Trewidland Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Trewidland Primary School Trewidland, Liskeard, Cornwall PL14 4SJ

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Outcome

Trewidland Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils rightly say that their school feels like one big happy family. Parents and carers feel the same. Staff and pupils are friendly. Everyone looks out for each other. Pupils do not believe that there are any bullies. They recognise that staff look after them. On the very rare occasions when friends fall out, pupils say that staff sort it out quickly. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respond very well to the high expectations of staff. This means that they behave well in lessons and around the school. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are included in all parts of school life. Teachers make lessons interesting and learning fun. For example, pupils speak enthusiastically about the chances they get to learn outside and how much they love reading. Pupils learn well in most subjects. However, pupils’ learning in a minority of subjects is a little disjointed. Leaders are taking action to improve this rapidly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the impact of the school on their children. They unanimously believe that their children make strong progress. Parents recognise that their children are valued members of this warm, welcoming community.

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

Leaders, including those from the trust, have secured a unique, safe and treasured education for pupils. Teachers know the individual characters and needs of every pupil particularly well. This means that learning is planned carefully to capture pupils’ interests and imagination, including for pupils with SEND. Teachers amend lessons effectively if pupils are finding new learning tricky. Staff feel valued and trusted. Their well-being is promoted effectively. This enables them to deliver creative lessons. Consequently, the implementation of the school’s curriculum meets leaders’ intent to ‘recognise the unique talents and abilities of our pupils and to inspire excellence.’ 15 September 2021

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The early years setting is engaging for children. Staff are skilled and promote learning very well. Children from the pre-school learn alongside Reception children. This helps younger children to become familiar with routines and make a flying start. Staff make very good use of the indoor and outdoor learning spaces. Children benefit from a useful balance of adult-led learning and opportunities to learn through their play.

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The teaching of reading is very effective. Staff prioritise reading. Children enjoy the chance to learn rhymes and stories from when they start in the pre-school. As soon as children enter Reception, they begin to learn phonics. There is a robust programme in place that ensures that children make rapid progress to learn their sounds and begin to read. Pupils take home carefully chosen books that allow them to practise the sounds they have learned in class.

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Pupils love reading. They speak confidently about stories they have read and learned to enjoy. Pupils appreciate how teachers have supported them to develop a love of reading. For example, pupils talk enthusiastically about the chance to celebrate the books of famous authors, such as Roald Dahl.

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The school’s mathematics curriculum is also effective. Teachers are skilled and knowledgeable in this subject. They ensure that lessons build on what pupils already know and can do. The mathematics subject leader shares her passion and knowledge enthusiastically. Consequently, the mathematics curriculum is very well sequenced and covers everything pupils should learn.

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Staff are proud of the opportunities they give pupils in the wider curriculum. For example, teachers plan lessons outside to promote pupils’ spiritual and social development. With the support of the trust, leaders have been looking at improving how learning is sequenced and assessed in subjects beyond English and mathematics. Pupils recognise that more is expected of them in other subjects. For example, they like learning key knowledge in art and then apply what they have learned in creative lessons. Leaders have rightly recognised that this work is not finished. Pupils remember key knowledge in some subjects with more confidence than in others. This is because teachers are using the new systems for assessing pupils introduced by the trust better in some subjects than in others.

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Opportunities in the curriculum to promote pupils’ personal development are plentiful. Staff make very good use of a range of opportunities to do this very effectively. For example, assemblies and trips are used to promote an understanding of life in modern Britain. Outdoor learning helps pupils to appreciate their locality and their contribution to it.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The family ethos of the school means that staff build strong relationships with all pupils. They know pupils’ unique personalities very well. Pupils say that they feel safe. They know whom to talk to if they have any concerns or worries. Relationships education is 15 September 2021

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built into the overall curriculum of the school. Consequently, pupils receive useful lessons about how to keep themselves safe, including in preparation for moving to secondary school.

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All staff access training that is appropriate for their roles. Staff are clear about what to do if they are concerned about a child. They receive regular and appropriate online training that is supplemented by regular ‘quizzes’ led by the headteacher.

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Safer recruitment processes meet statutory expectations. Leaders ensure that appropriate checks are made on new staff. Checks are recorded diligently on a single central record. The safeguarding policy and process are monitored effectively by local governors and the trust.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have established a well-balanced curriculum. With the support of the trust, they have rightly focused on improving the design of the curriculum in subjects other than English and mathematics. Leaders’ work has led to pupils learning more effectively in some subjects than in others. Therefore, leaders need to embed the recently developed curriculum so that pupils know more and remember more across all subjects of the national curriculum.  The trust has introduced new ways to assess pupils’ learning. The new approach to assessment is helping teachers identify what pupils are remembering. However, as with curriculum planning, this is not consistent across subjects. Therefore, leaders need to secure the use of assessment across subjects so that they can evaluate how well pupils are learning the curriculum.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that a good 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Trewidland Primary, to be good in January 2013. 15 September 2021

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 are the school and you are 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. 15 September 2021

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School details

Website www.trewidlandprimaryandpreschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Trewidland Primary School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. There are currently three classes: one for pre-school, Reception and Year 1; one for Years 2 and 3; and one for Years 4, 5 and 6.  Since January 2021, a new teacher has joined the school to teach the older pupils. The school shares a special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) with another school in the trust. A new primary adviser works for the trust, who has oversight of the work of the school.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with senior and subject leaders, including the headteacher, who is also the designated safeguarding lead. Inspectors reviewed processes for safer recruitment and looked at records relating to incidents, including behaviour. Inspectors met with 15 September 2021

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the SENCo, who also works at Dobwalls Primary School, which is in the same trust. They also met with two representatives of the local governing committee, including the chair. Inspectors discussed leaders’ evaluations, priorities for improvement and the curriculum.  Inspectors did deep dives into three subjects: English, mathematics and art. They met with senior and subject leaders, teachers and pupils. They also visited lessons and scrutinised pupils’ work and talked to pupils. Inspectors reviewed some subject planning and spoke to leaders about other subjects.  Inspectors analysed 20 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey.  Inspectors analysed school documentation, including leaders’ evaluations and plans for improvement, and paperwork relating to the work of the local governing committee. They scrutinised a range of policies and procedures, including those that relate to the curriculum and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Matthew Barnes, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Lees Ofsted Inspector 15 September 2021

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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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