Cubert School

Inspection of Cubert School Chynowen Lane, Cubert, Newquay, Cornwall TR8 5HE

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 21 and 22 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and secure at Cubert School. This is because staff look after them well. Leaders promote a highly inclusive ethos. They place an emphasis on pupils’ mental health. This includes for those pupils who attend ‘the nest’. The guidance they receive there helps them to overcome their anxieties or worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. For example, they cooperate with each other respectfully in group activities. At social times older pupils enjoy playing with their younger peers. Pupils say that bullying does not happen. They say that adults would resolve it if it did.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Nevertheless, the quality of education is not good. Leaders have made recent changes to the curriculum to make it more ambitious. However, this work is at an early stage. As a result, in some subjects, leaders have not identified the knowledge pupils need to learn precisely and in a coherent order. Pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils consider others. For example, they decided to raise money for victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Pupils enjoy a range of clubs to pursue their talents and interests, such as hockey, coding and choir. They develop performance skills through productions, such as ‘Peter Pan’.

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better?

Leaders have steered the school through a difficult period. The school has experienced high levels of staff absence. Leaders have used their time and energy to minimise disruptions to pupils’ learning. Despite their best efforts, this has hampered their ability to make strategic, long-term improvements. It has unsettled some staff. Nevertheless, all are proud to work at Cubert.

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better?

Leaders recognised that the curriculum needed alteration so that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), would learn more. However, leaders changed too many subjects too quickly. This hindered their already limited capacity to oversee the process fully. Consequently, in some subjects, leaders have not identified how learning builds up from the early years to Year 6. They have not set out the specific knowledge that pupils need to learn.

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better?

In subjects where leaders have established a more cohesive approach, pupils learn well. For example, in mathematics, pupils recall confidently what they have learned. Older pupils use appropriate written methods to solve problems. Children in Reception use correct language related to number. However, in the wider curriculum teachers do not provide pupils with tasks that deepen their knowledge. This is because teachers are not clear about what they want pupils to learn. Leaders have not developed assessment sufficiently for it to be useful for teachers when planning 21 and 22 March 2023

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learning. Consequently, pupils’ knowledge in some subjects is weak. For example, in history, pupils struggle to recall key knowledge they have learned about the Anglo- Saxons or ancient Egypt.

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Leaders prioritise reading. They have trained staff to ensure that pupils learn to read through a consistent approach. In the early years, children start learning to read straightaway. Staff check carefully to spot pupils who fall behind. Through additional support, these pupils catch up and keep up. Teachers in the early years read regularly to children to expose them to different types of texts. Leaders have refurbished the school library with help from funds raised by parents. They have stocked it with a range of books by different authors. This helps to promote a love of reading through the school.

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Leaders ensure that all pupils learn the full range of subjects, including those with SEND. Teachers adapt the curriculum in line with pupils’ individual plans. Staff closely check the support pupils receive in ‘the nest’ to ensure they do not miss important curriculum content.

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Through the personal, social and health education curriculum, pupils learn about healthy relationships. Pupils hold leadership roles in the school, such as library and playground monitors. Visitors deepen pupils’ knowledge further, such as authors and people providing talks about water safety. In assemblies, staff celebrate pupils’ achievements both in and out of school. However, the curriculum does not ensure that pupils learn about diversity well enough. As a result, pupils have a limited knowledge of faiths and cultures different to their own.

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Governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They check the impact of the money allocated for disadvantaged pupils. Governors know that the curriculum requires improvement. They have supported and challenged the headteacher through a turbulent period. Governors draw upon external support as necessary.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have established a culture of vigilance to keep pupils safe. They train staff to ensure they can identify those who show potential signs of harm. Staff record even the smallest concerns diligently. Leaders act upon these swiftly and report them to the appropriate authority if needed. They work with different agencies to ensure vulnerable families get the support they need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have thorough systems for the recruitment of staff. They check to ensure their suitability to work with children. Governors regularly oversee aspects of the school’s safeguarding work to check it is compliant. 21 and 22 March 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the curriculum does not identify precisely and in a coherent order the knowledge pupils need to learn. As a result, pupils do not build secure knowledge over time. Leaders need to ensure that they precisely identify and sequence knowledge in all subjects, so that pupils from Reception to Year 6 know more and remember more.  Teachers do not implement the wider curriculum well enough. Assessment is not developed well enough to guide teachers in what pupils need to learn next. Too often, tasks are then not well matched to pupils’ next steps. Leaders need to ensure assessment is established effectively and all learning deepens pupils’ knowledge in line with curriculum.  Leaders have not planned well enough how pupils will learn about diversity, particularly about faiths and cultures that are different to their own. Consequently, pupils’ cultural knowledge is weak. Leaders need to ensure that

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

they improve the curriculum so that it helps pupils understand faiths and cultures that are different to their own.

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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. 21 and 22 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10241787 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 30 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school runs its own breakfast and after-school provision.  The school has had significant staff absence.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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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

 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, groups of staff, and members of the governing body. The lead inspector also had a telephone call with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the 21 and 22 March 2023

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curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, looked at samples of work and spoke to pupils about their learning.  Inspectors also spoke to pupils and looked at samples of work in history, geography and science.  The lead 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. The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding measures. The lead inspector also scrutinised the school’s single central record.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. Additionally, inspectors spoke to pupils to discuss their views about the school.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start of the school day. They also considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, the pupil survey and

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Inspection team

Jason Edge, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Kerri Conday Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 March 2023

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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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