Loddiswell Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Loddiswell Primary School Beechwood Park, Loddiswell, Kingsbridge, Devon TQ7 4BY

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Outcome

Loddiswell Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Loddiswell Primary School are ‘kind, safe and responsible’. They know and follow their school rules. Pupils show respect to adults and their peers. They enjoy the ‘warm fuzzies’ that they receive to put into their class reward jar. Pupils vote for their class rewards and look forward to them. They are happy to come to school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that staff listen to them. For example, when prompted by pupils, leaders invested in new play equipment to support lunchtimes. Pupils play with this equipment responsibly. They say that bullying is unlikely to happen. Pupils are confident that their trusted adults would sort out any incidents or worries quickly. This helps them to feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders enrich the curriculum with a wide range of opportunities. Pupils value the responsibilities they have as school councillors and eco club members. They make a positive contribution to their local community and more widely. For example, pupils support a range of charities through their fundraising work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the visits that link to their learning. For example, pupils undertake regular fieldwork in geography and visit local museums. Some pupils participate in a local music festival. Many pupils attend extra-curricular clubs, such as archery, multi-skills, choir and typing club.

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

Leaders have carefully planned the curriculum they want pupils to study in all subjects. They have identified the important knowledge that pupils need to know. This knowledge is introduced in a logical order, so that pupils build on what they have already learned. Teaching begins with well-considered questions from previous topics. Pupils say that these ‘sticky questions’ help them to remember what they have learned before. For example, in geography, pupils use their learning about the water cycle to understand how rivers are formed. 9 March 2023

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Leaders support staff to develop the subject knowledge and expertise they need to deliver the curriculum effectively. Teachers routinely check what pupils know and remember. They use this insight to provide further support or to deepen pupils’ learning. Leaders plan the support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) precisely. Pupils have clear targets to work towards and learn an ambitious curriculum. Therefore, pupils with SEND flourish.

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Children in the early years benefit from a warm, nurturing environment. They develop positive relationships with adults and learn well together. They become independent learners who are ready for their next steps in Year 1. For example, children in the Reception Year use their knowledge of numbers to 10 in their water play. However, leaders know that the curriculum is not aligned carefully enough to support children moving from pre-school to Reception.

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Children enjoy books and stories as soon as they start school in the pre-school or Reception Year. Pupils talk about how they ‘get stuck in a book’ because they love to read. For pupils in the early stages of reading, staff teach a well-planned curriculum. Pupils use the phonic sounds that they have learned to read accurately. Teachers make regular checks on how successfully pupils read. When needed, some pupils get more help, so that they become more fluent. Leaders have carefully linked the books and texts pupils read to what they learn in other subjects. For example, older pupils make links between their current class reader and what they have learned in history.

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Leaders place pupils’ broader development at the heart of what they do. Pupils benefit from effective curriculums for personal, social and health education and religious education. They understand, and are respectful of, different religious beliefs and cultures. Pupils recognise the importance of being physically and mentally healthy.

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Staff are positive about how well leaders consider their well-being. Leaders take practical steps to reduce the workload of staff where possible. Those responsible for governance make purposeful visits to the school. This helps them to understand the impact of leaders’ actions to bring about further school improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure staff receive regular safeguarding training. They revisit important themes from a local and national context. Staff are clear that ‘it could happen here’. They report concerns accurately. Leaders monitor any concerns regularly. They work effectively with a range of external agencies. This ensures that pupils and their families get the help required. Leaders make appropriate checks when new staff start at the school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. For example, they learn about being safe when using online technology. Pupils also learn about road, fire and bicycle safety. 9 March 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the early years, leaders have not considered carefully enough how the curriculum is sequenced from children’s starting points. This means that sometimes children’s learning does not build on what they already know or prepare them for what comes next. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum in the early years is clearly sequenced and fully implemented from pre-school to the Reception Year, so that children are supported to learn well.

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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 October 2012.

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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. 9 March 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.loddiswellprimaryschool.co.uk

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Date of previous inspection

21 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The acting head of school joined the school in September 2022.  The school has a pre-school provision for two-, three- and four-year-old children.  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. 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 executive headteacher, the acting head of school and two special educational needs coordinators. The lead inspector met with representatives from the governing body and the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. 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. 9 March 2023

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 The lead inspector spoke with safeguarding leaders to discuss the school’s procedures for keeping pupils safe. She considered the school’s recruitment procedures, staff induction and training, records of concern and engagement with external agencies. The inspectors spoke with staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  Inspectors considered responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. Inspectors considered responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Donna Briggs, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Caroline Musty Ofsted Inspector 9 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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