Treverbyn Academy

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Requires improvement 3

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

 Pupils’ achievement over time has not been good, as progress rates have not been fast enough. Until this year, attainment has been below average in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  Pupils’ attainment in grammar, punctuation and spelling is not yet high enough to enable pupils to become fluent writers.  Pupils do not always show sufficient pride in their work. Teachers do not always insist on the highest standards of presentation and handwriting.  On occasions, teachers do not set work at the right level, or plan to extend pupils’ thinking effectively, especially in mathematics. As a consequence, the work is sometimes too easy or too difficult for the different groups of pupils.  Until recently, too few children in Reception reached good enough levels of development. As a result, they were not all ready for Year 1 on leaving the early years.  Senior leaders’ checks on the impact of teaching on pupils’ achievement are not focused sharply enough

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

on how well different groups of pupils learn. They do not identify weaknesses and ensure that they are fully resolved.  Middle leaders, some relatively new to their roles, have had insufficient time to help colleagues to improve their practice and to evaluate the impact of their work.  In the past, governors have not gathered their own information to provide evidence to challenge school leaders about why teaching and pupils’ achievement are not better. Consequently, their ability to hold leaders to account has been limited.

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The school has the following strengths

 The interim Principal, and the new senior leadership team, have already introduced some effective improvements to teaching, behaviour and rates of pupils’ progress. They have set high expectations of what pupils can achieve.  Teachers plan motivating activities across subjects that capture pupils’ interests. These help to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. The effective relationships between adults and pupils create an environment where pupils feel safe and eager to learn.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning across the school, some in conjunction with the head of teaching and learning. In addition, they made visits to classrooms, the dining hall, the breakfast club and the playground.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body and school leaders. The lead inspector also met with a representative of the ASPIRE academy trust.  Inspectors took account of the 46 responses to the on-line parental questionnaire (Parent View) and written correspondence, as well as consulting informally with parents at the start of the school day. They also took account of the 22 responses to the Ofsted staff questionnaire.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plans. They examined information on current pupils’ progress, minutes of the governing body meetings, safeguarding procedures and the plans for the use of additional sport funding.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors heard pupils read, talked to them in classrooms and evaluated samples of their work.

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Inspection team

Sandra Woodman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This academy is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Pupils are organised in seven classes, all of which are single-age groups.  The academy is sponsored by Sandy Hill Academy which is a member of the ASPIRE Academy Trust.  The interim leaders took up post in February 2015, following the resignation of the previous Principal.  The very large majority of pupils are White British.  All the children in the early years (Reception class) attend full time.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above average. This is additional government funding provided to give extra support to those pupils who are eligible for free school meals or children who are looked after by the local authority. Currently, there are very few children on roll who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below average.

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Information about this school

 The academy provides care for pupils through the breakfast club. It also runs a private nursery for children from birth to four years old. The nursery did not form part of this inspection.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen teaching so that all groups of pupils make good progress by ensuring that teachers:  set work that is suitably challenging for all pupils  plan activities that deepen pupils’ thinking and understanding, especially in mathematics  insist on high standards of presentation and handwriting in all subjects.  Raise pupils’ attainment in writing by:  ensuring that children in the early years learn to form letters correctly  making sure that teachers develop systematically the basic skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling  enabling pupils to extend their skills by writing at length across subjects.  Increase the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:  all leaders evaluate precisely the impact of teaching on pupils’ achievement to enable them to identify weaknesses and address them promptly  the skills and expertise of middle and subject leaders are further developed to increase their impact on

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement  governors acquire the skills and confidence to enable them to check systematically the work of the school for themselves, so that they are better able to hold leaders to account.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because, until recently, leaders have not secured enough effective teaching to ensure that all pupils make consistently good progress.  Since the previous inspection, there have been considerable changes to the leadership and staffing of the academy. These have slowed progress for a time. Following the appointment of the interim Principal and a new leadership team, the pace of improvement has increased.  Senior leaders have eradicated the weakest teaching and have provided training and support to improve the teaching still further. However, as yet, they do not check rigorously enough on the impact of teaching by looking at the progress of different groups of pupils in lessons and in their books. As a result, they do not always identify any weaknesses in practice and resolve them quickly.  Middle and subject leaders, some relatively new to their roles such as in the early years, have been

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The leadership and management require improvement

trained appropriately and know what needs to improve in their areas of responsibility. So far they have had insufficient time to evaluate the impact of their work to improve teaching and pupils’ achievement.  The arrival of the effective new senior leaders has seen a transformation in the confidence of staff, pupils and their parents. Without wasting any time, they have created a culture where effective teaching and good behaviour are the norm. They have established a well-targeted programme for improvement which is being implemented systematically.  Teachers’ targets for improvement are suitably challenging. Teachers are aware that their pay increases are based on good performance.  The leadership of special educational needs has become more effective with the precise targeting of support which is helping to raise progress rates for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.  Equality of opportunity is promoted across the academy. Leaders promote good relationships and tackle

