Cornwood Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Cornwood Church of England Primary School School Lane, Cornwood, Ivybridge, Devon PL21 9PZ

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school. They talk with enthusiasm about their learning. Teachers want pupils to do well. However, pupils do not learn or remember the curriculum well enough in some subjects. This is because the curriculum is not designed to build successfully on what pupils already know.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils and their conduct. Pupils are motivated to meet these expectations. Most pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. However, pupils lose focus when the curriculum does not meet their needs. Bullying is rare. Pupils know that adults will respond to concerns they raise. They value the time staff take to talk through incidents that happen so that friendships are quickly restored.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils hold the different ‘councils’ the school has in high esteem. Older pupils talk keenly about the roles they have and the difference they can make. Pupils relate the fundamental British values to their roles of responsibility. They know democracy was used to vote them in and they show tolerance and respect of others as they fulfil their duties.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents describe the positive impact the school has on their child’s confidence. They appreciate the opportunities leaders provide to foster pupils’ academic and personal development.

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

The new leadership team has started to make improvements to the curriculum. However, there is still further work to do to ensure pupils’ learning in all subjects is less variable. In some subjects, there is more consistency, such as in reading. Leaders have made recent changes to improve reading. The impact of this is starting to show. There is a culture promoting a love of reading. This begins from the very start with the Reception-age 6 October 2022

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children. They learn phonics as soon as they join the school. Pupils who struggle to read receive help to catch up quickly. Pupils across the school enjoy reading and read often. Older pupils enjoy story time and can talk confidently about different authors and genres. However, in some subjects, teachers are unclear about how the sequence of the curriculum helps pupils to build on what they already know. This is more successful in some subjects, such as religious education (RE). Despite improvements to the subject leadership structure, subject leaders do not have a wholly accurate or informed overview of their area of responsibility.

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Subject leaders have designed ways to assess pupils in order to identify gaps in knowledge and inform future teaching. However, teachers do not use this information effectively. They do not always take pupils’ prior knowledge into account. Consequently, pupils do not remember their learning over time. This also impacts the accuracy of targeted support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders do not always ensure that the support needed to help them learn the curriculum successfully is as precise as it could be.

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Pupils have respectful attitudes towards others. They are supportive and encouraging of their peers. There are nurturing relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils learn how to show the core Christian values of the school and they model them with each other. Children in Reception Year settle quickly into the school routines. Staff communicate clear expectations for how children should behave. Most children show persistence and concentration in their learning activities. Teachers design learning to increase the knowledge and the range of vocabulary used by children. Adults work alongside children to encourage their problem-solving and imaginative play, for example when trying to move water from one tank to another. Children independently find the equipment they need and build on their prior learning successfully.

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Leaders know the value in pupils’ development beyond the academic. There is a range of extra-curricular activities to develop pupils’ talents and interests. Pupils value these. They are accessible for all pupils, including those with SEND. Leaders make sure pupil voice is an important part of the school through the eco, sports, ethos and school councils. This ensures that pupils learn about the importance of being part of a community and the skills needed to fulfil this successfully.

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Governors have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Along with the local authority, they know that improvements need to continue. They have confidence that the new leadership team will make the improvements needed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders make sure staff have the necessary training to support them to understand their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. They provide regular and relevant updates to ensure this remains a constant focus. Staff know pupils and their families well. Leaders work closely with external agencies and families to 6 October 2022

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ensure that pupils receive the right support as early as possible. The school’s checks on adults who join the school are effective.

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Pupils learn how to keep safe as part of the curriculum. They say that they have trusted adults in school they can speak to if they are worried. This helps them to feel safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Subject leaders do not have a well-informed and fully accurate view of their subject areas. As a result, they do not know how well the intended curriculum is delivered. Leaders need to ensure that they have more precise and timely information about how effectively the curriculum is taught and how well pupils learn.  Teachers are not secure in their knowledge of how to sequence learning effectively for pupils in some subjects. They do not always break learning into manageable steps so that pupils remember their learning over time and recall what they have learned previously. Leaders need to make clear the knowledge that pupils should learn so that teachers can best support pupils to learn the intended curriculum.  Individual support for some pupils with SEND is not always as well focused as it needs to be. Consequently, some pupils do not get the best targeted support they require. Leaders must ensure that assessment is used more effectively to inform the precise

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

support that pupils with SEND need to overcome their barriers to learning and access the curriculum with greater success.  Leaders have ensured that there are assessment processes in place. However, in some subjects, teachers do not use assessment well to understand what pupils know and remember. As a result, teachers do not always adapt learning based on what pupils already know. Leaders should ensure that teachers understand how to make the most effective use of the assessments they carry out. This will enable teachers to adapt learning successfully based on pupils’ prior 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2012. 6 October 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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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. 6 October 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10212373 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 25 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized primary school. Pupils are organised into three mixed-age classes.  The leadership team has undergone significant changes since the last inspection.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school is a voluntary-controlled Church of England school. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in April 2017.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, assistant executive headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders from the Moorsway Federation, staff and the chair of the governing body. An inspector also spoke with a representative from the local authority. 6 October 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and RE. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to an adult.  Inspectors considered how well the school protects pupils and keeps them safe.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  Inspectors analysed school documentation, including leaders’ evaluations and plans for improvement. The inspector scrutinised a range of policies and procedures, including those that relate to the curriculum, SEND, safeguarding and behaviour.  An inspector listened to the views of parents at the start of the inspection. The 18 responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, were considered, including 12 free-text responses, along with the 42 responses to the online survey for

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pupils and 15 responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Leanne Thirlby, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Donna Briggs His Majesty’s Inspector 6 October 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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