St Kew Community Primary School

St Kew Community Primary School St Kew, Bodmin, Cornwall PL30 3ER

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 Leaders have improved teaching and it is now good. They have raised expectations and planned good professional development for teachers.  Teachers plan teaching well for the different ages and abilities of the pupils in their class. As a result, pupils make good progress.  Children in the Reception class are independent, confident learners and well prepared for their next stage of education.  Pupils in Year 1 know the sounds that letters represent and use their knowledge well when reading and writing.  Disadvantaged pupils make good progress. Leaders use additional funding to promote their achievement and confidence. Pupils who have special educational needs and/ or disabilities also make good progress.  The curriculum deepens pupils’ knowledge of the world and regularly includes opportunities for them to apply their skills in real situations. Science skills are taught well. Pupils record their experiments and observations accurately.

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This is a good school

 The school is a safe and friendly place for pupils to learn; pupils and parents value the family atmosphere.  Governors have made a strong contribution to school improvement. They work closely with all school leaders and regularly check the impact of the school’s actions.  Leaders are rigorous in the safeguarding checks that they carry out when recruiting staff.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Children in the early years do not develop their understanding of number sufficiently. They do not have enough opportunities to practise their number skills in their exploration and play.  Pupils do not develop efficient methods of calculation because the teaching of arithmetic is not systematically planned and teachers do not insist that calculations are set out clearly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve the quality of teaching of mathematics by: ensuring that there is a systematic sequence of teaching arithmetic and by ensuring that pupils set out their work clearly so that they can easily spot errors and correct them themselves leaders focusing on the progress pupils are making in arithmetic when they carry out their regular checks on mathematics work books.  Provide children in the Reception class with more opportunities to develop and deepen their understanding of numbers beyond 10 through practising their skills in exploration and play.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Since the previous inspection, the headteacher has raised teachers’ expectations and brought improved consistency to teaching across the school. He has challenged underperformance but at the same time provided good development opportunities for staff in all roles. This has resulted in an enthusiastic and motivated team of teachers who readily support the values and ambition of the headteacher and governors.  Middle leaders have had good professional development. They are now confident to challenge and support their colleagues. Their impact can be seen in the improvements made to the teaching of writing, for example.  Leaders make regular checks on the quality of teaching by visiting classrooms. They also look at pupils’ work books to ensure that school systems, such as the policy on marking and feedback, are followed consistently. They use achievement meetings between teachers and leaders to discuss pupils’ progress.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

However, they have not quickly identified the need to develop teachers’ planning for the teaching of arithmetic.  The school has benefited from opportunities to work with other schools in the federation and the local trust. Good professional relationships with other schools have helped to secure the accuracy of assessment as well as providing additional leadership capacity. For example, the leadership role for special educational needs is shared within the federation. These partnerships also extend opportunities for pupils to have access to a wider curriculum, for instance in sport.  The curriculum is well planned and subjects are closely integrated into exciting activities and events that stimulate pupils’ interests and foster a respect for the environment. All pupils have some lessons outdoors every week where they can apply skills learned in mathematics, English, science and geography. For example, pupils in a class studying habitats used their lessons to measure the amount of water needed to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

fill the pond, design a Japanese garden, build ‘bug hotels’ and carry out bird surveys; older pupils carried out a land-use survey on local fields in their geography lessons.  The school is outward looking and this promotes well pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Positive attitudes to British values are fostered through the ‘6Rs’ personal development programme and the regular shared activities with an urban London school. Residential visits to London develop pupils’ independence and teach some of the skills needed to live in an urban environment. Equally, the pupils’ wider cultural awareness is developed through close links with a school in Africa.  Parents have great confidence in the school and feel rightly that their children learn in a secure setting. Parents value the opportunities they are given to share in celebrations of success and become involved in the life of the school. They say that the school has a real family atmosphere.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The use of additional funding is one strategy that the school uses to ensure equality of opportunity. The funding for disadvantaged pupils is used to give equal access to opportunities in school and beyond. It is well targeted to close gaps in achievement for individual pupils.  Sports funding is used to increase participation for individual pupils and to create a culture of sport and exercise for life. Over the year, all pupils have been able to try new sports. Older pupils have had sailing lessons and there are catch-up swimming lessons funded for those not meeting the expected key stage 2 swimming standard.  The local authority has monitored the school’s progress regularly since the previous inspection. The advice given has been pertinent and supportive to the school’s improvement.  The governance of the school Governors have made a significant contribution to the improvements in the school since the previous

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

inspection. They are closely involved with development planning and check that planned actions are improving the school. They closely interrogate the reports they receive and meet with individual leaders to follow up with queries. This high level of involvement means that they have a clear and accurate picture of what the school does well and where it still needs to improve. Following the previous inspection, governors invested in high-quality professional development for teachers and leaders. They have monitored the impact of this and can identify aspects of the school’s effectiveness, which has improved as a result of this strategic action. They work closely within and across the federation and the trust to make maximum use of local expertise. Governors have a broad set of skills and undertake regular training and reflection on their own effectiveness as governors.  The arrangements for safeguarding are very effective. Leaders are rigorous and efficient in the checks

