Treverbyn Academy

Treverbyn Academy Stenalees, St Austell, Cornwall, PL26 8TL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected N/A This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils, particularly the more able, are not yet making consistently good progress in English and mathematics in all year groups.  Pupils achieve less well in writing than in reading and mathematics.  Improvements in teaching are too recent to make sure all pupils make good progress over time.  Not all teachers assess pupils’ progress enough during lessons. Consequently, they do not adapt activities and questions in order to challenge all pupils to make as much progress as possible.  Teachers do not give pupils enough opportunities to use their literacy and numeracy targets and teachers’ marking to help them improve their work.

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The school has the following strengths

 Teaching is improving and is now usually good. As a result, pupils are making better progress and catching up on areas of learning missed in the past.  Support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, and pupils who are supported by the pupil premium, helps them to keep up with others in lessons.  Behaviour is improving and is now good due to all staff consistently applying the behaviour policy. Attendance is also improving.  The Principal has successfully developed the leadership skills of senior and subject leaders. This leadership team, together with the governing body, are bringing about improvements in all areas of the school’s work.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons taught by seven teachers, most of which were observed jointly with senior leaders. In addition, they observed intervention lessons and listened to groups of pupils reading.  Inspectors held meetings with groups of pupils, the Chair and two members of the Governing Body, the Chief Education Officer for the Aspire Academy Trust, and met informally with a small number of parents and carers. They met with academy staff, including senior and subject leaders.  The inspection team observed the academy’s work and examined a range of documents, including records of the monitoring of pupils’ progress and of their behaviour and attendance, systems for the performance management and development of staff, improvement plans and documents relating to the safeguarding of pupils.  The inspection team took account of 49 responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View survey and questionnaires completed by 19 members of the teaching and support staff.

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Inspection team

Sue Frater, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ian Cload Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Treverbyn Community Primary School became a sponsor-led academy in September 2011.  Treverbyn Academy is sponsored by Sandy Hill Academy within The Cornwall Academy Trust (TCAT). TCAT is a member of the ASPIRE Academy Trust. The academy is smaller than most primary schools.  A larger than average proportion of pupils than is found nationally are eligible for support through the pupil premium. The pupil premium provides additional government funding for children in the care of the local authority, children of parents in the armed forces, and for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  The number of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs and are supported by school action is below average. The proportion of those supported by school action plus or

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Information about this school

with a statement of special educational needs is average.  Currently, no pupils attend off-site alternative provision.  The academy runs a private nursery for children aged 0−4 years within the on-site children’s centre. It also provides breakfast and after-school clubs for pupils at the academy. The nursery was not part of this inspection.  The academy meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement in English and mathematics, particularly for more able pupils.  Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by:  making sure teachers assess pupils’ progress during lessons and adapt activities and their questions to challenge all pupils to make as much progress as possible  helping pupils to improve their work by giving them more opportunities to respond to their literacy and numeracy targets and to teachers’ marking of their work.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress is improving, but it is not yet consistently good in all year groups and subjects, or for more able pupils.  Most children enter the Reception class having attended the on-site private nursery. Their attainment on entry is below expectations for their age. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and enter Key Stage 1 approaching age-related expectations.  In Key Stage 1, pupils make good progress in reading and attain standards that are slightly above average. Their attainment in writing and mathematics is broadly average.  Progress is not yet consistently good across all year groups in Key Stage 2 due to previous weaknesses in teaching. The weaknesses resulted in attainment and progress in English and mathematics being inadequate, particularly for boys, by the end of Year 6 in the 2012 national tests.  The school is improving teachers’ skills in the teaching of mathematics. As a result, progress is

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

stronger in the subject this year, although few more able pupils are achieving the higher levels.  Following a review of the teaching of reading and writing, pupils’ progress is improving. Overall, pupils achieve less well in writing than in reading and mathematics. Spelling is a weakness, but teachers are tackling this through the systematic teaching of letters and sounds. Teachers are also engaging boys more in their learning by adopting more interesting topics and activities.  The school’s information indicates that attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is improving and is likely to be broadly average for the current Year 6 pupils. Inspection evidence indicates it will be closer to average than in 2012.  Early morning interventions and support from additional adults in lessons help disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, and pupils eligible for support from the pupil premium,

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

to progress as well as other pupils. The school is successfully closing the gap in attainment between pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and all others. In 2012, their average points scores by the end of Year 6 were 25.2 and 25.4 respectively.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Leaders and managers are successfully improving the quality of teaching. It is now usually good. This is leading to better progress for pupils, although there are still inconsistencies. Teaching has not been good for long enough to make sure that all pupils achieve well by the time they leave school.  Improvements in checking pupils’ progress and setting more challenging literacy and numeracy targets have resulted in teachers having higher expectations. The use of guidelines for assessing pupils’ progress has helped teachers to identify and begin to fill the gaps in pupils’ learning. This practice is particularly good in Year 6. Teachers, including those in the Early Years Foundation Stage, use information on children’s progress well to plan lessons for the range of needs in their classes. However, not all teachers assess pupils’ progress enough during lessons. So they are not always adapting activities and their questions to challenge pupils, especially more able

