Mylor Bridge Community Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Mylor Community Primary School Comfort Road, Mylor Bridge, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 5SE

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Outcome

Mylor Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Mylor Bridge Community Primary School is a happy, welcoming place. Pupils enjoy their learning. They enthusiastically take part in their lessons and work hard.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. There is a strong focus on teaching pupils to be respectful and kind. Pupils are polite and courteous. As a result, they behave well, both in and out of lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and cared for. They trust adults to listen to them and help them if they have any concerns. Bullying is not something pupils worry about. If it were to happen, they are confident that adults would deal with it quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from a wide range of opportunities and experiences that bring the curriculum to life. Pupils enjoy the range of enrichment days, trips and visits on offer to them. They celebrate local Cornish culture as well as learning about the wider world and life in modern Britain. Pupils value the opportunities that they have to help younger pupils to read or to become subject ambassadors. They say these roles help them to learn new things, grow in confidence and develop resilience.

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

Leaders have planned an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with SEND. They have carefully considered what pupils need to know and when they need to know it from the early years to Year 6.

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

Leaders have created a culture where books, vocabulary and reading are prioritised. They ensure that staff implement the school’s phonics programme effectively. Children begin to learn to read as soon as they start school. Pupils learn and remember new sounds well. This helps most pupils become fluent readers by the time they reach the end of Year 2. Pupils read books that are well matched to the sounds they are learning. This helps them 21 March 2023

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build confidence. Pupils read with increasing accuracy and fluency as they move through the school. Staff routinely check if pupils are keeping up with the reading programme. If pupils fall behind, they receive the support they need to help them to catch up quickly. As a result, the confidence of these pupils improves.

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Teachers use their subject knowledge well. They make effective use of assessment in the classroom to check what pupils know and remember. This ensures that most pupils' knowledge builds securely. For example, in mathematics, pupils use their previous learning about money and decimals to help them confidently solve more complex problems involving fractions.

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Leaders are ambitious for what pupils with SEND can achieve. They quickly identify pupils’ individual needs. Teachers adapt their lessons successfully, so pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum as their peers. The needs of pupils with SEND are carefully assessed at regular points during the year to ensure they continue to engage successfully in learning.

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However, in some other areas of the curriculum, teachers do not routinely plan activities which deepen pupil’s understanding. As a result, some pupils do not build and deepen their knowledge as well as they could. This hampers the progress that they make.

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Leaders consider pupils’ wider development carefully. Teachers use visits to places of worship to build pupils’ understanding of different cultures and religions. Residential trips to London and outdoor education further develop pupils’ character and encourage them to overcome challenges. A wide range of clubs and activities help pupils gain new experiences.

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Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning. This starts in the early years. Children play well with one another, take turns and are respectful. Learning is not disrupted. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere across the school.

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Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and know what needs further improvement. Staff enjoy being part of the school community. They are unanimous in their appreciation of leaders' consideration for their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that safeguarding pupils is uppermost in everyone’s minds. All staff benefit from the training and frequent updates they receive. Staff understand how to identify and report concerns quickly. This includes those related to sexualised language or behaviour. Record-keeping is meticulous, which ensures leaders know when pupils need help. Leaders follow up sensitively on all concerns. This sometimes includes involving external agencies to secure the right help. They also carry out all appropriate checks on adults to make sure that they are safe to work in school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about online safety and healthy relationships through the curriculum. 21 March 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The implementation of the curriculum does not yet meet the needs of all pupils. Some teachers do not routinely plan activities which deepen pupils’ understanding. This hampers the progress that some pupils make. Leaders should ensure that teachers plan activities that deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding across all subjects.

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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 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.

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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 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10226935 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.mylor-bridge.cornwall.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 February 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher joined the school in April 2017.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, other senior leaders, subject leaders and groups of staff and pupils. The lead inspector spoke with representatives of the governing body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. 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. 21 March 2023

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 To inspect safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the school’s single central record of recruitment checks and met with the designated safeguarding leads. Inspectors also spoke to pupils and staff and reviewed records, policies and staff training.  Inspectors observed pupils' behaviour in lessons and around the school.  Inspectors considered the views of pupils, parents and staff through discussions during the inspection and the Ofsted surveys.

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Inspection team

Mark Burgess, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lizzie Lethbridge Ofsted Inspector 21 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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