Threlkeld CofE Primary School

Inspection of Threlkeld C of E Primary School Blease Road, Threlkeld, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 4RX

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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 Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The acting head of school is Alicia Fenton. This school is part of the Good Shepherd Trust, a multi-academy trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. Wendy Kendall is the executive headteacher of this school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Claire Render, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Peter Ballard. 1 and 2 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this calm and nurturing school. They have forged positive, caring relationships with staff and with each other. Pupils, including children in the early years, get along well and support each other. They feel well cared for and know that everyone is a valued member of this small community. Pupils behave well. They consistently uphold the school’s values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced considerable changes in its leadership and staffing. This has had an impact on the school’s work to improve. While the school is ambitious for all pupils, these aspirations are not yet realised. In the early years, and in some subjects, pupils achieve well. However, the curriculum does not support pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to build their knowledge securely across all subjects. With the support of the trust, the school has made changes to improve how well pupils learn. However, many of these changes are new and are not fully implemented.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending extra-curricular activities, including choir, games and yoga. They enjoy contributing to the local community, for example through picking up litter, raising money for charity and through their roles in the school council.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school’s curriculum is broad and ambitious. The knowledge that pupils should learn each year is clearly identified, starting from the early years. However, the school has not ensured that staff are enabled to deliver the curriculum well. For example, staff do not ensure that the curriculum consistently builds on the knowledge of all pupils within mixed- aged classes. Furthermore, activity choices are not always effective in supporting pupils to learn and remember what they have been taught. This hinders pupils’ learning.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school makes checks on how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. In the early years, and in some subjects, these checks are used well to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and to inform subsequent teaching. However, in several subjects, assessment is not used with enough precision to check whether pupils have learned the intended knowledge securely. As a result, pupils, including those with SEND, develop gaps in their knowledge.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school recently identified that the systems for identifying and meeting the additional needs of pupils with SEND were not robust enough. With the support of the trust, the school has been proactive in taking action to address this. This includes developing staff’s knowledge of, and expertise in, how to effectively support pupils within lessons and through targeted intervention. These processes and practices are newly developed. Their implementation is yet to be embedded.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is prioritised from the early years to Year 6. The school ensures that pupils access a broad range of texts. The school’s established phonics programme is delivered 1 and 2 October 2024

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consistently well. It helps pupils to quickly gain the knowledge and skills that they need to read. The support that the school provides for pupils who struggle with reading helps them to quickly gain confidence and fluency. Pupils achieve well in reading.

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Pupils, including children in the early years, have positive attitudes to learning, and they work hard in lessons. They offer each other praise and encouragement as they proudly share their achievements in their learning. The school ensures that pupils and their families understand the importance of regular school attendance. It takes effective action to ensure that those pupils who do not attend school as regularly as they should, get the support they need.

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The school has a broad personal, social, health and economic education curriculum that reflects the needs of the pupils and the local community. Pupils develop a strong understanding of fundamental British values and know how these relate to the school’s values. Pupils broaden their experiences through taking part in cultural days and trips to places that are of contrast to the school’s immediate context. They celebrate diversity and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Trustees and governors are committed to improving the school. Throughout the recent period of turbulence in staffing, they have focused on bringing about stability to the school. However, this meant that improvement work started following the last inspection had slowed. The trust and those responsible for governance are aware that there is more to do to ensure that pupils develop their knowledge securely across the curriculum. They have clear plans to address this through effective challenge and support, while also being considerate of the impact on staff’s workload and well-being. These plans have already begun to be put into place.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not ensured that staff have the knowledge and skills to deliver the curriculum consistently as intended. As a result, pupils do not understand and retain knowledge sufficiently well. The school should ensure that the curriculum is implemented consistently so that pupils’ learning builds securely.  The school has not established effective assessment systems to check whether pupils have learned the intended curriculum knowledge. As a result, gaps in pupils’ learning are not always identified and their learning is hindered. The school should ensure that assessment strategies support staff to identify and address gaps in pupils’ learning so pupils gain the depth of knowledge that they need to be well prepared for the next stage of their education. 1 and 2 October 2024

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 Until recently, the systems and processes to identify and support pupils with SEND have not been rigorous enough. This means that the school has not been able to check that pupils’ needs are being swiftly identified, or that the support that pupils receive is having the intended impact. The school should embed its new systems for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND so that they are effectively supported and achieve well across the curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

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 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). 1 and 2 October 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23 March 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has experienced considerable changes to leadership and staffing since the previous inspection. This includes a new leadership structure, which comprises of an executive headteacher and a head of school.  This is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Carlisle. The school has not received its first section 48 inspection since becoming an academy school in June 2021. The predecessor school, Threlkeld C of E Primary School had its last section 48 inspection in 2017.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision for pupils.  The school operates a before- and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and 1 and 2 October 2024

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management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth-form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the acting head of school, the executive headteacher and other leaders within the school and the trust. The lead inspector spoke to the chief executive officer of the Good Shepherd Trust and members of the board of trustees. Inspectors met with members of the local governing board, including the chair of governors. Inspectors also spoke to a representative of the Diocese of Carlisle.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: mathematics, geography and English, including early reading. 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. Inspectors also discussed

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the curriculum in some other subjects.  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.  The lead inspector listened to pupils read to a known adult.  Inspectors observed pupils at breaktime, lunchtime and when moving around the school.  Inspectors spoke to parents and carers and considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors spoke to pupils and to staff to gather their views. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and for pupils.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including those related to the governance of the school.

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Inspection team

Liz Dayton, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alison Dickinson Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 October 2024

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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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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