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The leadership and management require improvement

discrimination effectively. There have been very few incidents of harassment since the previous inspection. The support provided for disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well thought out, so that, increasingly, their differing needs are met. This has resulted in these pupils achieving as well as others in school.  Pupils’ learning across subjects is varied and interesting, such as the recent visit to the Cornwall showground to learn farming skills and country crafts, and the ‘general election’ held to teach pupils about democracy. These contribute well to the development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills, helping to prepare pupils effectively for life in modern Britain.  Leaders have worked hard to maintain the confidence of parents during a period of great turbulence. Most parents are very supportive of the school and appreciate what the new leadership team is trying to

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The leadership and management require improvement

achieve.  Plans for the use of the additional primary school sport funding show that a greater proportion of pupils have taken part in competitions and after-school sports clubs such as basket-ball, tag rugby and athletics.  Safeguarding arrangements are effective. There are well-managed procedures in place to ensure that statutory requirements are met. Staff training in child protection is up to date.  Timely and effective support from the academy trust has helped to secure effective leadership for the school. This support has been particularly valuable to governors and senior leaders in managing the performance of staff.  The governance of the school:  Governors have strongly supported the developments made by the interim Principal and new leadership team, which have led to improvements in teaching and achievement. They are now more involved in evaluating the work of the school alongside senior leaders.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Until recently, they were not given an accurate view of the quality of teaching or of pupils’ achievement compared to national standards. Governors asked challenging questions about why teaching and achievement were not better. However, they did not check the work of the school systematically for themselves and so their ability to hold leaders to account for the school’s performance was limited.  Governors have a good understanding of how performance management is used to tackle underperformance and improve teaching, and how this links to pay progression.  Governors ensure that school finances are well directed to support developments in teaching and learning. They know about the difference the pupil premium is making to the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. They are aware that the sport funding has been used to introduce more competitions and sports for pupils.  Governors make sure that their policies and guidance for safeguarding are followed rigorously. Also,

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The leadership and management require improvement

that their own training, and that of staff, meets current requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They behave well in lessons and around the school. Typically, they are very well mannered and friendly.  Pupils usually concentrate well and try hard with their tasks. They respond quickly to teachers’ instructions so that generally the learning flows without interruption. These positive attitudes are contributing to the better progress now being made.  Behaviour is not yet outstanding as sometimes a few pupils lose focus when tasks are not set at the correct level for their ability, and their progress slows. Some pupils could take more pride in the presentation of their work.  Teachers manage behaviour consistently well and pupils are clear about the systems to promote good behaviour. The academy’s records show that the number of incidents of poor behaviour has reduced significantly this year. The small number of pupils with poor behaviour is supported well and this has

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Behaviour

eliminated the need for exclusion.  Pupils enjoy taking on additional responsibilities. School councillors delight in their role as decision makers and wear their badges and ‘blazers of office’ with great pride.  Attendance is in line with the national average. Senior leaders have taken effective steps to reduce any unnecessary absences.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel very safe in school because the adults look after them well. All staff and most parents who completed the on-line questionnaire agree.  Pupils are clear about what constitutes bullying and the forms this can take, but are clear that it rarely happens here. Any minor problem is sorted out quickly and effectively by the adults.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe from harm, for example, on the internet. The academy has provided effective training for them in e-safety, road and water safety, so that pupils know how to stay safe both in and out of school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because, over time, there has not been enough consistently good teaching to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve well. Whilst current teaching shows improvement, and teachers have higher expectations of what pupils can achieve, some inconsistencies remain.  On occasions, teachers do not set work with the right level of challenge for all groups of pupils. Sometimes, pupils complete the work too easily, while some others find it too difficult. This slows the pace of learning. For example, in one exercise, pupils in a middle ability group had to wait for each other to estimate the capacity of each container before being allowed to test out their ideas. The learning of the quicker learners was delayed while waiting for others to catch up, which slowed their progress.  Teachers do not always teach the basic skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling comprehensively

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

enough to enable all pupils to become fluent writers. They do not encourage all pupils to take sufficient pride in their work and develop good handwriting skills. The opportunities for pupils to write at length across subjects, to practise and extend their skills, are limited.  In mathematics, there are too few challenging investigation tasks that require all pupils to extend their thinking and make connections in their learning about numbers to other areas, such as geometry. This limits the depth of their understanding of mathematical concepts.  Reading skills are taught effectively and teachers encourage pupils to read widely and frequently. They develop pupils’ comprehension skills systematically through well-focused small-group activities.  Teachers plan activities that increasingly hold pupils’ interest and motivate pupils to try hard in their learning. For example, in one class, pupils were enthusiastically planning the ‘letters’ they would write to

