North Cadbury Church of England Primary School

Inspection of North Cadbury Church of England Primary School Cary Road, North Cadbury, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7DE

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 September 2023

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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

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Lisa Thompson. This school is part of the Preston Primary Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Bernie Green, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Mike Kerrigan. 19 and 20 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at North Cadbury have a warm relationship with staff. As a small school, staff know pupils and their families well. Pupils are confident in the care staff give them. They feel happy and secure and mix readily with each other. Children in pre-school eat lunch with key stage 1 pupils. They join the older pupils for school celebrations and assemblies. Older pupils look after younger pupils. They adapt their playground games so younger pupils can join in.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for pupils. Pupils enjoy their lessons and achieve well. They perform highly in published outcomes. Pupils are polite and kind. They are proud of their school values, which encompass ‘respect and dignity’. Pupils are caring towards one another. Incidents of bullying are rare and unkindness is promptly dealt with.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school plans an extensive range of trips, experiences and clubs for pupils. These are well-attended. Trips support the curriculum, as well as taking pupils to places of cultural interest. For example, older pupils visit the capital cities of London and Cardiff. Clubs change termly to offer a wide range of interests. Pupils try many different sports, for example, soft archery. In music lessons, all pupils learn musical instruments, such as the flute.

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better?

The school has planned an ambitious and broad curriculum from Reception through to Year 6. Classes learn in mixed-age groups. The school ensures the learning is well sequenced. Pupils build on their learning over time. The school plans a curriculum for children in Reception Year with a focus on early mathematics and literacy. This prepares children well for the next stage of their learning. Teachers select books to read with the children and plan learning to enthuse them. For example, following a reading of ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’, children are creative in their role play. Staff working with Nursery and Reception children interact skilfully. They help children to develop their language skills.

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better?

Staff plan the curriculum collaboratively. Teachers use the knowledge they want pupils to remember to assess how well they recall their learning. This helps pupils to remember more. In mathematics, teachers are prompt to identify when pupils have not understood. In history, pupils develop a sense of time and learn a chronology of important events. Pupils recall their learning well.

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better?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well-supported. The school acts quickly to identify pupils’ needs early in their education. They make sure the strategies to support pupils are appropriate. Teachers receive training to help them make the adaptations pupils need, when they need them. As a result, pupils learn well. 19 and 20 September 2023

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Children in Reception Year begin the reading programme almost as soon as they start. In pre-school, children learn the shapes and sounds of letters. Training supports staff to teach the reading programme well. Teachers track carefully how well pupils make progress through the curriculum. When pupils need extra help, teachers make sure they have what they need to keep up. The school has planned an ambitious reading curriculum. Pupils are keen to talk about their experiences of reading.

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In lessons, pupils are attentive. The school has clear expectations for how pupils behave. Some younger pupils are still learning to follow the routines. A minority of pupils do not attend well. Previously, the school has not followed up pupil attendance as thoroughly as it could. The school has recently shared its expectations for attendance with staff and parents. It has clear procedures in place to deal with attendance issues.

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The school has planned a well-structured personal, social and health education curriculum. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and changes to their body in a timely way. Older pupils enjoy roles such as team captain or being part of the well- being team. They represent their houses and lead younger pupils. Younger children learn about nature and well-being in their ‘hygge’ lessons.

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Working with the trust, the school and governors have brought systematic change to the school. The school monitors improvement carefully. Yet, the school sometimes does not plan precise actions in response to this. Through professional development and the school’s recognition of workload, staff are well-supported. Staff, parents and pupils are proud of the school and the vast changes it has made. The school is especially looking forward to the new classrooms opening imminently.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A minority of pupils do not attend well. The school has not previously acted as thoroughly as it could to address the low attendance of a small number of pupils. The systems for following up attendance issues have been recently revised and communicated with staff and parents. The trust and the school need to ensure those systems are now embedded.  Although monitoring and assurance processes are in place, the school has not considered some of the finer detail from this. As a result, in some aspects of school development, the school has not used this information to plan next steps. The trust and the school need to make sure they evaluate the information they have, so they can be precise in planning actions. 19 and 20 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). 19 and 20 September 2023

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School details

Website www.northcadburyprimaryschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 North Cadbury Church of England Primary School joined the Preston Primary Academy Trust in 2019.  The school is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Its last Section 48 inspection was in May 2019.  The school uses no alternative providers.  There is a breakfast club and after-school club for pupils who attend the school.

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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 educational provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 19 and 20 September 2023

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 Inspectors held conversations with the headteacher, school leaders, staff and members of the local governing body. They also held conversations with the chair of trustees and a representative from the diocese.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to pupils in Years 1 and 2 read to an adult.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single 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.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text

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comments, and the view of pupils and staff in Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Rachel Hesketh, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Marcia Northeast Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 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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