The Clinton Church of England Primary School

Inspection of The Clinton Church of England Primary School Merton, Okehampton, Devon EX20 3EQ

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

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The headteacher of this school is Samantha Drew. This school is part of Alumnis Multi- Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is currently being run by interim co-leaders Rachael Sharpe and Mark Blackman and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sian Jenkins. 15 and 16 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school and trust leaders have not done enough to arrest the decline in pupil achievement across the school. This means that pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education. Teaching does not ensure that pupils build knowledge sufficiently well over time. Furthermore, pupils do not build confidence, resilience and independence appropriately for their ages. Consequently, pupils are not prepared well for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming, calm school where pupils feel safe. They are kind and considerate. Pupils value the close relationships they have with staff. Pupils know they can speak to a member of staff if they have any concerns. However, many pupils report feeling unsettled due to ongoing changes within the school, such as Key Stage 2 pupils having to relocate to another school pending the appointment of a new teacher.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school aims to develop pupils’ character with a regular focus on different character virtues. Pupils engage with a range of activities linked to the school’s ‘Change Maker’ award, which encourages them to contribute positively to their community. They speak with pride about raising funds for local and international charities, and enjoy opportunities to discuss and debate wider societal issues. Events such as the harvest festival help to foster a sense of community and belonging.

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

Since the previous inspection, the school’s actions to improve the quality of education have been too slow and ineffective. Furthermore, the turbulence in staffing, within the school and the trust has contributed to a lack of consistent and effective oversight. As a result, pupils experience an inadequate standard of education and do not achieve well.

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

The curriculum outlines the essential knowledge and skills that pupils are expected to learn. However, the school’s arrangements to check pupils’ understanding are weak. This means that staff do not have a clear understanding of the gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Therefore, the activities that pupils complete often do not match what they are able to do. This means that pupils continue in their learning with gaps in their knowledge and are not ready for the next stage of their education.

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

The school has not ensured that pupils learn to read to an age-appropriate standard. The teaching of phonics lacks rigour and precision. Staff do not have the subject expertise to ensure that phonics teaching is effective. Therefore, too many pupils have gaps in their phonics knowledge. Pupils who are behind in their reading are not given the support that they need to catch up with their peers. Furthermore, pupils who are already fluent readers are not sufficiently challenged. The reading activities provided for them lack ambition and do not support pupils’ reading development sufficiently.

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

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive the support they require to enable them to learn successfully and confidently. While the school does identify and assess the needs of pupils with SEND accurately, this information is not used 15 and 16 July 2025

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effectively to inform teaching. The lack of tailored provision means that these pupils are unable to access the curriculum fully and do not make the progress through the curriculum of which they are capable. As a result, pupils with SEND are not appropriately supported in lessons and do not achieve well.

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Pupils are polite to staff. However, because learning activities are not well matched to pupils’ abilities many pupils lose concentration. This leads to instances of low-level disruption which hinder learning. The school monitors pupils’ attendance closely. Staff work proactively with families where attendance is a concern, offering support to help overcome barriers to regular attendance.

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The school provides a range of opportunities to support pupils’ personal development. Visits to museums and the zoo enrich pupils’ learning experiences. The school also celebrates its strong military links, including visits from serving soldiers. These experiences help pupils to develop an awareness of potential future careers. However, too many pupils cannot communicate and read sufficiently well for their age which means pupils do not build confidence and resilience effectively.

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Children in nursery learn to listen to stories and are keen to share their ideas with staff. However, the quality of provision in the early years is inconsistent and lacks effective oversight from the school and the trust. As a result, some children do not have access to appropriate or sufficiently ambitious learning activities. This limits their ability to develop the essential skills and knowledge needed for future learning. Consequently, children in the early years are not as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they could be.

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Trust leaders have not done enough to develop staff expertise or manage their workload effectively. As a result, pupils’ education and staff well-being have suffered. The trust recognises the significant challenges the school faces, but it has not acted swiftly enough to tackle the widespread decline in educational standards

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The trust has not taken effective action to stabilise the recent turbulence in staffing at the school. Consequently, staff are stretched beyond capacity. The trust must take urgent action to stabilise the staffing at the school and provide much needed capacity at leadership level so that all aspects of the school’s provision improve rapidly. 15 and 16 July 2025

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 The school does not make sure that teaching of the curriculum is adapted effectively to the needs of pupils with SEND. As a result, pupils with SEND do not progress well through the curriculum. The trust should ensure that it enables pupils with SEND to learn subject curriculums and to achieve well.  The school does not use assessment effectively enough to check what pupils know and remember. As a result, staff do not design tasks which are ambitious or take into account what pupils already know and can do. This means pupils do not build knowledge securely. The trust needs to ensure that teachers use assessment effectively to check pupil understanding and support them to design tasks that help pupils to know more over time.  In the early years, the quality of the activities to help children learn are variable. This means that opportunities for children to deepen or consolidate their knowledge are less

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effective than they could be. The trust should ensure that children’s learning is maximised in all activities, so that they achieve as well as they should and are ready for the next stage of their education.  Staff do not have the expertise required to deliver some curriculum subjects as intended or to improve pupils’ reading. This means pupils do not make progress through the curriculum or develop their reading as well as they should. The trust should ensure that all staff have the subject and pedagogical expertise they need to deliver the curriculum effectively and ensure that pupils’ reading develops sufficiently well.

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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 15 and 16 July 2025

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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). 15 and 16 July 2025

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School details

Interim co-leaders of the trust Rachael Sharpe and Mark Blackman

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 30 November to 1 December 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was absent during the inspection.  The school is part of Alumnis Multi-Academy Trust.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school is a Church of England School in the Diocese of Exeter. The most recent section 48 inspection for schools of a religious character took place in November 2019.

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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 provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024, will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 15 and 16 July 2025

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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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with teachers, 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 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 inspectors met with the acting co-leader of the trust, the acting special educational

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needs coordinator, subject leaders, chair of the board of trustees and members of the local schools committee.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted Parent View and by talking to parents. The inspectors also reviewed responses to Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

James Gentile, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Susan Aykin His Majesty’s Inspector 15 and 16 July 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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