West Chinnock Church of England Primary School

Inspection of West Chinnock Church of England Primary School Scotts Way, West Chinnock, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 7PU

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 October 2022

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Inadequate Previous inspection grade Good 18 and 19 October 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education at this school. Leaders’ actions have not secured a coherent or well-sequenced curriculum. As a result, pupils do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to be ready for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Nevertheless, pupils are happy and feel safe. They get along well with one another in lessons and during breaktimes. Older pupils enjoy the opportunities to be role models for younger pupils. Pupils say that bullying does not happen and that everyone shows respect towards one another.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Learning is not disrupted by poor behaviour. Pupils listen carefully and respond well to instructions. Staff give some rewards to pupils. However, there is not a consistently understood system used across the school. When learning, pupils’ attitudes are variable. This is because the curriculum does not always meet their needs. As a result, some pupils do not engage well with their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a range of enrichment opportunities which they, and parents, value. Experiences such as forest school, sporting events and trips all contribute positively to their personal development. Pupils say these experiences help them to develop skills such as teamwork and resilience. However, pupils do not have a secure knowledge of different faiths or cultures.

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better?

Pupils experience a disjointed curriculum that lacks ambition. Leaders have not set out the knowledge they want pupils to learn from Reception Year to Year 6. Therefore, pupils cannot build on prior learning successfully. For example, in geography, leaders have not considered the knowledge pupils need about settlements or economic impact in order to be able to understand more complex concepts. Older pupils are unable to recall specific knowledge about historical periods studied, and, sometimes, they have misconceptions about historical events.

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better?

Leaders ensure that younger pupils acquire the knowledge they need to learn to read fluently. Teachers are developing confidence and accuracy when delivering phonics to pupils. For those pupils who struggle to learn to read, support is effective in helping them practice segmenting and blending. However, leaders have not ensured that there is a reading curriculum which develops more sophisticated reading strategies for those older pupils who can read fluently.

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better?

Expectations within the curriculum are not high enough. Older pupils do not have an age-related understanding of grammar or multiplication tables. This means they are not prepared for the next stage of their education. Reception Year children have not yet begun focused learning across all areas of the early years curriculum. 18 and 19 October 2022

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Pupils are sometimes working on content that is too hard for them. In mathematics, for example, some pupils in key stage two struggle to understand fundamental aspects of number, which means they do not get on to reasoning or problem-solving opportunities.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have barriers to their learning identified. However, the plans to address these are too broad and do not identify what success looks like. Teachers do not know how to ensure that these pupils secure the small blocks of knowledge they need.

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The implementation of the personal, social, health education programme is very new. Pupils learn about how their bodies change. They know about different types of relationships and understand personal space and boundaries. The curriculum does not ensure that they have a secure understanding of diversity or life in modern Britain.

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Governors are over-reliant on senior leaders’ evaluations of improvements. They do not provide robust challenge to leaders, which means they do not know whether actions are having the necessary impact on outcomes for pupils.

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Staff feel that they work well as a team. They appreciate leaders’ work to manage their workload. All staff recognise that there is a lot of work to do to get the curriculum to where it needs to be. They are very positive about the focused training in phonics and how this has developed their skill and confidence.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure there is a culture of ‘it could happen here’. Training ensures that staff know signs of different types of abuse. Staff are confident in reporting concerns and use agreed systems for this.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work with external agencies to make sure that pupils are safe. Information- sharing is appropriate and ensures that the right people have the right information to support pupils when needed.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know how to stay safe when they are using the internet. They trust adults in the school to listen to them if they are worried or upset.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not set out the knowledge they want pupils to learn across the curriculum. As a result, pupils are not able to build on prior knowledge successfully. Leaders must identify, and sequence, the key knowledge they want 18 and 19 October 2022

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pupils to learn in each subject’s curriculum so that pupils know and remember more over time.  Leaders have not designed a reading curriculum for pupils who have completed the phonics programme. Older pupils do not build on their decoding skills to develop a range of reading strategies. Leaders should ensure that there is a suitable reading curriculum in place for pupils to ensure breadth and depth.  Subject leadership is underdeveloped. Subject leaders do not all have the knowledge and skills to implement an effective curriculum. Senior leaders must ensure that all curriculum leaders have the expertise they need to improve the quality of the curriculum.  Teachers do not have sufficient knowledge of how to reduce barriers to learning for pupils with SEND. Therefore, these pupils do not always have their precise needs met. Leaders need to ensure that teachers develop the skills to identify the support pupils with SEND need for them to make consistent progress through the

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curriculum.  Planned learning opportunities within the early years curriculum are not ambitious or intentional enough. Children experience a range of activities that are not designed to further their knowledge or understanding. Teachers must ensure that learning is intentional and designed so that children can build on prior knowledge.  Governors do not have an accurate view of the quality of education, because they are over-reliant on senior leaders’ evaluations. This hampers their ability to provide robust challenge when holding leaders to account. Governors’ oversight of the effectiveness of leaders’ work needs to improve.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 18 and 19 October 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227253 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Simon Roughsedge

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School details

Co-executive headteachers Liz Stiddard and Jamie Caswell

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School details

Website www.nortonandwestchinnockschools.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17 June 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been no relevant changes since the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the 18 and 19 October 2022

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curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors held meetings with the co-executive headteachers, special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders, and teaching and support staff.  The lead inspector met with and members of the local governing body, including the chair of governors, and a representative from the local authority.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding leaders to discuss how they keep pupils safe in school. Inspectors considered the school’s recruitment procedures, staff induction and training, records of concerns and their engagement with external agencies. The inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  The lead inspector listened to pupils read to an adult.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. In

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addition, they met with pupils informally and formally to hear their views.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including free-text responses. Inspectors also took into consideration responses to the staff and pupil surveys.  Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including the school’s improvement plan and documentation relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Angela Folland, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Kate Masters Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 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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