Roundswell Community Primary Academy

Inspection of Roundswell Community Primary Academy Claypits Road, Roundswell, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 3WJ

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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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 13 and 14 June 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Roundswell Community Primary Academy are happy, confident learners. They benefit from a deep sense of care, warmth and nurture from the dedicated staff team. Parents report that ‘staff really care’. Pupils use their ‘learning power puppets’ to develop resilience and curiosity. For example, ‘persevering Pete’ supports pupils to work hard and try again if they make a mistake.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand how to behave well. They learn about the importance of respect and making good choices. As soon as children start school, staff ably support them in the early years to play well with others. Pupils understand that it is important to be kind. For the most part, pupils listen well in lessons, and disruption to learning is very rare.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning and talk positively about the subjects they study. They learn about the community in which they live. This is carefully planned into the curriculum. More recently, pupils have joined in with the newly established extra- curricular clubs, which includes art and football.

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better?

Leaders have planned carefully to address the gaps in pupils’ learning caused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the heart of this work has been support for pupils in the early stages of reading. Staff follow a carefully sequenced phonics curriculum. As soon as children start school, they begin to learn the sounds that letters make. Staff make regular checks to see what sounds pupils can read. More recently, additional support for pupils who need extra help has been effective. This means that pupils learn to read well. Pupils enjoy reading, particularly some of the high-quality texts that leaders have introduced into the curriculum.

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better?

Leaders have begun work to strengthen the wider curriculum. In subjects where this is further developed, they have considered what pupils need to know and by when. For example, in art and design, pupils talk confidently about William Morris and his style of design. Children in the Reception Year learn about Aboriginal art and use different tools to recreate this style. However, in some subjects, leaders have not identified the important knowledge that pupils need to know to prepare them for what comes next. Moreover, subject leaders do not know how well pupils learn the planned curriculum. Therefore, while pupils learn well in some subjects, this is not the case across the curriculum.

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better?

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) provides staff with appropriate professional development and checks on the impact of this work. As a result, staff identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They provide effective support, which means that pupils follow the curriculum successfully. Pupils with emotional needs flourish because they are well supported to manage their feelings. 13 and 14 June 2023

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Children in the Nursery Year quickly develop strong bonds with the adults who help them. Staff use questioning to extend children’s learning so that they are ready for their next steps. In the Reception Year, children become independent in their self- care and learning. For example, during a word treasure hunt, children accurately wrote words and sentences from the sounds they know.

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Pupils’ personal development is central to leaders’ work. They consider how the curriculum contributes to pupils’ understanding of life in modern Britain. Pupils understand the importance of respect and equality. They talk knowledgeably about what makes a good friend and understand that there are different types of families. Sometimes, learning from other subjects enhances this work. For example, in design and technology, pupils designed, made and evaluated fruit kebabs. This work allowed them to understand the importance of healthy eating.

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Parents are wholeheartedly positive about the staff team and the school community. They feel welcomed into the school for different occasions and events. The staff team echoes this positivity. Staff feel very well supported and cared for. They say that leaders consider their workload and well-being thoughtfully.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders promote the importance of safeguarding in all that they do. They carefully consider the checks they make when new staff or volunteers join the school. Staff receive regular and high-quality safeguarding training. This enables them to be vigilant and report concerns swiftly. Leaders act on any concerns appropriately and with determination to get the help that pupils may need. As a result of this work, pupils feel safe.

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Safeguarding

Leaders invite visitors and charities into school to help pupils understand how to stay safe. For example, pupils learn about the importance of water and sea safety in the context of the coastal community where they live.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the important knowledge that pupils need to learn has not been fully identified. This means that pupils do not prepare for the learning to come with sufficient depth. Leaders should ensure that key knowledge is clearly identified and sequenced so that pupils learn well over time in all subjects.  In some subjects, leaders do not know the difference the curriculum is making to the development of pupils’ learning. Therefore, they are not able to adapt curriculum planning in response. Leaders at all levels should ensure that they 13 and 14 June 2023

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check on the impact of the curriculum so that they can use this insight to inform future planning and support the consistent implementation of the curriculum.

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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. 13 and 14 June 2023

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School details

Website www.roundswellprimary.devon.sch.uk

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Date of previous inspection

22 to 25 June 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Roundswell Community Primary Academy is an academy free school which opened in September 2020. It is part of the Tarka Learning Partnership.  The school currently has classes up to Year 2.  The school has a nursery for three- and four-year-old children.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school has three early career teachers.

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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 opening and 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. 13 and 14 June 2023

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, who acts as the SENCo, the assistant headteacher and the early years leader. The lead inspector met with multi-academy trust leaders. She also met with the chair of the trust board.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, 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 and visited some lessons.  The lead inspector spoke with the designated safeguarding leader and the deputy 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.

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 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, including free-text responses. Parents spoke to an inspector at the start of the day.

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Inspection team

Donna Briggs, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Karen Thomson Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 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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