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

they make before employing members of staff or agreeing to pupils working with volunteers. Staff are well trained and aware of their responsibilities so that, for example, vulnerable pupils are closely monitored. Senior leaders are knowledgeable about possible risks to children and policies and processes are strong. The training of all staff is comprehensive and recent training in the ‘Prevent’ duty has made staff aware of the risks of radicalisation.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching is good. Teachers use assessment well to plan work that meets the different needs of pupils in their class. They make regular checks on pupils’ understanding in whole-class sessions and when they are working independently.  Teachers work with colleagues in other schools to secure their judgements on standards attained. Increasingly, teachers can refine their assessments to identify gaps in the knowledge of individual pupils and this is making teaching more precisely matched to pupils’ next steps in learning.  Teaching assistants make a strong contribution to learning across the range of age groups in the class. They work in partnership with the teacher, questioning pupils, prompting them and guiding them in their work.  The teaching of writing is now good. This is because teachers set out clearly what a good-quality piece of writing will include in terms of content, grammar and punctuation. Pupils set themselves writing targets

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

lesson by lesson based on these criteria and use their ‘purple pens’ to check and correct their own work.  Writing is also taught well across the curriculum and pupils are given opportunities to edit their writing and produce finished copies. For example, in a lesson on writing pamphlets, Year 2 pupils wrote about their knowledge of life in the Stone Age. They took particular care with their handwriting as they knew they were to put their pamphlets on display for the school.  Reading is well taught, particularly the accurate and regular teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters represent). Pupils get off to an early start with reading and become keen readers as they move through the school.  Some aspects of mathematics are taught well. The new programme where pupils regularly practise rapid recall of multiplication and number facts is motivating pupils to improve. Teachers plan challenging mathematical investigations, bringing together learning from across the curriculum.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The teaching of arithmetic is not as securely developed. While there is now a policy setting out when methods should be taught, the systematic planning to do so is not yet in place. Consequently, the teaching of arithmetical skills is not yet secure. Equally, teachers do not insist on high standards in setting out arithmetic and this makes it difficult for them and their pupils to spot common errors.  The teaching of science is good and pupils and teachers plan hands-on investigations linked particularly well to the local school environment. Pupils are taught to record their findings, including in increasingly complex charts and graphs.  Pupils are ready to challenge themselves and persist at their tasks. The school’s ‘6Rs’ personal development model celebrates this resilience. The school’s marking policy is used consistently to guide pupils to improve, and reflection time at the end of lessons allows pupils to check their success against

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils are proud of the school. They respond well to the wider opportunities they are offered to develop interests and new skills. Pupils learn healthy habits and skills for life, for example by growing food and in some cases selling it to raise funds for school. All pupils treat the many gardens around the school grounds with great respect.  Pupils feel safe in school and understand how following the rules and routines helps to keep them safe. They say that all pupils look after each other. Any ‘falling out’ of friends is quickly put right and they and their parents value how quickly teachers respond to any concerns.  Pupils are taught about staying safe online and they use the posters around the school to remind themselves of the possible dangers that could come from sharing passwords, for instance.  Celebrations of pupils’ achievement are built around the ‘6Rs’, the school’s framework for personal

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Personal development and welfare

development; respect, resilience and good relationships featured in assembly at the time of the inspection.  Pupils are proud of the Cornish heritage and language that are celebrated in school. However, they also value the opportunities the school gives them to learn about people’s lives in other parts of the United Kingdom and the wider world.  Pupils relish responsibility and, for instance, were keen to apply to be a member of the ‘Seed Team’, growing seeds from space; in the spirit of the school, all pupils have been given a chance to take part in this exciting project.  There are improvements in the care pupils are taking with their handwriting, but on occasion they do not check their work carefully enough to find obvious spelling errors. Equally, because their calculations for arithmetic are often not well set out, they are not able to spot where they have gone wrong and put things right.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils and parents agree that everyone behaves well.  In class, pupils discuss their work keenly, work together and share equipment sensibly. They concentrate for long periods and there are no interruptions to learning because of poor behaviour.  In the playground, pupils set up their own team games and play harmoniously across the age ranges. The school is orderly and pupils are courteous to staff and visitors.  The school has good systems for supporting pupils who may have emotional difficulties, and can demonstrate the success of these systems in improving behaviour for individuals.  Pupils are enthusiastic about school and almost all attend every day that they can. Broadly, current attendance is in line with national levels for 2015.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils are now making good progress, as shown by a range of evidence from pupils’ work books and the school’s accurate assessment records.  The number of disadvantaged pupils is very low and there were no disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 in 2015. Internal tracking and recent assessments, however, show that disadvantaged pupils currently in the school are making progress at least at the same rate as other pupils.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making very rapid progress from their starting points. This is because their plans and assessments are regularly checked by leaders and they are well supported in the classroom by teaching assistants in particular.  Pupils read well and in 2015, almost all Year 6 pupils reached the higher level in the national tests for 11- year-olds. Almost all the pupils in Year 1 have reached the expected level in the phonics check this year

