Eye CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Eye Church of England Primary School Eyebury Road, Eye, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE6 7TD

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Inspection dates: 16 and 17 November 2021

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Outcome

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are at the heart of Eye Church of England School’s ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10) vision.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school and value the opportunities and the quality of education that the curriculum has to offer. Pupils behave well because they are interested in what they are learning. When asked how the school could be better, many responded, ‘Even more lessons’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils immerse themselves in a curriculum that is meaningful and relevant. They learn new vocabulary every day and enjoy putting it into context. The school is a buzz of curiosity and achievement. Pupils are confident in their knowledge in different areas of the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are part of a relaxed atmosphere that is shaped by clear, consistent routines. This helps pupils feel safe in school. Pupils display warm, trusting relationships with each other and staff. Bullying rarely happens and if it does, it is dealt with without delay.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are proud that their children attend the school. The overwhelmingly positive comments included, ‘Staff know my child really well’, and, ‘The school ensures pupils have a love of learning’.

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

Leaders have created a well-planned and ambitious curriculum. Pupils enjoy the structured approach to learning that builds on what they already know. Leaders have planned the curriculum to ensure pupils make connections between subjects, and this also gives pupils the opportunity to make links with their own life experiences. For example, pupils designed a bench for the school based on the knowledge learned from a series of lessons about ‘structures’. 16 and 17 November 2021

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Leaders have recently reviewed their reading and mathematics curriculum. Leaders have provided training to deliver a more systematic approach when teaching pupils to read and learn number facts. This is to ensure that pupils are even better prepared for their next stage of learning. On a few occasions, staff were less confident in delivering these new approaches. For example, not all staff were clear about the correct way to ensure number sentences are recorded.

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Children begin to learn sounds and make words as soon as they start school in early years. This gives them a positive start to becoming readers. The expectations in the early years are high. Words such as ‘indignant’ are displayed and explained to the youngest children. This gives children the chance to use their knowledge of the sounds they know to practise reading a wide range of vocabulary.

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Reading is planned and delivered well throughout the school. Pupils are taught to ‘read like a reader’, and ‘read like a writer’. They then use these strategies confidently when reviewing their own work. By the time pupils leave the school, they have learned from a wealth of reading materials. For example, they read historical fiction to understand the context of the Titanic sinking.

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Leaders make sure all areas of the curriculum are rooted in the Christian values of the school. Pupils love being nominated for the termly ‘Christian Value Awards’. These awards focus on values such as being a role model, showing kindness and supporting others. Pupils talk fondly about external visitors, trips out and after-school clubs. Older pupils showed a maturity when discussing moving on to secondary schools. Pupils are well prepared socially and emotionally due to the wider curriculum successfully broadening their experiences.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) succeed due to the ambitious curriculum, and staff knowing the pupils well. Teachers make sure their needs are identified quickly, and additional support is given when required. Parents were overwhelmingly positive about the help their children receive when they need more support.

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Governors hold leaders to account and are rigorous in checking the agreed priorities. They have placed a focus on retaining the ambitious curriculum throughout the pandemic. Additionally, they have ensured that staff well-being and workload are managed. Staff are positive about the support they have received from leaders and do not see workload as an issue.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong safeguarding culture in school. All staff have regular training to ensure they understand signs and symptoms of abuse. Staff are clear about how and when to share information. Leaders have an effective system for monitoring cases to ensure families get the right support they need. Governors check the school is following all safeguarding procedures regularly. 16 and 17 November 2021

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Pupils understand risks and know how to keep themselves safe through the curriculum and assemblies. For example, they know to speak to a trusted adult on a friend’s behalf if needed.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have introduced a new phonics and mathematics scheme to improve the outcomes for all pupils. There has been comprehensive training for staff on this. However, less confident staff are still unclear about some of the expectations of these systematic approaches. Leaders need to provide further training and support so that all staff are able to deliver the intended curriculum to an equally high standard.

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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 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 first 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 .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 16 and 17 November 2021

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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. 16 and 17 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199944 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 19 November 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative providers.  Eye is a Church of England school. It is part of the Diocese of Peterborough. Its last section 48 inspection took place in June 2016.  The school operates a breakfast and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, assistant headteachers, the school improvement partner from the local authority and members of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and design and technology. For each deep dive, the inspector 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 a sample of pupils’ work. 16 and 17 November 2021

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 The inspector spoke to parents when pupils were being dropped off at school. The inspector spoke to pupils in the breakfast club and after-school club, and on the playground.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector scrutinised the school’s single central record, considered the safeguarding policy and spoke to staff and pupils. The inspector looked at case files and discussed a range of safeguarding records with the designated safeguarding leader.  The inspector considered 64 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, from this academic year, and 28 free-text responses submitted during the inspection. The inspector reviewed 39 responses to the online staff survey and three responses to the online pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Isabel Davis, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector 16 and 17 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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