Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Inspection of Salway Ash Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Salwayash, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5JE

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 13 and 14 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave exceptionally well. This starts in Reception Year, where children learn to share, take turns and listen to each other. During breaktimes, ‘Bronze Ambassadors’ organise games that encourage pupils of all ages to play together. Pupils respond to each other with kindness and respect. Parents and carers say their children are safe, happy and enjoy school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years settle quickly into school. Positive relationships between staff and pupils help pupils to become independent, resilient learners, willing to ‘have a go’. Pupils are keen to learn the school’s ambitious new curriculum. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Carefully planned enrichment activities build pupils’ confidence and knowledge of the school’s values. For example, pupils perform in the annual talent show, and some are pen pals with residents in a local care home. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about outdoor education, sporting events, trips and residentials. They value the various roles and responsibilities they are elected to carry out. School councillors are proud of the spirituality garden they designed and built with help from the school community. Pupils learn to be active citizens in their school community.

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better?

The school has high expectations for the academic and personal development of all pupils. The school meets the needs of individual pupils right from the start. Staff get to know the interests and needs of children before they start school. Appropriate adaptations are then made to ensure that disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn the same curriculum as their peers.

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better?

In the early years, there is a sharp focus on the development of children’s communication and language skills. Children are encouraged to explore and use new words from songs, rhymes and stories they hear. When learning to read, staff quickly identify pupils who need additional practice to secure their phonic knowledge. Reading books closely match the phonemes and graphemes pupils learn. Regular practice of segmenting and blending, reading and writing secures pupils’ phonic knowledge well. Pupils learn to be successful readers.

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better?

The school selects high-quality texts to read to pupils and discuss in class. This helps to extend pupils’ vocabulary and deepen their reading comprehension successfully. Pupils use the library regularly to choose books to read for pleasure. They enjoy talking about the authors and books they like.

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better?

The school’s curriculum sets out detailed sequences of learning from Reception Year to Year 6. The school’s expected end-of-year outcomes match the early years foundation stage and national curriculum expectations. However, the curriculum’s 13 and 14 September 2023

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important content is not clearly emphasised in some subjects. This makes it difficult for staff to check what pupils must know and remember. Consequently, pupils have gaps in their knowledge in some subjects. For example, pupils can recall their learning and name the world’s continents and oceans. However, they cannot remember important curriculum content about the United Kingdom or rivers.

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Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in their community and online. They understand what healthy relationships are and how to manage money. The new curriculum is helping pupils to make links in their learning to real-life examples. For example, pupils published a book, ‘Food Glorious Food’, with healthy recipes and accompanying stories. Through the curriculum and educational visits, pupils are developing their knowledge and experience of life in modern Britain.

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The school has high aspirations for pupils’ behaviour. This is evident in pupils’ exemplary conduct and attitudes to learning. There is a calm and orderly environment in the school. The school ensures that pupils who need additional support to recognise and manage their feelings receive the right help. Pupils are equipped with the tools and confidence to manage their own behaviour and to secure friendships.

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The well-being of pupils, parents and staff has a high profile at the school. Pupils enjoy and attend school regularly. There are established systems for checking that pupils are safe when absent. The school supports parents to improve their child’s attendance. Staff appreciate the school’s consideration and support for their well- being.

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Leaders at all levels, including governors, know and understand the school’s strengths and areas for development. They have a clear vision for the school. The school has systems in place to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of leaders’ actions accurately.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not check that pupils can recall the curriculum’s important content in some subjects. This means that pupils have gaps in their essential knowledge. The school needs to refine the curriculum further in these subjects to ensure that pupils have opportunities to learn and review important knowledge to know and remember more. 13 and 14 September 2023

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 13 and 14 September 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23 January 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a Dorset local authority maintained school.  The school is part of the Diocese of Salisbury and the West Dorset Schools Collaboration.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2021.  The school does not use any 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

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  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. 13 and 14 September 2023

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 The inspectors met with the headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, staff, pupils and governors, including the chair of the governing body and a representative from Dorset local authority.  The lead inspector listened to pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 read to a known adult.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons in phonics, mathematics and geography, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors also observed pupils during breaktimes and spoke with pupils and leaders about personal, social and health education and opportunities for pupils’ personal development.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The lead inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. She also took into consideration the responses to the surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Marie Thomas, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Martin Greenwood Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 September 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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