Veryan CofE School

Inspection of a good school: Veryan Church of England School Veryan, Truro, Cornwall TR2 5QA

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Outcome

Veryan Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils receive a good education through a curriculum that is broad and motivating. In the ‘Wild Tribe’ project, pupils work alongside the community to plant trees and learn about the environment. Older pupils learn to sail and how to stay safe at sea.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school. Younger and older pupils learn well beside each other in mixed-age classes. Pupils say this is a friendly school and that is why there is no bullying. Staff expect pupils to behave well, and they do. Children in the early years are confident. They are well cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are very happy with the school. They describe it as a place where their children thrive. Parents are welcome in the school, and many parents volunteer to help pupils practise their reading.

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

Leaders have carefully planned the sequence of what pupils should learn in every subject for every year group. Teachers plan interesting topics for their class. They are thorough and conscientious in their planning. This ensures that pupils learn what they should.

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

The school has particular strengths in the curriculum, for example physical education (PE). The curriculum for PE is broad and includes activities such as orienteering. Pupils show competence in gymnastics beyond that usually found for their age. Teachers have the expertise to teach specific balances and movements, such as ‘pike’ and ‘straddle’. Teachers effectively modify the teaching for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and others who find the movements difficult. Children in the early years learn the best ways to run and balance. This is leading to their good physical development.

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

The teaching of early reading is effective. Children in the early years are developing their knowledge well. They and pupils in key stage 1 practise regularly by reading books which 11 November 2021

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use the sounds that they know. Leaders are aware that because of the pandemic some pupils are not where they should be with their learning. They have rightly prioritised reading. Some pupils in key stage 1, including pupils with SEND, have fallen behind. Nevertheless, they are catching up quickly. In key stage 2, pupils are learning how to analyse the high-quality books teachers read with them. Pupils enjoy books and read eagerly.

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Teachers know what pupils need to learn next in reading. There are a team of staff and volunteers who give pupils in key stage 1 and children in the early years additional support. However, sometimes teachers do not use what they know about what pupils understand well enough. This leads to some pupils not always having the most appropriate books to help them to read fluently.

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Pupils are learning what they should in mathematics. Teachers challenge pupils to apply their knowledge to solving problems. Pupils are diligent and enjoy their lessons. However, their work is not always well presented. Untidy work sometimes leads to inaccuracy in pupils’ calculations.

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In some subjects, the plans for key stage 1 are not specific enough. The plans do not always support teachers to teach pupils all that they need to know in order to move on to the key stage 2 curriculum.

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The school’s Christian values guide pupils in their spiritual and moral development well. Being at the heart of the community supports pupils’ social development. During the inspection, pupils led a Remembrance Day service for the community. All, including children in the early years, sang and observed the silence respectfully. The school promotes fundamental British values well alongside its school values.

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The staff are a cohesive team. They say leaders are considerate of their well-being. Leaders are using new approaches to share workload. Staff feel that this is having a positive impact.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have ensured that all staff have the appropriate training to recognise potential risks to pupils. Staff are vigilant and report any concerns to leaders promptly. Leaders are knowledgeable about the support that is available to families and involve other agencies if necessary. Pastoral staff offer valuable early help where necessary.

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Safeguarding

Governors take their responsibilities seriously. They support leaders through their oversight of the school’s safeguarding systems. The checks made to ensure that adults are safe to work with pupils are rigorous and records are well kept. 11 November 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A few curriculum plans do not include the precise knowledge pupils need to learn in key stage 1. This leads to pupils missing out some elements of learning. Leaders should ensure that plans are specific about what pupils should learn so that they gain all the essential knowledge they need.  In reading, teachers do not always use what they know about what pupils can do well enough. Consequently, some reading activities lack precision. Leaders should ensure assessment information is used precisely to helps pupils catch up and succeed in reading.  School leaders’ expectations about the care pupils take in their work are not consistently met. Some pupils do not take sufficient care when recording their work in, for example, mathematics. This reduces their ability to record calculations appropriately and leads to mistakes in their work. Teachers should be clear about expectations of how work is set out.

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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/outstanding. 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 evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2016.

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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 . 11 November 2021

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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. 11 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199914 Type of school Primary

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School details

Executive Head of School Caroline Jarrett

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 July 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the school has become part of Celtic Cross Education multi-academy trust.  There is provision for three-year-olds in the early years class.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and subject leaders. They discussed the school’s curriculum plans.  The lead inspector held a remote meeting with members of the local governing body (school monitoring council). She also held a telephone conversation with the chief executive officer of the trust. 11 November 2021

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 The inspectors met with a group of teachers. The lead inspector also met with a group of teaching assistants to discuss their roles.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and PE. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited lessons, talked to pupils, talked to teachers and looked at pupils’ work. An inspector read with some of the younger pupils.  Inspectors looked at the school’s policies and practices to keep pupils safe. They discussed safeguarding with staff. The lead inspector reviewed the checks carried out on the suitability of adults who work with pupils.  Inspectors considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. They also took account of the views of staff through the survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Wendy Marriott, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Richard Vaughan Ofsted Inspector 11 November 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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