Bowhill Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Bowhill Primary School Buddle Lane, St Thomas, Exeter, Devon EX4 1JT

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Outcome

Bowhill Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Anna Lopez. This school is part of Exeter Learning 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 (CEO), Rachel Shaw, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Suzanna Curtis.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bowhill Primary School is a happy, welcoming and inclusive place to be. Pupils are respectful and courteous. They take pride in holding doors open and greeting others with a smile. Staff take time to build positive relationships with pupils to help them to feel well cared for. This is one of the many aspects of the school that parents and carers speak highly of.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school, alongside the trust, are determined for pupils to be successful in all that they do. The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve through its well- designed, ambitious curriculum. Pupils live up to these and typically learn the curriculum well. They show positive attitudes both in lessons and around the school. This begins in the early years where children know securely what is expected of them, preparing them well for the move into Year 1.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils partake in a range of experiences that extend beyond the academic. They value the many clubs they can attend to develop their interests and to widen their friendship groups, such as chess and gymnastics club. Pupils talk fondly about the residentials they attend to try new activities, such as weaselling. 13 and 14 May 2025

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

Leaders at all levels, including those responsible for governance, have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and where there is further work to do. Since the previous inspection, there has been a clear and well-led focus on developing key aspects of the school. The school has taken effective steps to respond to the low published outcomes for some subjects in 2024. Leaders have not shied away from making important curriculum decisions in the best interests of pupils. As a result, pupils’ current learning is stronger in these areas.

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

The school has placed a sharp focus on the design of the curriculum to ensure that staff are clear about the important knowledge pupils need to learn. This begins in the early years up to Year 6, with careful consideration given to how pupils build their knowledge in mixed-aged classes.

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

The school follows a clear teaching approach through the ‘Bowhill standards’. Staff value the training provided to support the development of their expertise. Pupils are given regular opportunities to revisit what they have learned before to help them to remember their prior knowledge. Teachers use questioning skilfully to help pupils to make connections in their learning. This helps them to know how well pupils are building their knowledge. However, occasionally, some pupils make repeated errors in their work that go unaddressed. This leads to pupils embedding these misconceptions.

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

Teachers provide pupils with learning tasks that match the ambition of the curriculum. The school supports pupils’ writing with resources to help develop accuracy in handwriting, spelling and punctuation. This is helping pupils to build their knowledge more securely, particularly in English lessons. However, the expectations of how well pupils write across the wider curriculum are variable. Sometimes there are not high enough expectations of the quality of work pupils are capable of producing, or ensuring accuracy in their handwriting, spelling and punctuation. When this happens, some pupils produce work that does not fully demonstrate their learning.

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

The school prioritises ensuring pupils learn to read. Pupils are given time to practise reading books that match the sounds they know. The school identifies and supports well any pupils who may need more help to become confident and fluent readers.

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

Inclusion is a strength. The school uses a clear process to identify early pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This ensures that these pupils get the support they need to learn the curriculum well. The school works intensively on the provision for pupils with more challenging behaviour to help them to be successful. This work is having a positive impact on these pupils, including a reduction in the number of suspensions.

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

The school is unwavering in its approach to improving attendance for pupils. It tracks carefully how well pupils attend and monitors the impact of the actions taken. This work is making a difference to ensure that pupils attend well. The school has recently started working in a focused way to improve the attendance of some disadvantaged pupils who do not yet attend well enough. 13 and 14 May 2025

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Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain through the school’s work on the fundamental British values. Pupils experience democracy through voting for pupil leadership positions. They are clear about respecting the views of others that may be different to their own. Pupils learn about different faiths and cultures and understand the importance of equality.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Across the wider curriculum, the school’s expectations of pupils’ written work are not consistently high enough. As a result, the quality of some pupils’ written work is variable in these subjects and weaknesses in their handwriting, spelling and punctuation are sometimes not addressed. The trust should ensure that expectations of pupils’ written work are consistently high across the curriculum, and that misconceptions or gaps in writing skills are addressed in a timely and consistent way.  The checks the school makes on how well pupils are learning the curriculum are underdeveloped. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge that persist and so do not build a secure body of knowledge based on what they already know and remember. The trust should ensure staff have the expertise to identify any knowledge gaps and make appropriate adaptations to learning tasks to address these areas.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately. 13 and 14 May 2025

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Bowhill Primary School, to be good for overall effectiveness in November 2016.

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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). 13 and 14 May 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Bowhill Primary School is part of Exeter Learning Academy Trust.  Since the previous inspection, there has been a change in leadership. The headteacher and deputy headteacher joined the school in September 2023.  The school currently uses two unregistered alternative provisions.  The school provides a before- and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school's education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 13 and 14 May 2025

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 The inspector spoke with school leaders, curriculum leaders, staff, those responsible for governance, a trust leader and the CEO.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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 inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. Additionally, the inspector spoke to pupils to discuss their views about the school.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including any free-text comments, as well as Ofsted’s online survey for pupils and staff.

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Inspection team

Esther Best, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 13 and 14 May 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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