Coughton CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Coughton CofE Primary School Coughton Lane, Coughton, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5HN

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Outcome

Coughton CofE 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 this caring, ambitious school. Relationships are strong and staff know every pupil well. Pupils know and understand the school motto of ‘Being our best selves’ and live up to it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school. They are happy and feel safe. They trust the adults at school to help them if they have any worries. They get on well with each other and are polite, kind and considerate.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Parents, carers, staff and pupils agree that the behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils understand what bullying is and say that it is very rare. When bullying does happen, staff deal with it quickly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In class, pupils work hard and enjoy the lessons. They are very good at talking about their learning and how to improve it. This includes them ‘building their learning powers’, such as resilience and perseverance.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get lots of opportunities at this school which go way beyond their lessons. The school works hard so that all pupils experience the ‘50 things to do before you leave Coughton’.

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

Leaders and governors have a clear vision for the school. Parents appreciate the hard work and dedication of staff. They say that the staff go ‘above and beyond’ to help the pupils.

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

Leaders and teachers have created an ambitious and broad curriculum. They choose content which is useful to pupils and teach it in a sensible and logical order. However, in some subjects, such as geography, leaders have not thought carefully enough about the knowledge they want pupils to know and remember. This can make it hard for leaders to 28 and 29 June 2022

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Teachers introduce subject-specific vocabulary to pupils at the start of most lessons across the curriculum. This is successful, and pupils mostly use the words they learn very confidently. However, sometimes the words that teachers choose to focus on are not those which are most important. In some mathematics lessons, for example, the vocabulary that teachers focus on is either too simple or is not explained well enough for pupils to understand it.

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Pupils gain a good knowledge across the curriculum and achieve well. In lessons, they are very enthusiastic because teachers make learning relevant and engaging. Classrooms are positive learning environments and relationships are a real strength.

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Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are given the extra help they need to thrive. Staff support children with SEND well at this school. This ensures that they get full access to the curriculum and are included in all aspects of school life.

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Reading has a high profile. Staff are well trained to teach children to read. Pupils read widely and often and have a love of books. In the early years, pupils get off to a flying start with their reading. This is because there is a consistent and well-structured approach to teaching phonics. If pupils fall behind, staff are quick to offer additional help so that they catch up.

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The approach to mathematics teaching is consistent and well thought out so that key learning is revisited and so deepens over time. Teachers ensure that pupils become fluent in their recall of number facts, such as times tables. Pupils enjoy the challenges they face in mathematics, especially the school’s own ‘Total recall’ scheme, which develops their mathematical speed.

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The curriculum stretches way beyond the academic. Pupils learn about relationships, cultures and faiths. The curriculum is enhanced by trips out, visitors to school and community links. Good use is made of the local area, including the school’s allotment and regular visits to Coughton Court.

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Children have a wide range of opportunities for playing their part in school life. They are council members, worship warriors, parliamentarians and play leaders. Older children play an active role in supporting their younger schoolfriends.

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Staff feel valued by leaders and governors and enjoy working at Coughton. Their workload is always considered. The school and the multi-academy trust support new teachers very well and provide effective training and guidance.

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Those responsible for governance know the school well and they provide appropriate challenge. Like leaders, they have helped create a climate of continuous improvement. 28 and 29 June 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding at Coughton Primary School. Staff work with parents and external agencies to keep children safe. They are tenacious in following up concerns. Leaders complete and record the necessary checks on staff before they join the school.

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Safeguarding

Staff know what to do if they have any concerns about children’s welfare. Leaders ensure that all staff are trained regularly.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe in school and they know that they can share concerns with trusted adults who help them. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and how to stay safe online and in the real world.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the key vocabulary that pupils should know has not been identified. As a result, pupils do not acquire some of the essential key vocabulary they need. Leaders should ensure that the essential vocabulary is agreed and focused on in lessons, and that pupils use subject-specific vocabulary accurately and with understanding.  In some subjects, leaders have not identified clearly what pupils should know and remember over time. As a result, staff find it difficult to evaluate how well pupils have learned the intended curriculum. Leaders should ensure that all staff are clear about what pupils should know and remember in each subject. Staff should then check how well pupils know and remember what they have been taught.

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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 predecessor school, Coughton CofE Primary, to be good on 15 April 2015. 28 and 29 June 2022

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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. 28 and 29 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10241468 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school joined the Arden Forest Multi-Academy Trust in April 2018.  The school has grown from 138 pupils to 180 pupils since the last inspection.

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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 his evaluation.  The inspector met with the head of school, the acting assistant headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the executive headteacher/CEO, groups of staff and representatives of the local governing body.  Deep dives were completed in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector spoke with pupils about their experiences in school and observed their behaviour around the school. The inspector also met with a group of pupils to talk about the wider curriculum and their learning.

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of the safeguarding arrangements in the school, the inspector spoke to members of staff and pupils. An inspector met with the designated safeguarding leads to discuss the school’s policies and procedures. During these meetings, records were scrutinised, including those relating to the safer recruitment of staff. Case files were sampled to explore how the school identifies and supports pupils at risk of harm. The inspector also spoke with a range of pupils and staff to evaluate the school’s safeguarding culture.  The inspector considered the responses that were submitted as part of the online Ofsted Parent View survey, including the free-text responses. The inspector considered the feedback provided by members of staff through the staff survey and the responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Gareth Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 28 and 29 June 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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