Farway Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Farway Church of England Primary School Church Green, Farway, Colyton, Devon EX24 6EQ

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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 Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 19 and 20 March 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are happy and feel safe. Pupils are proud of the ‘family feel’ of the school. Pupils talk positively about the school’s values of love, trust and respect. These values help them to feel a sense of responsibility. As a result, pupils look after each other. Pupils know what it means to be a role model. Older pupils know the importance of setting a good example to younger pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are keen to learn. However, they do not learn effectively. This is because the curriculum is not implemented well in several subjects. So pupils do not build their knowledge securely.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s curriculum for pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school. As a result, pupils know that everyone should be treated equally. There are a range of clubs to help to develop pupils’ interests, such as art, film and sports clubs. Pupils also participate in residential experiences which helps them to develop their confidence and independence.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop strong links with the local community. They value the ‘open the book’ assemblies delivered by the local church. Pupils enjoy having the opportunity to read stories to older members of the community. Parents appreciate the support they get from staff.

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better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has not been swift enough to make effective changes to improve the curriculum. The school and the federation have not worked strategically to improve the quality of education for the pupils at this school. As a result, the quality of education for pupils is not good. The recently appointed interim executive board, which replaces the previous governing body, understand what the school needs to do to improve. Their collective experience means that they are in a position to hold the school to account.

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better?

The school has made some improvements to the reading curriculum. Children learn their phonic sounds as soon as they start school. However, assessment is not always used effectively to check what pupils know. This means that expectations of what pupils can achieve is sometimes too low. Staff do not routinely model language accurately to pupils. This means pupils are not always secure in their pronunciation of words and sentences. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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better?

In other subjects, such as mathematics, the curriculum is well planned and coherently sequenced. However, the work pupils complete in is not always based on what they have learned and understood. This means pupils do not build their knowledge progressively over time. As a result, pupils are not always secure in their learning. 19 and 20 March 2024

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The school is aware that further work is required to support staff with the implementation of the curriculum and to check its impact. Currently, the implementation of the curriculum does not match the intent of school leaders. This has led to a lack of ambition for what pupils can achieve. Teachers do not adapt the curriculum to reflect the different ages and needs of pupils within mixed-age classes. This means older pupils lack effective challenge and the curriculum does not meet the needs of all younger pupils. As a result, pupils develop gaps in their knowledge.

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Staff are quick to recognise the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the targets to support pupils with SEND are not always precise enough. As a result, the curriculum is not well matched to their needs.

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Children in the early years play well together. They are kind and polite to one another. The environment is calm and organised with a range of activities that reflect the interests of children. This means children enjoy learning. However, the school has not designed the early years curriculum well. It has not clearly identified small steps in learning that build progressively to link to learning in Year 1 and beyond. As a result, children are not well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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The school has systems in place to track the attendance of pupils. This has led to some improvements in rates of attendance. However, the school is aware that further work is needed.

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Staff have mixed opinions on how their workload and well-being are considered by the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Subject leadership in some subjects is at an early stage of development. This means staff are not always well supported to implement the curriculum effectively. For example, in some subjects, teachers do not use assessment to adapt the curriculum sufficiently well. This means pupils do not build on prior learning. The school should ensure that all subject leaders are well trained, so that subjects are implemented effectively to ensure pupils know and remember the curriculum’s essential knowledge.  The provision and targets for pupils with SEND are not precise enough to help them to achieve well. The school should ensure that the support for pupils with SEND is effective, so that all pupils follow the curriculum successfully. 19 and 20 March 2024

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 The school has not clearly identified the important knowledge and skills that children will learn through the early years curriculum. As a result, children do not gain the knowledge that they need to be prepared for Year 1 and beyond. The school should ensure that the content of the early years curriculum is clearly defined, understood and delivered effectively.

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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 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority Interim executive board

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 January 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Jubilee with Pebblebed Federation.  The Head of Learning is Ashleigh Tubbs.  This is a smaller than the average primary school.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school has a nursery school for two-, three- and four-year-old children.  This is a Church of England (Voluntary-Aided) Primary School with a Christian character. A section 48 inspection was carried out in March 2017.

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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. 19 and 20 March 2024

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 The inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with teachers, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspectors met with leaders from the school, the interim executive board and the diocese.  The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted’s

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online survey, Parent View, and by talking to parents before and after school. The inspectors also evaluated responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

James Gentile, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Cameron Lancaster Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 March 2024

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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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