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

their ‘owner’ as if they were coloured crayons, to put across their views. They enjoyed this challenge and were motivated to persevere with their task and achieve well.  Teachers assess pupils’ achievement regularly and their marking is extremely thorough, in line with the school’s policy. Pupils respond enthusiastically to the guidance offered, which is leading to faster progress. Teachers question astutely, check the learning in lessons and re-shape their explanations to address any misconceptions.  In the past year, teachers and teaching assistants have worked together effectively to ensure that disabled pupils and those with special education needs receive the precise help that they need to be successful. Consequently, these pupils are making better progress through small-group activities and through individual support.  The academy provides well-targeted academic support for disadvantaged pupils through extra individual

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

teaching and their progress is currently good. There is a carefully tailored programme of help to ensure that the emotional needs of these pupils are met to enable them to become confident learners.  Teachers are keen to improve their effectiveness and have benefited from working this year with their colleagues from other academies within the trust. This work has helped to develop their practice in areas such as assessment, which is more frequent and accurate as a result.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because, over time, not all groups of pupils have made enough progress to ensure that they attain well. Whilst there is still some unevenness between classes, better progress rates are leading to higher standards of attainment both in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been below average in both key stages. The school’s own information, confirmed by inspection evidence, shows that current attainment is much improved. Standards in each subject are now in line with national averages and, currently, the majority of pupils are good progress.  When writing, pupils do not always demonstrate good basic skills in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Not all pupils take sufficient pride in their work and the quality of their handwriting is variable. They do not extend their skills fully by writing for longer periods across subjects.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement in mathematics shows improvement and pupils demonstrate competency in their calculation work. However, their thinking is sometimes limited by a lack of challenging investigation tasks that encourage all pupils to apply their number skills across other aspects of mathematics, such as geometry and statistics.  In the past, disadvantaged pupils have made similar progress to other pupils nationally, in writing and mathematics, but less in reading. In 2014, their attainment, in Year 6, was a term behind others in school in reading and broadly similar in writing and mathematics. However, they were over a year behind other pupils nationally in each subject. Currently, these pupils are making good progress and there are no gaps between their attainment and that of others in school in any subject.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are making better progress now due to the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

carefully planned help that they receive. Their work is suitably challenging and matched well to their needs, with higher expectations of what they can achieve.  In the past, the most-able pupils did not reach the standards of which they were capable as they were not challenged sufficiently by their work. Too few reached the higher National curriculum levels of attainment in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in each subject. However, the most able are currently being stretched effectively and their progress is good. For example, the most-able pupils in Year 6 were challenged to use their knowledge of percentages to work out the average attendance for their class that week. This activity enabled them to apply their calculation skills effectively and extend their thinking to the full.  In 2014, Year 1 pupils reached the national standards in the Year 1 phonics (the sounds that letters represent) screening check. This reflects the stronger emphasis on the teaching of early reading skills and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

pupils soon become confident readers. Pupils enjoy reading across a wide range of literature and their comprehension skills are being developed systematically in small-group work.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Achievement in the early years requires improvement because, until recently, during their time in the Reception Year, children did not make consistently good progress from their various starting points. The proportions of children reaching the early learning goals have been below average in all areas of learning. As a result, children were not well prepared for Year 1, particularly in writing and mathematics.  The leadership and management of the early years require improvement because, in the past, systems for checking whether all children are making enough progress in each area of learning have not been rigorous enough. Recently, leaders have addressed this issue and the systems are now more effective.  Teaching also requires improvement. Previously, information about children’s learning has not been used precisely enough to identify gaps in their knowledge and skills. Adults have not planned activities to

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The early years provision requires improvement

enable children to catch up and reach the levels typical for their age by the end of the Reception Year.  The newly introduced system for checking children’s progress enables adults to gain a clearer view of children’s achievement. Increasingly, they adjust the activities to improve children’s learning so that, this year, the majority of children are on track to achieve a good level of development in most areas.  Improvements to the way adults teach early reading skills are ensuring children learn to read effectively. There are good links to writing words and simple sentences. However, the way children form their letters is not always accurate and adults do not routinely address these errors.  The activities provided for teaching numbers is much improved and resources are bright and attractive. Occasionally, these lack challenge for some children and do not extend their thinking fully. For example,

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The early years provision requires improvement

one boy was very confident doubling the spots on the ‘ladybird’s back’ up to 10, and could have handled a more difficult task.  Children behave well and enjoy their learning. Positive relationships encourage them to get on well together, to become confident in asking for help, and to join in with the organised activities. Good attention is paid to children’s welfare and the children are kept very safe.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 462507

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 206 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andy Wright Headteacher Roger Green Date of previous school inspection 8–9 May 2013 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 and 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

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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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