Ashburton Primary School

Inspection of Ashburton Primary School Whistley Hill, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 7DW

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 10 and 11 May 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love to attend Ashburton Primary School. They enter each day with a smile and a thirst for learning. Pupils are warmly welcomed by the caring staff. They receive the help they need, when necessary, to become successful learners. Pupils are respectful of each other. They follow their school rules and enjoy the rewards they receive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are encouraged to debate and discuss important issues. For example, they talk with maturity in their regular ‘oracy assemblies’. Pupils develop the skills they need to become active global citizens. Older pupils, for example, valued their recent study and discussion in geography about the human impact on physical environments.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils actively participate in school life. Some pupils hold responsibilities as school councillors and house captains. Play leaders encourage their peers to be active at breaktimes and lunchtimes, providing activities such as a recent skipping challenge. Pupils value their visits outside of school, such as to the theatre, the moorland and a local residential home.

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better?

Leaders’ ambition for all pupils to receive a high-quality education shines through. This is a highly inclusive school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. The ‘nurture classroom’ helps some pupils to build confidence and manage their feelings. This supports them to return to learning with their peers successfully.

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better?

Leaders have high expectations of what pupils should learn. They consider thoughtfully the knowledge they want pupils to learn and by when. Staff use carefully selected resources to teach pupils about difficult concepts. In science, for example, pupils used resources successfully to understand the best conditions for germs to spread. However, some of the work of leaders has been hampered during the current academic year due to significant staff changes. This has limited their ability to make further improvements to the curriculum. Therefore, some subjects are more developed than others.

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better?

Pupils say that they ‘don’t like to miss out on a good book.’ Pupils read widely and regularly, which helps them to become confident and fluent readers. Pupils listen to high-quality texts often. Children in the Reception Year learn to read as soon as they start school. Staff diligently follow the well-thought-out phonics and reading curriculums. This ensures that pupils crack the alphabetic code by quickly learning the sounds that letters make. For some pupils who need extra help, support is timely and effective. 10 and 11 May 2023

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In most subjects, staff identify misconceptions when they arise. These are then remedied. For example, in mathematics, number formation is consistently corrected. However, in some subjects, leaders have not considered carefully enough how to support pupils to remember important knowledge in the longer term. Therefore, pupils find it difficult to recall the previous learning that would help them with what is to come.

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Children in the Reception Year play happily with friends and adults. They learn important routines and become independent in their learning and self-care. Staff use carefully crafted questions to extend children’s learning. For example, some children discuss why they can fly to the moon but not the sun from their space station.

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Leaders carefully consider pupils’ personal development. The personal, social and health education curriculum fully prepares pupils for their next steps. Pupils demonstrate the fundamental British values of respect, tolerance and the rule of law through their behaviour and care for others. They know how to keep physically and mentally healthy. Pupils learn to be safe when using online technologies. The nurture and pastoral support they receive from staff helps them to thrive.

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Leaders and staff value the support they receive from the trust. They say that they work together as a team to make the necessary improvements. Trustees make regular and thorough checks on the school to ensure that the work of leaders is making a positive difference to pupils. Staff are appreciative of the care and support they receive for their well-being. Leaders check and act upon the views of staff frequently.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are tenacious in their approach to keeping pupils safe. Staff receive regular training. They know that safeguarding is the responsibility of ‘everybody every day’. Leaders act swiftly to resolve they concerns they receive. They work tirelessly to get the right help. Staff use support from external agencies well. Leaders ensure that the right checks are made when new staff start at the school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel ‘super safe’. They trust adults to help them. For example, pupils use ‘red circles’ to indicate to staff if they have a worry that they need help with.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, pupils do not remember important content in the long term. Therefore, they are not able to draw on previous learning to help them with their 10 and 11 May 2023

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current and future learning. Leaders need to ensure that pupils are supported to know and remember more in all subjects.  In some subjects, the checks leaders make on the quality of the curriculum do not inform future planning. As a result, pupils learn better in some subjects than they do in others. Leaders should ensure that they use what they know about the quality of the curriculum to ensure that this is of a high quality in all subjects.

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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. 10 and 11 May 2023

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School details

Website www.ashburton-primary.devon.sch.uk

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Date of previous inspection

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

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Information about this school

 Ashburton Primary School is part of Westcountry Schools Trust.  In the last academic year, there have been significant staffing changes within the school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school has a breakfast and after-school club provision.

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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, two senior leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector met with the director of 10 and 11 May 2023

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education and the director of inclusion for the multi-academy trust. She also met with the chair of the trust board and one other trustee.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, science 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. The inspectors considered the curriculum in some other subjects.  The lead inspector spoke with the designated safeguarding leader 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 to gauge their views of the school.  Inspectors considered responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View,

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including free-text responses. Parents spoke to an inspector at the start of the day. Inspectors also considered responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Donna Briggs, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Shirley Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 May 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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