Moretonhampstead Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Moretonhampstead Primary School Betton Way, Moretonhampstead, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 8NA

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Outcome

Moretonhampstead Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a thriving sense of community in the school. Older pupils play alongside the younger ones and help them with their reading. They are great roles models. For example, they give out awards to children showing ‘marvellous manners’. There are many opportunities for pupils of all ages to socialise and work together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those with particular needs, put themselves forward for leadership roles. Pupils are taught to accept and support one another and they do. Some join the ‘eco team’. This group meets regularly to identify ways to protect the local environment. Other pupils are elected to the school council. They carry out fundraising activities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a calm and purposeful place. Pupils behave well in lessons and want to learn. They learn about bullying in depth and are clear that this is not tolerated. If any pupil has difficulty with their behaviour, or social and emotional development, they receive extra support from the multi-academy trust. This helps them to develop the skills they need to learn more successfully alongside others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years engage eagerly with the stimulating activities planned for them. They spend time outdoors learning about the seasons and practising crafts.

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

Leaders have recently combined the provisions for pre-school and the Reception Year, creating an early years unit. This has brought many benefits. All staff now take the same approach to teaching early reading. This starts at the earliest opportunity as children from the age of two are encouraged to notice sounds and rhymes. This means that children are ready to learn phonics from the very start of the Reception Year.

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

The curriculum for early reading is well established. Children are keen to participate in their phonics lessons. Fun and purposeful routines help with this. For example, children enjoy songs, which help them to remember their learning. Pupils who, for different 13 December 2022

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reasons, have fallen behind with their reading, receive support to catch up. For some, there is still some way to go before they have the fluency they need.

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Younger children practise their reading and are read to every day. Pupils in key stage 2 are encouraged to read age-appropriate books. Many of them also read regularly at home with the support of parents and carers. However, leaders’ approach to reading for older pupils does not ensure that every child reads and is read to regularly. The reading curriculum for older pupils could do more to promote pupils’ enjoyment of literature.

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Staff have designed an interesting curriculum through which children in the early years learn about the world. Children gain vocabulary that will help them later. For example, they describe the properties of shapes, using mathematical language, and explain how and why water exists in different forms, such as ice. Leaders have planned the curriculum, so that pupils continue to build on their knowledge as they move through the school. However, in some subjects, pupils do not retain knowledge in the long term as well as they could. This is because teaching is not always designed to help them with this.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are at the forefront of many extra-curricular opportunities. This promotes their confidence and self-esteem. The trust provides valuable support for pupils with their behaviour and social and emotional development. These pupils access forest school and specialist support through the trust ‘Inclusion Hub’. The ‘hub’ also acts a training centre for staff. This gives staff the skills they need to support pupils, including those with SEND, successfully.

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During their time at the school, pupils come to appreciate that everybody is different. They take an interest in other people, including those from different places, faiths and walks of life. Leaders create and encourage opportunities for pupils to be active citizens who are involved in local matters. Pupils make regular use of local amenities, such as the library, swimming pool and church.

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Staff enjoy working at the school. They feel well supported by leaders. They recognise the ways in which leaders continue to improve the school. The arrangements for governance serve the school well. The trust provides useful avenues for staff from different schools to work together. For example, when planning subject curriculums. Trust leaders encourage leaders at the school to learn from other schools in similar contexts.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained. The school’s systems for reporting concerns are used and managed well. Staff have confidence in leaders' follow-up actions. There is an open culture in which staff can challenge leaders if they have a concern that persists.

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Safeguarding

Leaders take the initiative when working with safeguarding partners. Leaders are effective advocates for families, helping them to get the support they need. 13 December 2022

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Leaders make the most of being part of a family of other small, rural schools within the trust. They share safeguarding knowledge. This helps them to anticipate what 'could happen here'.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The reading curriculum in key stage 2 does not ensure that all pupils read often. Some pupils in the early stages of learning to read do not practise as frequently as they could. Therefore, it takes them longer than it should to become fluent readers. Leaders should ensure that reading is at the heart of the curriculum for older pupils to develop their fluency and enjoyment of reading.  In some subjects, teaching is not designed to help pupils to remember what they learn in the long term. In these subjects, pupils cannot recall their prior learning well. This slows pupils down when new concepts require them to build on what was taught earlier in the curriculum sequence. Leaders should develop approaches to help pupils to remember more of what they learn over time.

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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 predecessor school, Moretonhampstead Primary School, to be good in February 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. 13 December 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. 13 December 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10240202 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.moretonhampstead.thelink.academy

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School details

Date of previous inspection 28 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 In February 2020, the school joined the Link Academies Trust, which comprises 16 primary schools.  The trust provides support for pupils with particular needs through an ‘Inclusion Hub’. In addition, the school uses one unregistered, alternative provider.  Since the previous inspection, the village pre-school has become part of the school. There is now an early years foundation stage unit for children aged two to five.  This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.  Pupils are organised into mixed-age classes. The arrangements are varied each year, depending on the size of each year group.  There is provision for childcare before school. 13 December 2022

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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 have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and representatives from the multi-academy trust, including the chief executive officer, the school improvement leader, one trustee and a local governor.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, science and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the 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 where appropriate.  To inspect safeguarding, the lead inspector scrutinised the single central record of adults working within the school and met with the headteacher, who is the also the

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Information about this inspection

designated safeguarding leader. Inspectors also spoke with pupils, staff and representatives from the trust about the culture of safeguarding in the school.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for parents, ‘Parent View’, as well as the responses to the surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Lydia Pride, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Carl Thornton Ofsted Inspector 13 December 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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