a school not in a category of concern of Eggbuckland Community College

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.1

Heather Lilley Principal Eggbuckland Community College Westcott Close Eggbuckland Plymouth Devon PL6 5YB

p.1

Community College

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 4 July 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

p.1

Community College

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

p.1

Community College

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders and a trustee the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also carried out visits to lessons and conducted work and document scrutiny. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

p.1

Main findings

Since the previous inspection, there have been changes of responsibility among senior leaders. This includes new leadership in the sixth form. The school has focused on improving the quality of education. It has used professional development effectively to begin to strengthen teaching. For example, teachers implement consistently the school’s intended approaches when presenting information to pupils. As a result, pupils concentrate well on new subject matter. Teaching is increasingly focused on helping pupils to gain the most important knowledge and skills they need. For example, in mathematics, the school has agreed approaches to teaching important concepts, such as Pythagoras’ theorem. However, improvements to teaching are in their infancy. Therefore, it is too soon to fully evaluate their impact.

p.1

Main findings

The school is using assessment increasingly effectively. For example, there is emerging evidence that pupils’ existing knowledge and understanding are better checked. Teaching is beginning to remedy gaps in pupils’ knowledge, such as in their foundational knowledge in English and mathematics. The school has started to ensure that the curriculum is more precisely adapted to meet the needs of pupils. For instance, there is evidence of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receiving the support they need to learn the curriculum. However, there is further work to do to fully embed these improvements and ensure that the curriculum is fully adapted to meet pupils’ needs.

p.2

Main findings

The school has raised its expectations of the quality of pupils’ written work. As a result, there is some evidence of pupils deepening their knowledge and understanding the work that they produce. Pupils, and sixth-form students, welcome these higher expectations and are taking greater pride in their written work. However, further work is required to ensure that the school’s raised expectations of written work are consistently understood and upheld by staff and pupils.

p.2

Main findings

Trustees, school leaders and trust leaders share a common vision for strengthening the quality of education. They have acted swiftly to begin the necessary journey of improvement. The school has benefited from internal support from the trust to strengthen teaching. Leaders use effective systems to gain insights into the quality of education. Trustees, in turn, are maintaining strong oversight and holding leaders to account.

p.2

Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the Westcountry Schools trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Plymouth. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

p.2