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The improvement plan ensures that actions to tackle the school’s weaknesses are built on firm foundations. Actions are linked closely to the findings of the most recent inspection and the local authority’s statement of action. Consequently, staff and governors now focus their attention on a small number of improvements that will make the biggest difference. Senior leaders check the school’s work more thoroughly so they have better understanding of how things are getting better and where further improvement is required. Teachers are more accountable for the quality of their work and incidents of weaker teaching are followed up promptly. All teachers have met with leaders to agree objectives to improve their performance.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Governors are developing a more accurate view of the school’s work. They have visited the school more frequently to gain a first-hand view of what is being done to improve teaching and learning. As a result of recent training, several governors report that they have a better understanding of information about pupils’ progress and the standards pupils reach and are more confident in asking questions. A core group of governors has taken responsibility to check the progress that is made to address each key issue. However, proposed arrangements to keep parents informed and enable them to contribute their views through a regular forum have not been established.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The local authority has continued to support the school with a renewed focus towards addressing the areas for improvement in the inspection report. Officers from the local authority have worked with senior leaders and governors to ensure that work starts promptly and with sufficient urgency. The local authority’s statement of action provides appropriate support for the school’s leaders to tackle the key issues. However, the arrangements for checking the progress made and holding the school to account are not clear enough. The success criteria do not explain how progress will be measured and evaluated and there is insufficient information about how and when checks will be made. The statement lacks interim milestones to ensure that that progress towards end-of-year targets is monitored rigorously. Following the monitoring inspection, the following judgements were made.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

 The school’s improvement plan is fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

 The local authority’s statement of action is not fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Cornwall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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