Pyrland School

Inspection of Pyrland School Cheddon Road, Taunton, Somerset TA2 7QP

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Inspection dates: 28 and 31 January 2025

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The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Inadequate Personal development Inadequate Leadership and management Inadequate Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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The acting headteacher of this school is Joanne James. This school is part of the Richard Huish Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), John Abbott, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Jade Renville. 28 and 31 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pyrland School does not provide an acceptable standard of education for pupils. The curriculum is not ambitious about what pupils should know and do. While the school has begun to make some improvements to the curriculum, this work has been slow and has had little positive impact on pupils’ achievement. Staff do not have high-enough expectations of pupils. As a result, pupils lack the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in qualifications or their next phase of education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave poorly in classrooms and around the school site. Truancy from lessons and poor punctuality to lessons frequently disrupt learning. The behaviour system is unclear. Consequently, some staff are not sure how to manage pupils’ behaviour effectively and some pupils are openly defiant towards adults. High numbers of pupils receive sanctions for poor behaviour. These pupils then do not receive the support they need to learn from incidents, so poor behaviour is repeated. Bullying is common. Pupils have stopped reporting incidents to adults as they lack confidence in the school’s ability to help resolve concerns. This makes some pupils feel unsafe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The ‘Pyrland Promise’ sets out the opportunities that pupils will have to develop their talents and interest. Pupils look forward to events such as sporting competitions and trips that bring the curriculum to life.

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

The curriculum lacks ambition and is not designed well enough. In many subjects, individual teachers decide what pupils will learn, how and when. As a result, topics do not build on what pupils already know and pupils have difficulty recalling their learning. The school has begun to identify what pupils will learn each year, but this work is in its early stages.

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

The school has low expectations of pupils’ work. The methods chosen to teach the curriculum and check pupils’ understanding are not well matched to what pupils know and can do. For example, basic errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar are not addressed well enough, impacting negatively on the quality of pupils’ written communication.

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

The school has not ensured that staff have the expertise to use information about pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to adapt the curriculum effectively. This means that many pupils with SEND struggle to learn as well as they should. Recently, the school has improved the way that it identifies pupils with SEND. The newly opened Angelou Centre provides additional support for these pupils. However, this work has not been embedded sufficiently well.

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

Pupils, and particularly older pupils, do not receive the support they need to improve their reading fluency and accuracy. This is hindering pupils’ ability to improve their reading and learn the wider curriculum. The school has begun to introduce measures to raise the importance of reading. However, this work is at an early stage. 28 and 31 January 2025

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Too many pupils do not attend school frequently enough. This results in significant gaps in their learning over time. The school has recently raised expectations for attendance. It now monitors and challenges incidents of absence and persistent absence. However, this has not been effective in improving the absence of pupils.

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The school has introduced ‘The Pyrland Way’ and ‘The Pyrland Steps’ as routines to support more positive behaviours for learning. These are recent initiatives and have not had a positive impact on pupils’ conduct. The new house system is beginning to address this for some pupils, with greater rewards and collaborative activities.

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Some pupils do not understand the importance of the fundamental British values that underpin society. For example, they lack understanding about protected characteristics. This means that pupils do not know that racist and misogynistic comments should not be tolerated. Therefore, pupils are not well prepared for life in modern Britian. The personal development programme teaches pupils about healthy relationship in an age-appropriate way. The school provides pupils with information about careers and future post-16 options.

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There have been some recent changes in school leadership. Leaders are considerate of the impact of changes on the workload of staff. Nevertheless, the lack of coherence in systems to address poor behaviour impacts negatively on staff well-being.

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The school and the trust have not put systems in place to accurately evaluate and address the school’s weaknesses. Those responsible for governance understand their statutory responsibilities. However, when changes are made, those responsible for governance and the school do not assure themselves that they are leading to the intended improvements. This results in the trust holding a significantly over-generous view of the effectiveness of the school. Those responsible for governance do not challenge underperformance well enough or ensure that support to improve the school is effective.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum is not ambitious enough for pupils. Knowledge has not been clearly defined and sequenced. This means that pupils do not build on their prior learning or build their knowledge or understanding sufficiently well. The school should ensure that the curriculum sets out exactly what pupils will learn and when, so that pupils build knowledge and skills over time.  The school does not adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils well enough. This means that pupils with SEND and the weakest readers do not learn as well as they 28 and 31 January 2025

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should. The school should ensure that staff have the information and expertise they need to support pupils to learn the curriculum effectively.  The school does not have high-enough expectations for pupils’ conduct and attendance. Lessons are frequently disrupted, truancy from lessons is accepted and too many pupils are frequently absent. This impacts negatively on pupils’ ability to learn in an orderly environment. The school needs to improve pupils’ conduct and attendance.  The curriculum and wider experiences of pupils do not develop pupils’ character and understanding of their role as citizens. The toleration of poor behaviour, including bullying, does not teach pupils to respect others. Therefore, pupils are not prepared well enough for adult life. The school should ensure that pupils develop their understanding of how to be a responsible citizen within modern Britain.  The trust does not have an accurate understanding of the standard of education

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provided by the school, and has not acted with enough urgency to tackle weaknesses. As a result, strategic plans and actions taken are not focused on the areas of the school which need greatest improvement. The trust should ensure that there is accurate self-evaluation to inform governance and leadership decisions and the expertise to act swiftly and effectively to bring about sustained change.

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HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

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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). 28 and 31 January 2025

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School details

Headteacher Joanne James (Acting headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25 January 2024, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is part of the Richard Huish Trust.  There has been a change of leadership since the last inspection. The acting headteacher of this school took up post in January 2025.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 and 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  The school uses two registered and 11 unregistered alternative provisions.  This is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. A statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools was carried out in October 2017.

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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 28 and 31 January 2025

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(quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and 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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In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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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.  The inspection started on 28 January 2025. It was paused in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy. Inspectors returned on the 31 January 2025 to complete the inspection.  Inspectors held discussions with school leaders at all levels. Inspectors also spoke with teaching staff, support staff, trust executive leaders, local governors and trustees.  An inspector spoke with a representative of the Diocese of Bath and Wells.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science, art and design technology. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussion about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about

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their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school, including at lunchtime and breaktimes.  Inspectors met with leaders responsible for pupils with SEND and considered the support provided to meet the needs of these pupils.  Inspectors viewed a range of school documentation, including the minutes of governance and trustee meetings, the school’s self-evaluation documents and improvement plans.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the view 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 the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, as well as responses to the staff survey and pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Sara Berry, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 28 and 31 January 2025

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Heather Barraclough His Majesty’s Inspector

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James Oldham His Majesty’s Inspector 28 and 31 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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