Coxley Primary School

Inspection of Coxley Primary School Harters Hill Lane, Wells, Somerset BA5 1RD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 11 and 12 July 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between adults and pupils are warm and caring. Pupils enjoy coming to school. Leaders help develop pupils’ character by teaching them the school’s values, such as respect and resilience. Pupils know and understand these values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Classrooms are calm and purposeful. There is a positive attitude towards learning that is shown by all. Pupils are respectful of each other and their teachers. Pupils behave well because of leaders’ high expectations. There are clear rules and routines for pupils to follow. This helps to them to feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders expect pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve well. However, pupils do not experience a sufficiently well-designed curriculum as it remains underdeveloped. Leaders have not identified the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

After-school clubs, such as those for astronomy, rounders and athletics, help broaden pupils’ experiences and develop their talents and interests. Pupils enjoy street dance and didgeridoo club. They perform at local festivals and concerts. Older pupils talked fondly about a recent trip to London where they visited many famous landmarks and watched a theatre show.

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better?

The school’s previous Ofsted inspection, which took place in May 2022, identified concerns about the quality of education that pupils were receiving. Leaders have made some improvements to the wider curriculum to meet pupils’ learning needs. They have overhauled what is being taught, particularly in subjects such as history and art and design. However, leaders have not carried out these changes with enough rigour, and many curriculum areas are incomplete. Leaders have not decided on the important knowledge that children need to learn.

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better?

Where the curriculum is more established, such as in English and mathematics, pupils have a secure understanding of what they have learned. This content is organised in a logical order. Pupils have opportunities to build on what they have already learned. This includes pupils with SEND. Leaders are quick to identify and respond to the additional needs of pupils with SEND. Staff successfully make adaptations to their teaching. This means that pupils with SEND learn well alongside their peers.

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better?

Where leaders’ curriculum design is new or not in place, assessment practices are weak. Staff do not have a secure understanding of how well pupils have learned the content in these subjects. This means that pupils’ misconceptions are not always addressed, and some gaps in pupils’ knowledge remain. 11 and 12 July 2023

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The early years provision is a strength of the school. Leaders have created a purposeful curriculum and know what they want the children to learn and remember. Children build up their knowledge across all areas of learning and are ready to move into Year 1. For example, in mathematics, children can quickly recognise quantities of small groups of objects without counting.

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Reading is a priority. Children in early years begin learning to read as soon as they start school. Staff ensure that all pupils receive phonics teaching that meets their needs. Books match the sounds that pupils know. Pupils can use their phonic knowledge to sound out unfamiliar words. This means that they learn how to read with accuracy. Engaging reading areas in classrooms enthuse pupils. Older children read fluently and enjoy a wide range of books.

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Pupils appreciate having wider opportunities that they otherwise would not have. The curriculum for personal, social and health education has been carefully designed to ensure that pupils learn important content at the right time. By Year 6, pupils have a deep understanding of fundamental British values and can link these to their own lives and experiences. Pupils enjoy contributing to the life of the school. For example, they are keen to act as well-being ambassadors, where they support each other with mental health.

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Governors support the well-being of the headteacher and staff at the school. Leaders, including governors, take account of workload when making decisions about improving the school. Staff say that leaders create an atmosphere where everyone is valued and supported. However, governors do not have an accurate view of how well pupils learn in subjects across the wider curriculum. This means that they are not able to hold leaders to account to ensure that improving the quality of education is a priority.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that there are systems in the school to keep pupils safe. Staff know the pupils and their families well. All staff have received training and know how to recognise that pupils are at risk of harm. Leaders follow up these concerns quickly. They work with outside agencies to ensure that pupils get the right support. They check on the suitability of staff to work with pupils.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn to keep safe when online and they know that there are adults they can talk to about any concerns they have.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some of the wider curriculum subjects, leaders have not identified the important knowledge that they want pupils to know over time. This means that 11 and 12 July 2023

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pupils do not build a deep understanding of these subjects. Leaders need to ensure that all subjects identify the precise knowledge and skills pupils need to learn and revisit as they progress through the school.  Leaders are in the initial stages of refining assessment in subjects other than English and mathematics. They do not precisely understand how well pupils are learning the curriculum over time. Leaders need to strengthen the current assessment arrangements so that they are more knowledgeable about the impact the curriculum is having on pupils’ learning.  Governors do not have a sufficient depth of understanding of the quality of education pupils receive. Over time, they have not challenged leaders sufficiently about subjects across the wider curriculum. Governors need to ensure that they gain a clear oversight of the effectiveness of the quality of education and hold leaders rigorously to account for improving it.

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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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Katherine Kinshaw

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 May 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Coxley Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school and is organised across two mixed-aged classes.  The current headteacher took up her post in September 2021.  The school does not use alternative 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 second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 11 and 12 July 2023

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the designated safeguarding leads, members of staff, a representative from the local authority and members of the governing body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited samples of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s safeguarding documentation, including safeguarding checks carried out on staff working at the school. They reviewed how well the designated safeguarding leads act on concerns about pupils’ welfare. The lead inspector reviewed attendance and behaviour records.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free- text comments. They also evaluated the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Gavin Summerfield, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sarah O’Donnell Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 July 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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