Bridgerule Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Bridgerule Church of England Primary School Bridgerule, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 7EN

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Outcome

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bridgerule school’s ambition that pupils are ‘nurtured, flourish and succeed’ is clearly met. Staff’s warm greeting for pupils and families in the morning sets the tone for a school that is determined to be inclusive and welcoming so that all pupils thrive. Pupils say that ‘everyone gets on and everyone are [sic] friends’. Pupils behave well as this is what staff expect. Pupils are adamant there is no bullying. However, if there are any problems, pupils and their parents are confident that staff will sort them out. This is because staff have worked hard to learn about their pupils and families, so they trust staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn well as there is systematic teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. Younger pupils grasp the basics effectively. Older pupils enjoy reading a range of literature. They enjoy challenging themselves with complex mathematical problems. Staff make sure that pupils who find learning challenging have individual support and well- prepared work to ensure that they make progress through the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They commonly use words such as ‘amazing’, ‘wonderful’, ‘brilliant’, ‘excellent’ ‘friendly’, and ‘welcoming’ to describe the school.

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

Pupils learn to read because of systematic approaches that are put in place from Reception onwards. Pupils are confident due to the clear routines and ways of remembering sounds, blends and ‘tricky words’. They read to adults often in school. The books they read help them become fluent readers. These very clear structures support the learning of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff may adapt their approach and provide extra interventions, but they always keep a strong focus on pupils learning to read. This means that these pupils are doing well. Leaders and staff give a high priority to reading throughout the school. They ensure that pupils continue to develop their skills and enjoy reading. Teachers read aloud to pupils regularly. They make 17 May 2022

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sure that pupils learn about a range of different books and authors. Consequently, pupils love to read.

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Pupils enjoy mathematics. Leaders and teachers are aware of what pupils need to know and by when. Teachers use assessment well to identify any gaps in learning. They adapt their planning to support pupils who may need help. They also make sure that pupils are challenged. This means that pupils carefully build up their knowledge so that they can confidently tackle complex mathematics problems.

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Working with the colleagues from the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), leaders and staff have recently strengthened the curriculum. They have identified the key knowledge and concepts they want pupils to learn in different subjects. In history, for example, younger pupils are already developing a sense of chronology by learning about timelines. They can talk about the Stone, Bronze and Iron ages and the work of archaeologists. Now this ‘base’ curriculum is firmly in place leaders are ambitious to tailor it further for Bridgerule school so that it reflects the local context more.

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Children from the age of two years now attend the school, in a foundation stage unit. Staff care for children well. Children become confident and learn to play and work with others. Staff provide many activities across the areas of learning. It is not always clear, however, how the curriculum builds on what children already know or how it challenges them to learn even more. Leaders are aware of this.

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Strong values and a Christian ethos underpin the work of the school. Pupils work well with each other, whatever their strengths or difficulties. They behave well, are respectful and reflective. Pupils are proud of their community. They talk excitedly about the contribution they make to their community through developing a community library or reading every week to people who live alone. Leaders have put a carefully structured personal, social and health education curriculum in place. They have adapted this to meet the needs of Bridgerule pupils. The school is successful in developing confident pupils who are ready for the next stage in education.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel supported by the leaders and the MAT. Leaders are very aware of the strengths of the school and what needs to be done to improve further.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders’ determination to do the very best for all pupils and keep them safe and healthy underpins the school’s approach to safeguarding. Staff are dedicated to help pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

Leaders provide regular safeguarding training for all staff. There are clear procedures in place for reporting concerns. Recruitment procedures are thorough. 17 May 2022

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Pupils say they feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe, for example when using the internet.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some aspects of the new curriculum do not yet fully reflect the local context of the school sufficiently. The interests, prior knowledge and typical gaps of pupils are not all addressed systematically. Leaders should continue their work to customise the Bridgerule curriculum so that leaders, teachers and pupils understand how the curriculum captures this local context.  The development of the curriculum for children across the early years is being developed along with the recent formation of a foundation stage unit. Currently, the curriculum does not always build towards ensuring that children have the knowledge and skills for their future learning. Leaders should continue their work to ensure that the curriculum of the foundation stage unit more systematically prepares children for learning in school.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged Bridgerule Church of England Primary School to be good in January 2013.

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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 . 17 May 2022

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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. 17 May 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Bridgerule is a Church of England School. The last section 48 inspection took place in June 2017.  The school joined the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust in January 2018.  The current headteacher took up post in summer 2021.  The school now includes a foundation stage unit for children over the age of two.

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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 school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the principal and three executive principals, staff, the chief executive and the chair of trustees of the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their 17 May 2022

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learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work and listened to pupils read to a familiar adult. Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  Inspectors looked at the policies and procedures used to keep pupils safe. They reviewed the checks carried out by leaders on the suitability of adults who work in the school.  Inspectors spoke with parents at the start and the end of the school day. They considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses and responses to the survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Stephen McShane, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Sally Hannaford Ofsted Inspector 17 May 2022

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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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