Silverton Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Silverton Church of England Primary School Coach Road, Silverton, Exeter, Devon EX5 4JY

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 27–28 November 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being at Silverton Church of England Primary School. Everyone is welcome. Pupils like learning and want to do well. The school enriches pupils’ learning beyond the classroom very well. For example, pupils relish outdoor learning days and field trips to Dartmoor.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and teachers have high expectations of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics and expect them to do well. As a result, across the school, pupils are learning more and remembering more. However, in a few other subjects, pupils do not do quite as well, because the curriculum is not as well planned out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, considerate and feel safe. They are confident that behaviour is good in the school. They like the ‘high five’ rules the school has created and say that adults use these consistently. Pupils say that bullying does happen, but that it is very rare and adults deal with it straight away.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate groups such as the School Council and the JETs (Junior Ethos Team). There is a strong family feel in Reception. Consequently, everyone settles in well. ‘Playground Pals’ make sure that everyone has someone to play with and no-one is left out.

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better?

Pupils say that they love reading. They learn to read from day one. They do well because of the ordered and consistent approach that the school follows. Teachers make sure that the books pupils take home match the sounds that they know. Pupils have lots of opportunities to practise and rehearse their reading. Because of this, they gain the knowledge and skills they need to be fluent readers.

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better?

The school has worked hard to make sure that the curriculum in English and mathematics is ambitious and meets pupils’ needs well. Learning is carefully planned so that pupils have opportunities to practise and deepen their knowledge. Pupils are learning more, and standards have risen across the school. However, learning in some other subjects, such as geography, has not been as well ordered. Consequently, pupils have gaps in their knowledge and understanding. Leaders are addressing this head on, but it is early days.

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better?

Teachers use a range of strategies to help them find out what pupils have learned and need to do next. As a result, pupils are achieving increasingly well over time. However, a minority of the lowest-attaining pupils do not learn enough. These pupils do not gain all the basic knowledge they need to help them move on with their learning consistently well.

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better?

The school makes sure that the learning provided for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is helping them to catch up. Many of these pupils are 27–28 November 2019

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achieving well. However, sometimes the targets set for individual pupils’ needs are not as sharp as they could be.

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Children in the early years get off to a great start. Staff know their children well. They use this knowledge to plan an exciting and stimulating curriculum which ensures children are ready for Year 1. Children are enthusiastic and engaged learners who cooperate well with each other. For example, they enjoy music making and playing in the mud kitchen together. Parents and carers say how much they appreciate this caring setting.

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Pupils behave well in lessons. Pupils apply their understanding of the school’s ‘learning characters’ and the ‘5Bs’ effectively. As a result, when pupils get stuck with their learning they keep going and do not give up.

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The school’s curriculum deepens pupils’ wider experiences of the world well. It is carefully planned to address pupils’ needs. The school provides a wide range of activities it calls its ‘musts before you leave Silverton’. These include trips to the theatre, walking on Dartmoor and experiencing live music. Pupils understand their place in the wider world through their charity work and links with their partner school in Ethiopia.

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Staff say that they are well supported by their leaders. They are enthusiastic about the many opportunities that being part of a wider group of schools gives them. The new governing body has already begun to challenge leaders to ensure ongoing improvements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have good relationships with parents and other partners that they work closely with. They know their children well and are quick to address any concerns. Pupils say that they feel safe in Silverton.

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Safeguarding

The checks that the school carries out for new staff are effective. All staff have received statutory training for safeguarding and apply it well. The executive headteacher regularly checks staff understand key messages well enough to help keep children safe.

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What does the school need to do to improve?

 The curriculum in some subject areas has not been as well planned as in others. As a result, there are some gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Leaders have new plans in place to address this. Leaders need to assure themselves that the learning planned for pupils in the foundation subjects is ambitious and well planned, so that pupils achieve consistently well across every subject.  Teachers do not always identify the missing component parts of the knowledge 27–28 November 2019

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pupils need to move on with their learning. This means some pupils, particularly the lowest attaining, including those with SEND, have gaps in their knowledge which makes it hard for them to catch up. Leaders need to make sure that next steps for these pupils are precise so that learning builds on what pupils already know.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 27–28 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111465 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6–7 June 2017

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Information about this school

 Silverton Church of England Primary School became part of the Exe Valley Federation in September 2019. As a result, there is one governing body across federation schools which is made up of representatives from each school, including two associate governors from Silverton.  The school was part of a management partnership arrangement for the previous academic year.  The school reduced the number of classes it has from five to four in 2019. All classes contain two age groups.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is just above that seen nationally.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the executive headteacher, the head of school, federation leaders, the leaders of SEND and pupil premium, class teachers and six governors. An inspector also held a conversation with a representative from the local authority and the school’s external review partner. 27–28 November 2019

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 We visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils about their experience of the school.  We reviewed the school’s safeguarding records including the single central record. We spoke to staff about how they keep children safe. We also spoke to pupils and asked them how they keep themselves safe and who they would talk to if they were worried.  An inspector took account of the 44 responses to Parent View, 43 free-view texts, nine responses to the staff survey and 26 responses to the pupil survey. We also met with pupils and staff throughout the course of the inspection.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, geography and personal, social, health and economic education. We talked to leaders, teachers and pupils. We visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. Inspectors also spoke to staff and pupils about other areas of the curriculum, including writing and science.

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Inspection team

Helen Springett, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Craig Hayes Ofsted Inspector 27–28 November 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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