Chudleigh Church of England Community Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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David Barnett Headteacher Chudleigh Church of England Community Primary School Lawn Drive Chudleigh Newton Abbot Devon TQ13 0LS

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School

Following my visit to the school on 26 September 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty‟s Chief Inspector of Education, Children‟s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2014.

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School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You lead a dedicated and determined senior team, which has been key to the school‟s continued improvement since the last inspection. You lead in a calm, open and collegiate way, which brings out the best in your team. Senior leaders are ably supported by middle leaders who help to hold staff accountable for pupils‟ achievement. Strong leadership at all levels has ensured that systems to improve the quality of teaching, behaviour and support for pupils are efficient and effective.

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School

Leaders are well supported by governors as a result of the positive and professional relationship that has been forged. This has enabled governors to provide the right balance of support and challenge to leaders. They understand the importance of holding leaders to account. Consequently, governors ensure that they receive the information necessary to understand fully the performance of different groups of pupils. They check the information provided by leaders by consulting other sources, such as reports from external consultants. Governors take full advantage of training to ensure that they ask the right questions of leaders.

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School

Effective leadership has helped to foster greater consistency of teaching practice among staff. Leaders have provided individual staff with targeted training opportunities that are closely aligned to the school‟s priorities. This has enabled different teaching approaches to flourish. Together with close monitoring of underperformance and prompt intervention, these strategies have had a positive impact on pupils‟ achievement.

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School

No less importantly, leaders have continued to nurture a school culture, underpinned by its Christian faith, in which all pupils feel valued as individuals. Staff promote qualities such as kindness, forgiveness and tolerance. As you told me, „Love is our core value.‟ As a result, pupils receive a high level of support for their emotional, behavioural and social needs. This is particularly true for vulnerable pupils for whom close liaison is required with external agencies such as the local authority. Staff „go the extra mile‟ to ensure that these pupils receive the support they deserve.

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School

At the beginning of the inspection, we agreed on the key lines of enquiry to be considered during the day. These included establishing the effectiveness of actions taken to raise achievement for pupils in mathematics and writing at key stage 2. We also considered whether attainment was rising in key stage 1 and whether disadvantaged children in the early years are making more comparable progress to that of their peers. Finally, we considered whether safeguarding is effective. These lines of enquiry are considered below under „Safeguarding‟ and „Inspection findings‟.

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School

Members of the designated safeguarding team are fully aware of their responsibilities. They understand the need for straightforward procedures, efficient record-keeping and close monitoring of vulnerable pupils. All staff receive appropriate training; they know when and how to make referrals if they have concerns about pupils. Detailed referral records, which outline clearly the chronology of events, are now kept securely online. Checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work in the school are fit for purpose. Staff and governors have also had recruitment training to ensure that staff who apply to join the school are suitable to work with children.

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School

Governors conduct their own checks to satisfy themselves that safeguarding is effective. This includes speaking to staff to ensure that they know how and when it is appropriate to make a referral. They also speak to pupils about their perceptions of safety and ensure that day-to-day practice reflects policies.

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School

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and manage risk, particularly with regard to staying safe online. Pupils who spoke with me were able to provide good advice for staying safe online, such as never revealing personal details to strangers. All the pupils I spoke with also reported that they feel safe in school. They said that behaviour is good and there are staff they would happily speak to if they were worried about anything. These pupils reported that there is very little bullying in the school and that it is speedily dealt with when it does occur. The majority of parents who responded to the online survey Parent View support this view.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders evaluate their effectiveness in an honest, objective way. Consequently, they were quick to identify that pupils‟ achievement in mathematics needed to improve by the time they left the school. They took prompt and effective action to ensure that teaching methods and support provided to pupils enabled them to make greater progress. For example, there has been a greater focus on developing pupils‟ reasoning skills. As a result, pupils‟ achievement in the 2017 national tests was higher than in the previous year.  Leaders‟ analysis also correctly highlighted the need to improve pupils‟ writing skills in different year groups. Strategies have been put in place to tackle this issue. For example, some staff have received training to use teaching techniques that enable disadvantaged pupils to become better writers.  Furthermore, all pupils are now being provided with more opportunities to practise their extended writing skills. In this way, they are developing a better

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Inspection findings

understanding of paragraphing, structure and narrative voice. Nevertheless, achievement in writing does not yet match that of reading and this continues to be an ongoing priority for the school.  Teachers across the school plan interesting and sufficiently challenging activities for pupils of different abilities. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are provided with carefully devised resources that help them to engage with tasks and make better progress. They are also supported by highly skilled teaching assistants who help them get ahead with their learning. The most able pupils are encouraged to think more deeply with tasks that challenge them further.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and use it to respond in an agile way to pupils‟ questions and misconceptions. For example, in one observed Year 5 lesson, the teacher paused the learning because a pupil had used the word

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Inspection findings

„exceedingly‟ when speaking to her. She followed this up by asking the class, „What does “exceedingly” mean?‟  Pupils‟ attitudes to learning are good because of the quality of teaching and support they receive. They enjoy their lessons and arrive promptly, well equipped and ready to learn.  In 2017, the number of pupils who finished key stage 1 achieving the expected standard was higher than in the previous year in all subjects. Disadvantaged pupils also achieved better in 2017 so that their achievement was more comparable with their peers. This is because staff have monitored pupil progress more closely; where gaps in knowledge remain, staff tackle those gaps specifically to ensure that pupils catch up quickly.  Children in the early years are making good progress. In 2017, the number of children achieving a good level of development was just above the national average. This has been the case over time. Notably, the attainment of

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Inspection findings

disadvantaged pupils was higher than in the previous year. This is because early years staff have clear plans for improvement in place and they have prioritised the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. It is also because the needs of all children are well known to staff. This means that they receive a rich diet of experiences, tailored to their needs, which support all areas of their development.  The achievement of disadvantaged pupils continues to rise across the school. Work in their books shows that they feel the same commitment to learn from their mistakes and improve their work as their peers. They present their work well and take pride in it. However, leaders acknowledge that disadvantaged pupils are still out-performed by their peers and this continues to be a work in progress.  Attendance overall and for most groups of pupils is in line with the national average. In the small number of cases where this is not the case, staff have a

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Inspection findings

good understanding of the underlying causes. They work closely with these families to improve attendance.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 action continues to be taken to improve the quality of pupils‟ writing throughout the school so that they are proficient in their ability to write for different purposes and audiences  differences between the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and those of their peers continue to diminish.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Exeter, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children‟s services for Devon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I spoke to you and other senior leaders. I also spoke to representatives of the governing body, pupils, the school-based counsellor and an external adviser from Devon County Council.

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Information about the inspection

Senior leaders and I made visits to lessons to observe pupils‟ attitudes to learning. We also scrutinised the work in pupils‟ books.

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Information about the inspection

A range of documentary evidence was considered, which included the school‟s self-evaluation as well as progress and attendance information. Additionally, I scrutinised various safeguarding records, including those relating to the suitability of staff to work with children.

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Information about the inspection

I took account of 56 responses to the Parent View online survey.

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