Peatmoor Community Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Peatmoor Community Primary School Pepperbox Hill, Peatmoor, Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 5DP

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 September 2022

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Outcome

Peatmoor Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s motto ‘enjoy learning, enjoy life’ is certainly true, and is expressed in the way the pupils talk about their school. Pupils are enthusiastic about their learning and their love of reading is infectious. The curriculum is designed to enable all pupils to achieve well. Parents particularly value the way leaders keep them informed and how they work supportively alongside them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults have high expectations for both pupils’ learning and their behaviour. Pupils rise to these expectations. They want to be successful. Pupils show positive attitudes to learning. They behave well in class and around the school. Pupils are confident that staff listen to them when they have concerns. They say incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils know that staff would deal with such incidents quickly should they occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop positive relationships with staff and each other. Several pupils commented that the best thing about school are their teachers. They appreciate the wide range of opportunities leaders provide for their personal development.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents comment that teachers and teaching assistants are friendly and nurturing. Support is provided across every aspect of schooling. Through assemblies and lessons, pupils are taught about the importance of their mental health and how to stay happy.

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

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to gain deep knowledge across a broad curriculum. They ensure the teaching of reading is given high priority. Staff have expert knowledge in order to help pupils learn well. As soon as children enter the Reception Year, they begin to learn phonics. Pupils who are at risk of falling behind are identified quickly. Extra support is given when needed. Pupils take home carefully chosen books that allow them to practise the sounds they are learning. As a result, pupils quickly learn how to sound out words and read them accurately. This helps them to become competent and fluent readers. 14 and 15 September 2022

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Older pupils say they love reading. Pupils choose books from the large selection available in the school library. Pupils select interesting books that introduce them to a range of vocabulary. This includes contemporary fiction and classical writers. Pupils say that sometimes they have to be told to actually stop reading.

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Curriculum leaders work with staff, including those from other local schools, to identify the knowledge that pupils need to learn. Across all subjects, leaders have sequenced the teaching of what they want pupils to know in a logical way. This helps pupils gain new knowledge and build on previous learning. For example, in history, they build on what pupils have learned in the early years in order to develop historical concepts, such as chronology. However, not all planned learning in some subjects deepens pupils’ understanding of important concepts. Where this is the case, pupils’ knowledge and understanding are less well developed.

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The mathematics curriculum is well designed and sequenced. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They use a range of strategies to help pupils learn key mathematical knowledge. From the Reception Year, children quickly secure their knowledge of number. They actively engage in every opportunity to practise counting. Pupils, including in the early years, use equipment independently in order to support their learning. This means pupils who find mathematics challenging, including some of those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn useful ways to support their own learning without adult intervention.

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Pupils behave well and make the most of their learning time. In the Reception Year, children concentrate and follow instructions well. These attitudes and behaviours help pupils gain new knowledge effectively.

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Pupils with SEND learn the same ambitious curriculum as other pupils. Staff know pupils well. They work closely with parents and seek help from specialist agencies where necessary. Consequently, pupils are provided with sharply focused additional support, so individual learning needs are met.

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Pupils enjoy a wide range of experiences, which are provided to enhance their broader development and raise their awareness of the world around them. Staff teach and encourage pupils to become responsible citizens. Every year, pupils raise money for charity. They are proud to have helped fund children to be able to go to school in The Gambia. Leaders actively support pupils in developing their talents. Pupils take part in a wide variety of enrichment activities, including visits, residential trips and opportunities to learn a musical instrument.

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Trustees want the best for all pupils. They provide valuable support and challenge to leaders in order to improve the school further. Trustees’ expectations are high. They ensure leaders carefully consider the workload and well-being of staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 14 and 15 September 2022

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Pupils feel safe in school. They know there are trusted adults they can talk to. Leaders hold regular meetings with all staff, in which concerns about pupils’ welfare can be raised. They take seriously all referrals made. Leaders are aware of each pupil’s circumstances and monitor pupils’ well-being closely.

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Staff recognise the importance of promoting pupils’ health, well-being and emotional development. Leaders have developed trusting partnerships with families. They are proactive in getting pupils and their families the help they need.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, learning is not designed well enough to deepen pupils’ understanding of key concepts and ideas. As a result, some pupils’ knowledge is less well developed. Leaders need to ensure that learning is designed effectively in all subjects to enable all pupils to further develop their knowledge.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2017.

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 14 and 15 September 2022

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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. 14 and 15 September 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10240911 Type of school Primary

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 17 and 18 May 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Link Academy Collaborative Trust.  The school uses one registered alternative education provider.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, bursar and representatives from the board of trustees.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector met the designated safeguarding leads, checked the single central record of adults working in the school and looked at safeguarding records. 14 and 15 September 2022

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 The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in class, around school and at breaktimes and held discussions with leaders about pupils’ wider development.  The inspector gathered parents’ views by considering responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and by talking to parents after school.  The inspector considered the views of a range of pupils through the pupil survey. They also took into account responses from the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Lizzy Meadows, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 September 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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