Clyst Hydon Primary School

Clyst Hydon Primary School Clyst Hydon, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 2ND

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  The headteacher provides exceptional and inspired leadership. Her high aspirations for the school are shared by staff, governors, parents and the local village community. Together, they are all totally dedicated to ensuring that each and every pupil thrives and achieves their full potential and to making sure that the school gets even better every year.  Pupils’ achievement is outstanding. Pupils make excellent progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout the school.  The great majority of teaching is outstanding. It caters extremely well for all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and those who are gifted and talented.  The school’s outstanding provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development underpins pupils’ exemplary attitudes to learning and their impeccable behaviour. Pupils emphatically say there is no bullying and incidents of unacceptable

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

behaviour are extremely rare.  Reception children make excellent progress in all their learning because staff are very skilled at ensuring they are happy, very well cared for and that they enjoy a perfect balance of work and play activities.  The governing body has exceptionally good knowledge of how well the school is performing. It challenges the leadership robustly whilst offering unstinting support, enthusiasm and commitment to its work.  The imaginative and stimulating way that subjects and topics are taught successfully meets the interests and needs of all pupils. The school not only stretches all pupils academically, but also provides a wide range of exciting activities such as residential field trips, golf tournaments and the opportunity to run a half marathon challenge.  Pupils say they feel extremely safe at school and clearly enjoy all aspects of school life, as shown by their exceptionally high attendance.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 10 lessons. She also observed the teaching of phonics (letters, letter combinations and the sounds they make). In addition, the inspector heard pupils from Year 1 read, discussed reading with Year 6 pupils, as well as examining pupils’ work.  A wide range of school documentation was analysed and evaluated, including that relating to safeguarding, assessment information, school development plans and monitoring records.  The inspector held discussions with the headteacher and staff as well as with pupils and members of the governing body. A telephone conversation was held with a representative from the local authority.  The 32 responses to the questionnaire on the Parent View website were analysed, as well as the nine responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Joyce Cox, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Clyst Hydon is a very small, two-class village school which serves local families and others from surrounding villages and the nearby town of Cullompton. Reception children and Year 1 and Year 2 pupils are taught in one class and Year 3 to Year 6 pupils in the other.  The Key Stage 2 class is split for the larger part of each week into a Year 3/4 group and a Year 5/6 group. Pupil numbers are very small in some year groups. They range from four to 14 in the school.  All pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is currently lower than in most other schools; although, in Year 6 in 2012, the percentage of pupils supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs was above average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children who are looked after by

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Information about this school

the local authority and the children of service families) is much lower than average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher teaches the Year 5 and Year 6 pupils for a total of three days in the week. She will be retiring at the end of the summer term 2013 and a new acting headteacher has been appointed to fulfil her teaching and leadership roles.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Arrange a programme of mentoring and support for the new headteacher to ensure the school’s excellent track record continues.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children start school with skills and understanding that are broadly in line with those expected for their age. All children make outstanding progress in Reception, especially in communicating and working together, and in quickly acquiring early reading and writing skills. For example, during the inspection, all the Reception children competently wrote several sentences about their recent walk to a local wood.  Excellent progress continues through Years 1 and 2, as pupils make considerable gains in using their rapidly increasing spoken vocabulary to enrich their writing and to explain various ways of solving problems in mathematics.  Typically, attainment at the end of Year 6 has been exceptionally high since the previous inspection in 2008. In 2012, results were lower; but, as only seven pupils took the Year 6 tests, comparisons with the national average are not reliable. The school’s documentation clearly

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

shows that pupils in every year group make outstanding progress because the quality of teaching is consistently high.  Reading is a particular strength and pupils’ attainment is high throughout the school because there is an excellent programme to teach phonics to younger pupils and regular guided reading sessions throughout the school. In 2012, all of the Year 1 pupils attained high scores in the phonics screening check. Older pupils confidently discuss various authors’ specific styles. One pupil had clearly been inspired by the ‘humour, characters and family relationships’ described in David Walliams’ novel ‘Gangsta Granny’.  Pupils’ writing is of a high quality and pupils like learning and sharing new words and phrases. For example, a display of older pupils’ writing showed excellent progress in using descriptive language. ‘The terrible teeth of the last sabre toothed tiger and the wings of a crystal white

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

Pegasus.’ All pupils are constantly encouraged and expected to remember the basic skills of grammar, spelling and punctuation from an early age, and hence they can write confidently in a range of styles and subjects.  More-able pupils are fully stretched throughout the school in mathematics and English. Mixed aged classes mean that talented mathematicians can work with older pupils and harder tasks are readily available for them.  The very small number of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding enjoy a rich curriculum with outdoor learning, extra sporting events and creative opportunities, which are bespoke according to the needs of these individuals. Additional academic provision is available if this is necessary, above and beyond the usual school provision, which ensures that pupils make excellent progress in English and mathematics.  Pupils whose circumstances might make them vulnerable, and those with special educational

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

needs, are extremely well supported and, as a result, make similar progress to that of all other pupils. Staff know the capabilities of these pupils exceptionally well and systems for monitoring their progress have a very good impact on learning. Parents of pupils with additional needs say they are extremely happy because their children are exceptionally well integrated into their classes, and are supported by highly skilled teaching assistants.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The vast majority of teaching for all groups of pupils is outstanding. High quality assessment, based on detailed understanding and knowledge of pupils’ individual capabilities and interests, ensures that there is an exceptionally good match between tasks and pupils’ abilities. For example, there is exceptionally detailed planning to meet the various ages and abilities in the Reception/Year 1 and Year 2 class.  In an outstanding Year 5/6 numeracy lesson involving discovering and devising rules for identifying number patterns for consecutive numbers, the teacher demonstrated excellent knowledge of each pupil’s current attainment. She very skilfully asked questions at appropriate levels for each group of pupils, probing their reasoning and helping them to be totally absorbed in, and fascinated by, their learning.  Feedback to pupils is also particularly effective and makes sure every pupil can make rapid gains

