All Saints Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: All Saints Church of England Primary School All Saints, Axminster, Devon EX13 7LX

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Outcome

All Saints Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like this school. Teachers and pupils get on well together. Pupils know that staff want them to do well and be safe and happy. We saw lots of respectful conversations between teachers and pupils in class and as they moved around the school. The school’s strong Christian values helps pupils know right from wrong.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe in school and on the playground. The teachers and teaching assistants take good care of them. Playtimes are mostly good humoured. Occasionally, games of football spill over into disagreements between pupils. Teachers quickly resolve this when it happens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well most of the time. They usually work hard in lessons and do as they are asked. There is very little poor behaviour, including bullying, recorded by the school. All the pupils we spoke to said that they feel safe in school and do not worry about being bullied. The parents and carers that we spoke with agree that children are happy and safe in this school.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Some subjects are taught well but others are not. Teachers do not make checks on pupils’ learning in the full range of subjects. Leaders have encouraged teachers to focus closely on mathematics. They have paid too little attention to the teaching of reading. Therefore, pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Differences between subjects stem from the quality of the subject plans and the effectiveness of curriculum leaders. Mathematics plans show what pupils should learn each term in detail, supporting teachers planning in a logical order. This helps pupils in key stage 1 to gain the basic mathematical knowledge they need. As they get older, pupils use this knowledge to help them to solve problems and perform complex calculations. 17 September 2019

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Mathematics is led well and taught well. Pupils learn what they should, when they should. They understand the subject well.

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Governors are not aware of the weaknesses of the school, including the reading curriculum. In some subjects, teachers have little guidance about what to teach. Plans do not show the learning sequence or what pupils should know at the end of a topic. This leaves them with missing bits of knowledge. Leaders have introduced plans for art, music and physical education this term to help teachers plan more effectively in these subjects.

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Children in the Reception class learn their phonics quickly. Staff are well trained to use the phonics programme to achieve this. Teachers keep regular checks on children’s progress. They help children who fall behind to catch up quickly. As children start to learn sounds, teachers get them reading straight away. Teachers choose books well. Books are just right for the sounds pupils are learning. Pupils enjoy listening to their teacher read stories every day. This is helping them to build a broad vocabulary.

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This strong start in reading is not sustained when the children leave the Reception Year. Some pupils did not learn their letter sounds well enough when they were younger. They struggle to read accurately or fluently. Teachers do not adapt their plans to ensure that these children catch up quickly. Not enough thought has been taken to support pupils’ reading development. Some pupils in key stage 2 do not read as often as the school would like.

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The leader for special educational needs acknowledges that the provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) requires attention. Teachers do not provide the right support for these pupils. As a result, pupils with SEND and those who need to catch up in their learning do not learn what they should.

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The school’s ethos supports pupils to behave well and make healthy choices. The school aims to help pupils become active, confident, healthy citizens. Pupils enjoy competitive sport and inclusive games to encourage everyone to join in. Pupils learn about British values through the work of the school council and assemblies, where they discuss current news. Pupils contribute to the community by supporting charities, leading community arts projects and by attending Christian worship at the local church.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained to spot potential signs of neglect or abuse. They follow the school’s policy for managing concerns. They know what to do if they think a pupil may be at immediate risk.

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Safeguarding

Leaders act swiftly on concerns that are brought to their attention. On the rare occasions when this has occurred, they work effectively with other agencies to ensure that pupils get the help they need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make appropriate checks to ensure that anyone working in the school is safe to 17 September 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils achieve well in mathematics. They do not in the foundation subjects. The school needs to ensure that the curriculum plans for all subjects show teachers what pupils should know and when they should know it. Leaders should assure themselves that pupils are acquiring the agreed knowledge and are progressing well through the curriculum.  The school’s approach to professional development has not focused enough on developing teachers’ subject knowledge across a range of subjects. This means that the impact of the curriculum in each subject is overly dependent on the individual skills, time and expertise of the executive headteacher and head of school. Leaders need to ensure that teachers receive the support they need to plan and deliver an effective curriculum for all pupils, including those with SEND.  When children start school, they get off to a flying start in early reading. This is not sustained. The reading programme for older pupils is not effective. Pupils who lack

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

fluency are not receiving the help they need with word reading. Some pupils’ learning in the wider curriculum is delayed by slow decoding. Therefore, the school needs to ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, learn to read accurately, fluently and with comprehension.  Governors do not know the school’s priorities. They do not check on leaders’ actions to ensure that that the school curriculum is well constructed. The local governing body needs to raise their aspirations for standards in the school.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually, this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, All Saints Church of England Primary School, to be good on 18 March 2015.

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find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 17 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111570 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.all-saints-ce-primary.devon.sch.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 All Saints Church of England Primary School is a church school academy.  The school opened in October 2016.  The school is a member of the Ark Federation and St Christopher’s Multi Academy Trust.  The school has seven year groups arranged in four classrooms as: Reception with Year 1, Year 1 with Year 2, Year 3 with Year 4, and Year 5 with Year 6.  The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the national average.  The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.

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Information about this inspection

 Meetings were held with the executive headteacher, the head of school, the leader for special educational needs and a group of staff.  The lead inspector held a meeting with the chief executive officer of the academy trust, two members of the local governing body and the trust’s school improvement partner. 17 September 2019

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 Reading, mathematics and art were specifically considered as part of this inspection. Inspectors visited several lessons with the executive headteacher and the head of school. Inspectors met with groups of pupils to talk about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work over time.  The lead inspector listened to a group of pupils read and met with some pupils to talk about their reading books.  The inspectors examined a range of documents, including school leaders’ self- evaluation, improvement planning, the head of school’s school monitoring notes and documents related to pupils’ safety.  The single central record was checked to ensure that recruitment and vetting procedures are thorough.  Inspectors spoke with pupils formally and informally during their breaktimes and in class.  Inspectors considered the responses to the staff survey.  An inspector spoke with parents as they brought their children to school in the

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morning. The lead inspector also considered the responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Susan Costello, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Martin Greenwood Ofsted Inspector 17 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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