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils, to make as much progress as possible.  Teachers make good use of resources and additional adults to help lower achieving pupils, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs to keep up with others in lessons. Teaching assistants are becoming more skilled in questioning pupils to think for themselves, rather than telling them the answers.  The marking of pupils’ books is improving. Written comments help pupils to know how well they have done and what they need to do to make their work even better. However, pupils are given too few opportunities in lessons to use the comments, and their literacy and numeracy targets, to help them improve their work.  Effective use is made of homework to extend pupils’ learning.  Good working relationships with their teachers and each other give pupils the confidence to contribute to lessons.  In the most effective lessons, teachers use a wide range of strategies to interest pupils,

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The quality of teaching is good

especially boys, and to help them apply and extend their literacy and numeracy skills independently. For example, in a Year 2 English lesson, pupils engaged in role play, imagining they were entering a giant’s castle, to describe their thoughts and feelings to each other. This gave them lots of ideas and exciting words to use in writing their stories. In a Year 3 mathematics lesson, pupils were eagerly trying different methods for addition, including using electronic iPads and toy frogs ‘jumping’ on a number line. The teacher challenged them to explain their methods to the class. At the same time, he helped those who were confused by showing them how to do it using the whiteboard, and stretched the more able pupils’ understanding by asking them probing questions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are keen to learn. They disrupt lessons only very occasionally when the teaching does not fully interest or challenge them.  There are few well- founded concerns about behaviour and safety from pupils, staff, parents and carers.  A few parents and carers disagreed that the school deals effectively with bullying. Inspectors could find no evidence to support this. Pupils can talk about different forms of bullying. They say that there is hardly any bullying and, when it does happen, teachers deal with it effectively.  There is a positive ethos in the school, where pupils and staff show respect for each other. Pupils behave well. They say that behaviour has improved. Their attendance has also improved and it is now average. Pupils display good manners and are punctual to lessons.  Staff manage behaviour consistently well. They help pupils with behavioural needs to improve their behaviour over time.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are confident to turn to members of staff if they have any concerns. They say that they feel safe in school and parents and carers agree.

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The leadership and management are good

 The Principal is passionate about improving the academy to good and outstanding. In developing the leadership skills of senior and subject leaders, he has made sure the school has the capacity to make the necessary improvements.  The leadership team is tackling successfully the previous inadequate progress of the pupils by improving the quality of teaching, which is now good because of effective performance management, training and support.  All leaders carry out robust evaluation of teaching, pupils’ work and information on pupils’ progress. This is used well to inform the school’s raising achievement plan and to hold teachers to account for the progress their pupils make. It is also used to target appropriate catch-up and intervention for pupils who have fallen behind.  The school attained the inclusive Dyslexia Friendly Schools Quality Mark to support pupils with specific learning difficulties and to promote their equal access to learning and progress. Gaps in

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The leadership and management are good

attainment for different groups of pupils, especially disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and pupils supported by the pupil premium, are closing, particularly in reading.  The curriculum focus has rightly been on developing pupils’ basic skills. Visits, for example to the science museum in Bristol, contribute well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Plans are in place to develop a more creative curriculum to provide greater opportunities for pupils to write for real purposes and audiences.  The large majority of parents and carers are fully satisfied with the school’s work. A few parents and carers disagree that the school responds well to any concerns they raise. In response, the school is keeping a log to check that all concerns are followed up. The school has put in place a range of opportunities to engage parents and carers in its work, such as workshops and leaflets

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The leadership and management are good

about how they can support their children’s learning. The events are not well attended and the school is aware of the need to develop this area further.  The governance of the school:  has improved. The governing body is now provided with sufficient information to enable it to effectively hold senior leaders to account for the standards pupils reach and to compare their performance with similar schools. Governors know the strengths and areas for improvement in the school, including in the quality of teaching, through rigorously examining information on pupils’ performance. They challenge the leadership team and, as a result, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement are improving. The governing body is accountable to the Cornwall and ASPIRE Academy Trusts who provide effective support to the school through sharing good practice and expertise. Governors attend relevant training such as in child

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The leadership and management are good

protection and safer recruitment procedures, and ensure the school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements. They have made sure that the budget is now balanced. They constantly review the value for money provided by the large number of support staff in the school, and the allocation of teachers’ pay scales. They make sure that pupil premium funding is spent on interventions that enable eligible pupils to catch up with others in the school. As a result, the pupil premium is helping eligible pupils to close the gap between their achievement and that of other pupils successfully.

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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 pupils’ 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 pupils’ 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 is

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Grade Judgement Description

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 137076 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 399874

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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 Academy sponsor-led School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 197 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Wright Headteacher Alan Craig Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01726 850503 Fax number 01726 850503 Email address secretary@treverbyn.org.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, please

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School details

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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