Penryn Primary Academy

Inspection of Penryn Primary Academy Treverbyn Rise, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 8RA

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Inspection dates: 29 and 30 September 2021

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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 Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 29 and 30 September 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Penryn Primary Academy is a caring, ambitious, and inclusive school. Staff value pupils and have high aspirations for them, particularly pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). One pupil, whose opinion reflects the view of many, told inspectors: ‘staff help us make better versions of ourselves.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders invest in the staff. They provide high-quality training and coaching. Pupils are the beneficiaries of this work. Teachers bring the school’s curriculum to life, helping pupils to know and remember more.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders take the time to get to know the pupils and their families well. They use what they learn to provide the right support. Pupils are safe and well cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They enjoy coming to school and learning. In the rare event that low-level disruption occurs, staff deal with it quickly. Pupils enjoy their lessons and demonstrate positive attitudes. They are courteous and polite, respecting each other’s views, even if different from their own. They are adamant that bullying does not occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love the range of extra-curricular activities on offer, including swimming, forest school, art, and sports clubs. They strongly believe that after-school clubs are an essential part of school life.

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better?

School and trust leaders have improved the school in many respects. They know what the school does well and what they still need to work on. Every member of staff has played their part in improving the school. An impressive team of senior and middle leaders have brought about improvement, while at the same time looking after the workload and well-being of their staff.

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better?

Leaders have prioritised early reading and mathematics. They recognise that without this, pupils would find it hard to access the rest of the school’s curriculum. They have embedded a consistent approach to teaching reading and mathematics across the school, starting in the early years. In mathematics, support staff play a vital role in checking how well pupils are getting on in lessons. Teachers use this information to adapt the curriculum to meet pupils’ needs.

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better?

Staff follow the phonics programme consistently. Phonics is an enjoyable and ever- present feature of the school day, from the first day of the Reception Year. Staff provide reading books that contain sounds that pupils know. This means that pupils feel successful when they practise their reading. Staff keep a close eye on pupils’ learning, providing extra support for those that need it. This helps everyone to keep up. As a result, pupils read with increasing accuracy and fluency. 29 and 30 September 2021

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Curriculum plans in other subjects are ambitious with clear curriculum goals. However, it is not always clear exactly how pupils will achieve these goals. Pupils remember much of what they have learned, but there are gaps in their knowledge. Leaders acknowledge the need to make curriculum expectations clearer in some subjects, so staff know precisely what to teach and when.

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This is a truly inclusive school. Staff skilfully adapt the curriculum to meet the wide- ranging needs of pupils. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with staff and parents to set ambitious targets for pupils. Staff know these targets well and review them regularly to ensure they remain relevant and challenging. Pupils become increasingly independent. Pupils with SEND, including pupils in the specially resourced provision, build on what they know, making strong progress through the curriculum.

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Children in the early years get off to a flying start, including in the new provision for two-year-olds. Staff prioritise communication and language, and physical development. The children can communicate and follow instructions well. For example, when forming plasticine into different shapes, children have the confidence to ask adults for the moulds they would like to use. Children in the Reception Year settle quickly. They know the routines and expectations and follow them well.

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Pupils’ behaviour is a strength of the school, and it continues to improve. Leaders track pupils’ attendance closely. They provide support and intervention for pupils whose attendance falls below the school’s expectations. Despite these improvements, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND continue to attend school less well than their peers.

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Pupils are responsible and tolerant. They are keen to better understand people with different beliefs to their own. Those who sit on the school council seek to make the school a better place. Pupils learn how to take responsibility for themselves, for example by leading healthy lifestyles.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure staff have the necessary pre-employment checks before they begin working at the school.

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Safeguarding

Staff have the training they need to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities well. They know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare. They record these concerns diligently. Staff are made aware of the action leaders have taken in response.

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Safeguarding

Leaders keep detailed records of concerns, reviewing them regularly. They take timely and appropriate action to keep pupils safe. Leaders support families when they need it most, signposting parents to services which may help them. 29 and 30 September 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not set out the detail of the knowledge pupils need to learn in order to achieve their ambitious curriculum aims. This means that sometimes, pupils do not gain key knowledge that they need to build on. Leaders should make clear the knowledge that pupils need, to achieve the long-term curriculum goals in each subject.  Pupils’ attendance has improved in recent years. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND attend less well than their peers. Leaders need to continue their work with pupils and their families to further improve attendance for these groups of pupils.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 29 and 30 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200948 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 and 16 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has provision for two-year-olds.  There is a specially resourced provision for pupils with an education, health and care plan. The provision supports pupils with communication and interaction needs, and sensory and/or physical needs.  The school uses one registered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  This was the first routine inspection the school 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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography, and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of 29 and 30 September 2021

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pupils’ work. Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects.  The lead inspector met with leaders to discuss how they keep pupils safe in school. He considered staff training, records of concerns, work with external agencies and the school’s recruitment process. Inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  The lead inspector considered responses to the pupil survey and staff survey. The lead inspector also considered 52 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free- text responses.

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Inspection team

Nathan Kemp, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Donna Briggs Her Majesty’s Inspector 29 and 30 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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