Otterton Church of England Primary School

Inspection of school: Otterton Church of England Primary School Church Hill, Otterton, Budleigh Salterton, Devon EX9 7HU

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Outcome

Otterton Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Otterton Church of England Primary school is welcoming and inclusive. Pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school. They are positive about their learning and focused during lessons. The vision of ‘growing stronger together’ flows through the school. As a result, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn the curriculum well and take part fully in all aspects of school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get on well with each other. The majority of parents are supportive of the school. Parents appreciate how well the teachers know their children. They feel welcome and well informed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be playleaders and members of the ethos team. They talk enthusiastically about recent fundraising for the RNLI and litter picking in the local community. Regular visits to the church support pupils’ understanding of the school’s values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respond to staff’s high expectations for behaviour. They behave in a calm and orderly way in and around the school. Pupils say that bullying never happens. If it did occur, they are confident that all the adults would help.

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

Leaders ensure that the curriculum is ambitious in most subjects. The early reading and mathematics curriculums are well established and have a positive impact on pupils’ learning. They support pupils to build their knowledge well over time. In a small number of subjects, however, the curriculum is at an earlier stage of development and implementation. In these subjects, pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

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

Mathematics is well designed and sequenced. It supports pupils to build their mathematical knowledge well from the early years upwards. Leaders provide effective 8 June 2023

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support to help staff deliver the curriculum well. Pupils say they regularly ‘dive deeper’ in mathematics. This helps pupils’ confidence with calculation, problem-solving and reasoning. Pupils enjoy mathematics. In physical education (PE), they practise important skills before using in them in a wide variety of sports. Pupils show a great sense of achievement as they develop new skills.

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Leaders ensure that pupils learn increasingly sophisticated vocabulary across all subjects. In early years, children use a wide range of language and vocabulary. This supports their writing. Children use their knowledge of herbivores to write menus for dinosaurs.

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Reading is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. From pre-school onwards, pupils enjoy listening to a wide range of stories. Leaders ensure that all staff have the expertise they need to teach pupils to read. Staff follow the school’s phonic programme precisely. There is a consistent approach to teaching phonics throughout the school. Phonics begins in pre-school. In Reception Year, children learn to segment and blend sounds to read whole words. They practise this by reading books that match the sounds they know. This helps pupils to develop their fluency and confidence. Ongoing assessment identifies pupils who fall behind. They receive effective support to catch up. Older pupils have very positive attitudes to reading. They read regularly at home and in school. They enjoy reading books by many different authors.

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Pupils with SEND learn in the classrooms alongside their peers. They access the full curriculum. Staff make skilful adaptations to their learning. This helps all pupils to succeed. Some pupils have additional one-to-one support and bespoke learning when needed. As a result, pupils with SEND learn the curriculum well.

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Leaders ensure that there are opportunities to enhance pupils’ personal development. Pupils enjoy a range of responsibilities. Playleaders in Year 6 organise playtime activities daily. Pupils understand the school values and vision and why these are important. They demonstrate the values regularly in school. Pupils learn about world issues. However, they are less secure on some aspects of life in modern Britain, including world faiths and different types of family relationships.

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Governors and representatives of the trust know the school well. They offer support alongside robust challenge to leaders and staff. Leaders are very supportive of staff. They provide regular training and consider staff well-being and workload. Staff are very positive about the leaders and the professional support from the trust.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Leaders and staff know their community well. Staff are alert to signs that indicate pupils may be at risk of harm. Staff have a clear understanding of the procedure for reporting concerns about pupils. Leaders keep detailed safeguarding records. Concerns are reported and acted upon swiftly. Leaders ensure that all staff and governors receive regular safeguarding training. 8 June 2023

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Leaders ensure that through the curriculum, pupils develop a secure understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Pupils understand how to protect themselves online. They know that they should not give out personal details or share passwords.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some curriculum subjects are not as well developed as others. As a result, pupils do not gain sufficient depth of knowledge in these subjects. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum is consistently effective in all subjects so that pupils learn equally well across the curriculum.  Pupils do not have a secure understanding of world faiths or what constitutes different types of family relationships. As a result, they are not well prepared for life in modern Britain. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum fully prepares pupils as responsible citizens.

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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 first ungraded inspection since we judged Otterton C of E Primary School to be good in March 2017.

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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. 8 June 2023

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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. 8 June 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10287468 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 Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Otterton Church of England Primary School converted to become an academy school in December 2019. When its predecessor school, Otterton Church of England Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is part of the Link Academy Trust.  The school is federated with Drake C of E Primary School.  The school does not use alternative provision.  Otterton is a Church of England primary school in the diocese of Exeter.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school had 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.  Inspectors met with subject leaders, teachers, the special educational needs coordinator and parents. 8 June 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and PE. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to an adult.  The lead inspector had meetings with the headteacher, the administrator, representatives from the trust and a member of the governing body.  The lead inspector met the designated safeguarding leads, checked the single central record of adults working in the school and looked at safeguarding records.  Inspectors met with subject leaders, teachers and the special educational needs coordinator.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in class and around school, including at breaktimes, and held discussions with leaders about pupils’ wider development.

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 An inspector gathered parents’ views by considering responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and by talking to parents after school.  An inspector considered the views of a range of pupils. They also took into account responses from the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Lizzy Meadows, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Shirley Ofsted Inspector 8 June 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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