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Outcomes for pupils are good

and in 2015 the proportion that did so was higher than national levels.  Pupils write frequently and for a range of real purposes. Their current writing shows skills in line with the expectations for the new writing curriculum at key stages 1 and 2. In 2015, a good proportion of pupils made more than the expected progress in writing from their starting points.  Standards in science are strong across the school. Pupils carefully carry out practical investigations and present their conclusions clearly in their writing or in the form of graphs and charts.  Assessment information and pupils’ work books show that the most able pupils make very strong progress across the school and within lessons. The work they are given is challenging and often individually planned. This is particularly true in mathematics, where pupils are given opportunities to enter national challenges. For example, a few older pupils recently investigated the quantity of packaging used for a

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Outcomes for pupils are good

popular breakfast cereal and then wrote to the manufacturer suggesting improvements.  In 2015, almost half of the pupils made more than the expected progress in mathematics across key stage 2. Currently, pupils are making very strong progress in aspects of mathematics, including shape, space and measure, but progress is slower in arithmetic because this is not taught systematically.

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Early years provision is good

 The children in the Reception class are confident and independent. When exploring their outdoor learning area on a ‘bug hunt’, for example, they were able to select their challenge, explore the area safely and record their answers in a tally chart.  When children start in the Reception class, a high proportion of them have knowledge and skills below those that are typical for their age. As a result of good teaching, they make rapid progress, particularly in speaking and listening. They listen to each other when they are playing and the teacher is skilled at giving children time to think before answering questions so that they can develop their ideas.  Children make particularly strong progress in reading and this is because the teaching of phonics is very effective. As a result, for example, children could use the written instructions they were given for their ‘bug hunt’ challenge by sounding out unfamiliar vocabulary such as ‘millipede’.

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Early years provision is good

 Although they are taught in a mixed-age class, Reception children can make free choices about learning indoors and outdoors, supported by their teacher who is also the early years leader. As a result, the children bring different aspects of the curriculum together in their play. For example, they make dens, write, draw, measure water and explore the ‘Safari trail’. The skilful questioning and the high expectations of the teaching assistant make a significant contribution to children’s learning.  Although the children have a good knowledge of shape and measure and use this in their play, they do not develop an understanding of numbers beyond 10 as confidently as they should. This is because there are fewer activities that help them to explore and consolidate their understanding of number through play.  The teacher has established good routines and all staff are vigilant about children’s welfare and safety.

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Early years provision is good

The children have good social skills and keep themselves safe by following routines. For example, they know how to put their name up on the window to show when they are outside and to always stay in the parts of the outdoor area where they can be seen.  Parents are very positive about the start their children are given to their education in the Reception class. They value the knowledge the teacher has of individual children’s needs and the time that staff will give to supporting learning between home and school.  Almost all of the children reach the expected good level of development at the end of the year and are well prepared to move to the next stage of their education.

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School details

Unique reference number 111919 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 10017400

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School details

This inspection 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 74 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Boarland Headteacher Mark Clutsom Telephone number 01208 841306 Website www.st-kew.cornwall.sch.uk Email address secretary@st-kew.cornwall.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 10–11 September 2014

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Information about this school

 St Kew Community Primary School is much smaller than most primary schools.  It has three mixed-age classes and children in the Reception class learn in a mixed-age class with pupils from Year 1. Sometimes there are very low numbers of pupils in a year group.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children looked after by the local authority) is below average.  The school is in a federation with Upton Cross Primary School, with which it shares an executive headteacher. It has informal links with Caradon Cooperative Educational Trust, through which it has access to training for staff.  The school has a breakfast club that is managed by the governing body.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.  The school meets the requirements on the publication of information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed six lessons jointly with the headteacher and made other visits to classrooms to see pupils’ work.  The inspector looked at samples of pupils’ work in writing, mathematics and science. She also looked at how teachers assessed this work and their planning for lessons.  Discussions were held with members of the governing body, and the inspector took account of the monitoring of the school that governors had undertaken. A discussion took place on the telephone with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the views of parents through talking to parents she met at the school and through the 30 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  There were 20 responses to the online questionnaire for pupils and the inspector also took account of their views of the school through discussion with a small group.  The inspector took account of 10 responses to the staff online questionnaire.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector looked at various documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, the development plans and records of safeguarding procedures.

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Inspection team

Wendy Marriott, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted.

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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