Cobden Primary School & Community Centre

Inspection of Cobden Primary School & Community Centre Cobden Street, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 1AF

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 January 2025

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

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The headteacher of this school is Kate Litchfield. This school is part of Bradgate Education Partnership, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Gareth Nelmes, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Stephen Cotton. 21 and 22 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Cobden Primary is a welcoming and friendly school where pupils are celebrated for their individuality. Pupils arrive at school with an eagerness to learn. The new school values are beginning to help pupils to be ‘resilient, proud, caring and ambitious’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. The school has recently reviewed its behaviour policy. Subsequent changes have been positive but are at an early stage of implementation. The school recognises that there is more to do to ensure that expectations of behaviour are always made clear to pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school aspires for its pupils to achieve well. Actions to improve some aspects of the curriculum have been effective. However, pupils do not learn as well as they could in other areas. The school is taking action to ensure the whole curriculum is well designed and clearly sequenced.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils talk proudly about their leadership roles, including as sports leaders and school councillors. These help to develop pupils’ sense of responsibility. Pupils learn about future opportunities and careers. Right from the early years, the school has budding hairdressers and vets. While pupils learn about important fundamental British values, their knowledge and understanding of these are limited. Pupils are not prepared fully for life in modern Britain.

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

The school is working successfully to bring about improvements. It is further ahead in some areas than others. The school is reviewing the curriculum to ensure it is increasingly broad and balanced. These curriculum developments are at an early stage. The school has not identified the important knowledge pupils need to learn in some subjects from early years upwards. As a result, in these subjects, the chosen activities and resources are sometimes not matched well enough to what pupils need to know. When this happens, pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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

In some subjects, the school checks the impact of the curriculum carefully so that gaps in pupils’ knowledge are identified and resolved. However, in other subjects, information is not gathered or used effectively to shape pupils’ future learning. In a few subjects, pupils’ misconceptions are not resolved quickly enough. Consequently, inaccuracies in pupils’ understanding become embedded over time.

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

A love of reading flows through the school. This starts in the Nursery, where children learn rhymes, poems and songs. In the Reception Year, children begin to learn how to read and are introduced to a range of books. Pupils enjoy reading and describe their favourite books and authors with enthusiasm. The school ensures any pupils who find reading difficult get the extra support they need to catch up quickly. Many pupils become confident, fluent readers. 21 and 22 January 2025

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There are suitable processes in place for identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school works closely with external organisations to secure appropriate advice and help for pupils. Pupils who speak English as an additional language receive bespoke support to allow them to access the curriculum. The school celebrates the rich and diverse cultures that the pupils bring. Pupils are proud of who they are and where they come from.

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The pastoral support for pupils is a strength of the school. Pupils who need help to manage their emotions receive expert support from skilled staff in ‘The Ark’. The provision for pupils’ personal development is designed to build pupils’ awareness of some important issues. Pupils learn how to stay safe, including online, and the importance of healthy mental well-being. While pupils learn about British values, including respect and tolerance, some pupils do not develop a sufficient understanding of these. They are less well prepared for life beyond the local community than they should be.

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Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning are variable throughout the school day. At times, pupils listen well to staff. However, during social times, some pupils can be disrespectful. The school has already made important changes to arrangements at lunchtimes, and incidents of poor behaviour are reducing.

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The school has strong systems in place to support families and their children’s attendance. There are signs that pupils’ attendance is improving. At the moment, the number of pupils who are persistently absent remains too high. These pupils miss out on vital learning.

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The school and the trust have an ambitious vision for the school. They share a relentless determination that all pupils will succeed. Rapid improvements have been made already. The most important actions required to improve the school further are being prioritised. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the impact of the recent changes. They value the care and consideration given to their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the school has not identified the key knowledge that pupils should learn from early years to Year 6. This hinders teachers in designing learning that helps pupils build their knowledge over time. The school should ensure the key knowledge in all subjects is identified so staff are clear about what pupils should learn and how and when it should be taught.  Checks on pupils’ knowledge and understanding in some subjects are in the very early stages. As a result, misconceptions and gaps in pupils’ knowledge are sometimes not 21 and 22 January 2025

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identified or rectified. When this happens, pupils struggle to recall their learning. The school should ensure staff implement the curriculum effectively in each subject and check pupils have secured the intended knowledge.  Expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are not consistently high during the school day. Some pupils do not show respect to their peers and staff in school. This hinders pupils’ learning and their enjoyment of social times. The school should ensure that new systems to manage pupils’ behaviour continue to impact their conduct and attitudes positively.  Some pupils do not attend school as often as they should. They are missing out on vital learning and opportunities to socialise with their peers. The school should continue to review the impact of its recent work to improve attendance and implement further improvements so pupils attend well.  Pupils’ knowledge and understanding of British values are not secure. They are not as

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well prepared for life beyond the local community as they could be. The school should ensure that pupils’ knowledge and understanding of British values are embedded fully so pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.

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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 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). 21 and 22 January 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 July 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school joined Bradgate Education Partnership in April 2024.  The headteacher took up the post in August 2024.  There are currently two acting assistant headteachers and an acting deputy headteacher at the school.  The school has a Nursery for children aged two to four years old.  The school manages a breakfast club and an after-school club.  The school does not make use of 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. 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 management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form 21 and 22 January 2025

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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 headteacher, the acting deputy headteacher, the acting assistant headteachers and a range of staff.  Inspectors met with trust leaders. The lead inspector met with the CEO, the chair of the board of trustees and members of the local advisory board.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography and science. 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 considered the curriculum in some other subjects.  The lead inspector listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.

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 Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. In addition, they met with pupils informally and formally to hear their views.  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 the views of parents and carers through their responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors also considered the views of staff through Ofsted’s online survey for staff. An inspector spoke to parents at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

Kirsty Norbury, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Ian McNeilly Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 January 2025

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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