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

in their learning. Pupils know their individual targets and ability levels in English, mathematics and science and can discuss them very well and demonstrate how they are meeting them. Year 6 pupils say they really appreciate the way teachers know them so well as individuals.  Subjects are presented in interesting and stimulating ways, often as a result of an interesting visit or visitor, so pupils are very willing and engaged learners. Year 6 pupils enthusiastically described many memorable learning experiences in a wide range of subjects and activities during their time at the school.  All teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. The needs of all groups of pupils are carefully considered at all times. Consequently, the support for the few pupils eligible for pupil premium funding, as well as for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, is carefully targeted so that these pupils make excellent progress.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching assistants work very closely with teachers and are extremely well organised. They are very skilled at asking questions and rephrasing information, thereby providing highly effective support to all pupils.  The teaching of reading, writing, number, science and information and communication technology is integrated skilfully across all subjects so pupils have many chances to practise their basic skills. For example, some junior pupils recently and very successfully took part in a ‘Bloodhound Challenge’ at a local secondary school. This venture used elements of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to produce and test model cars.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable and makes a strong contribution to their excellent achievement. Pupils are extremely polite, helpful and justifiably very proud of their school.  In lessons, pupils are exceptionally well motivated and show a real quest for learning through their excellent attitudes, enthusiasm and perseverance. Consequently, attendance is exceptionally high and reflects the pupils’ tremendous enjoyment of school.  Older pupils talk knowledgably about different forms of bullying, including name calling, internet and mobile phone bullying, but confidently say, ‘There is no bullying in this school. We are one big family and care for and respect each other.’ Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.  Pupils also describe recent presentations about internet safety and ‘Childline’ which they found very valuable and informative.  Older pupils are excellent role models for younger ones. They cheerfully and sensibly organise

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

lunchtime ‘Huff and Puff’ sessions, thereby ensuring infant children are happy, engaged and active. School councillors feel very responsible for their school and carry out a wide range of fundraising and other activities with confidence and maturity. They recently devised their own questions to ask the new headteacher candidates.  Over three quarters of the parents completed the on-line questionnaire and they all feel that behaviour is very good and that their children are safe and well cared for.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has provided outstanding and inspirational leadership over a considerable period of time as manifest in the two previous outstanding Ofsted inspections. This is in addition to her being an excellent classroom practitioner who has high expectations and sets high standards. The headteacher, staff and governors form a very strong team whose distinct areas of expertise combine seamlessly to make this school highly successful.  There is a tremendous team spirit and all staff are extremely ambitious for their pupils and totally committed to continuous improvement. All teachers have leadership roles and have been provided with carefully selected training to enable them to fulfil these effectively. Professional targets for improvement are robust and have been very effective in helping teachers to develop their skills so that the provision is of the highest quality.  Monitoring of teaching is regular and rigorous and all teachers are accountable for the progress

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The leadership and management are outstanding

their classes make.  Over three quarters of the parents responded through Parent View and their answers were overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating the high level of support the school enjoys. Parents and the local community work very closely with the headteacher to seize every opportunity to extend and enrich pupils’ experiences. For example, some local residents have donated an area of their garden for pupils to grow vegetables and fruit.  The exciting and stimulating curriculum enthuses and motivates the pupils and offers rich opportunities for high-quality learning. These include annual residential visits for all junior pupils to a variety of locations including Dartmoor, Swanage and Bristol. All pupils are included in all activities so that all have equal opportunities.  The extensive range of lunchtime and after-school clubs for sport, music, art and dance contributes very well to pupils’ outstanding achievement and their excellent spiritual, moral,

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The leadership and management are outstanding

social and cultural development. Religious studies, topics about India, a visit to Exeter University to watch a Muslim graffiti artist at work and strong links with the local church give pupils an excellent knowledge and understanding of other cultures and faiths.  A telephone conversation with the local authority confirmed that the school has required no more than light touch support since the last inspection in 2008.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has an excellent understanding of the strengths of the school and what it is doing to improve further. Governors speak knowledgably about pupils’ progress and swiftly challenge any dips in pupils’ achievement. They attend regular training to hone their skills so they are confident to both support and challenge the headteacher. They agree that the new headteacher will require mentoring and support to fulfil the demanding role of headteacher

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The leadership and management are outstanding

and part time class teacher.  Governors keep a close eye on the school’s finances and make sure that money for the pupil premium is used effectively to support those pupils who require it. They are extremely vigilant in keeping the pupils safe and that staff are suitably checked and trained in child protection matters. They check the quality of teaching by asking questions about information which shows how much progress is made by different groups of pupils. The headteacher, supported by governors, decides whether teachers and staff should be rewarded with salary increases. The governors review targets for the headteacher.

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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 113065 Local authority Devon Inspection number 413247

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 64 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rebekah Wright Headteacher Anne Guest Date of previous school inspection 18 September 2008 Telephone number 01884 277255 Fax number 01884 277255 Email address admin@clyst-hydon-primary.devon.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, 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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