Lamerton CofE Primary Academy

Lamerton CofE Primary Academy

Address: Lamerton, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 8RJ Unique reference number (URN): 149730

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils enjoy attending Lamerton Church of England Academy. This is reflected in the high rates of attendance for all groups of pupils. For those few pupils who struggle to come to school regularly, school leaders are swift to offer personalised support to increase rates of attendance. When necessary, staff seek specialist external support for those families.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils generally behave well. School leaders have well-established routines and expectations to promote pupils’ positive behaviour. This is based on the school’s golden rules which pupils know well. School leaders track any incidents of behaviour closely. For those pupils who need extra support the school has personalised support plans in place. Incidents of bullying are rare. When they do occur, the school is quick to respond and support all pupils who are involved.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils talk positively about how well pupils behave in the playground. When there are incidents of low-level behaviour in the classroom, this can be attributed to learning activities that are not always well matched to what pupils know and can do. As a result, some pupils lose focus on their learning.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The provision for pupils’ personal development and wellbeing is a strength of the school. During assemblies, pupils have opportunities to reflect on their own lives and the lives of others. This supports pupils to develop a deep sense of respect for all.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of fundamental British values. Their knowledge is extended with visits from their local Member of Parliament and writing to the Prime Minister to present their views. Opportunities to participate in the school council provide pupils with first-hand experience of democracy in action. The school council makes a meaningful contribution to school life. Pupils are proud to raise money through cake sales and art competitions and use their proceeds to purchase sports equipment for the school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

School leaders support pupils to understand and learn how their local rural community can benefit them. For example, visits from farmers and contributing to the school's allotment helps pupils to understand where food comes from and the necessity to care for the environment. School leaders are also ambitious for pupils to build their awareness of what is available beyond their own community with trips to Bristol and Plymouth. Pupils benefit from visits to museums and places of worship. As a result, pupils begin to build an understanding of different faiths and cultures. Trips to places of interest such as Buckland Abbey enable pupils to deepen their learning in history.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school provides pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with the opportunity to develop their talents and interests through a range of after-school clubs such as gardening, athletics and cricket. Pupils enjoy residential visits to an outdoor education centre where they engage in activities such as climbing and raft-building to develop their resilience and confidence.

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Achievement Needs attention

In national tests, pupils have achieved outcomes that have been above the national average. This includes pupils who are disadvantaged. However, the standard of work that current pupils produce in class does not reflect the ambitious intent of school and trust leaders. While the school has a handwriting programme, the teaching of handwriting lacks rigour. This is then reflected in a weaker quality of pupils’ written work across the curriculum.

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Achievement Needs attention

Across subjects, pupils struggle to recall what they have learned in the past so they struggle to build up their knowledge and understanding over time. Pupils who have gaps in their foundational knowledge do not catch up quickly so that gaps in their knowledge grow over time. Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is not always precise enough or sufficiently well matched to their needs so they do not progress well academically.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

School and trust leaders generally have an accurate understanding of the quality of the curriculum. However, their actions to support school improvement have not led to improvements across all areas of the curriculum and teaching.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The teaching of phonics and mathematics is a strength of the school. However, other areas of the curriculum are not planned with enough precision and too often pupils of different capabilities complete the same work. This means that those pupils who are ready to learn more complex content complete work that does not provide the level of challenge and ambition they need. As a result, some pupils do not progress as well as they should.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Assessment is not consistently effective. At times, incorrect work is marked as correct and misconceptions are not identified. Teachers do not use assessment to identify if pupils have achieved the intended learning. Furthermore, assessment information is not used well to adapt teaching to reflect pupils' needs. This means that pupils too often continue in their learning with gaps in their knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities access the same curriculum as their peers. While there are some adaptations to support these pupils in their learning, they too experience the same inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and the curriculum.

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Inclusion Needs attention

School leaders know their pupils well, which means that those pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are quickly identified. School leaders have high expectations for these pupils, however, this does not always lead to these pupils achieving as well as they could. Support plans guide staff to put in place personalised provision to reduce any barriers to learning. However, pupils’ targets are not always precise enough and do not consistently identify the underlying issues. Furthermore, leaders’ monitoring of the implementation of support plans does not have the level of rigour they should. Consequently, targets for pupils with SEND do not always lead to support that has the impact leaders intend. Adaptations and adjustments to targets do not always happen quickly enough to reflect the changing needs of pupils. In addition, while staff have ongoing professional development, they are not

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Inclusion Needs attention

skilled at ensuring support plans are implemented with precision to ensure pupils progress well.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The school’s focus on using additional funding for those pupils eligible for pupil premium is appropriate. The school has prioritised improving support for communication and language development. Pastoral and financial support also helps pupils to broaden their experiences and access the rich range of activities and visits the school has on offer.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

School and trust leaders, including those involved in governance, understand the school’s context and the areas for development. They act in the best interest of pupils. However, some leaders and those involved with governance have an overly positive view of the school's strengths and weaknesses.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The trust put measures in place to support changes of teaching and support staff. However, this support has not been wholly effective. The weaknesses in curriculum design and assessment are significant and ongoing. Furthermore, too many pupils do not develop the essential foundational knowledge they need to be successful in the next stage of their education. Trustees ensure the school meets its statutory duties.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Staff say they are well supported by school and trust leaders. Leaders consider staff's workload and wellbeing when making decisions. Staff benefit from the range of professional development opportunities the trust provides for them.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and the staff. They describe it as a 'lovely village school with a family feel'. Parents appreciate staff's support and encouragement for their children to follow their passions and interests.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils at this village school are safe and happy. There are close links between the staff, parents and carers, and the community that create a 'family feel' at the school.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Published outcomes for pupils have historically been positive. However, pupils do not progress as well as they should through the curriculum. School and trust leaders generally know the areas of the school that need to develop, however, their actions have not addressed the weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching. This means that too many pupils complete work that lacks ambition. When mistakes occur, these are not addressed swiftly enough. As a result, some pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of their education. Pupils’ positive behaviour reflects the school’s values of ‘truthfulness, compassion, courage, forgiveness, friendship and respect‘. As a result, pupils are kind and polite to one another. Incidents of bullying are rare. Leaders are quick to act and support pupils when any incidents of behaviour occur. Pupils learn to stay safe online and understand how to stay safe in their rural community. Pupils also appreciate the need to have a healthy diet. They

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

enjoy coming to school, which is reflected in high rates of attendance.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school is ambitious to broaden pupils' horizons to support them to be ready for life in modern Britain. For example, trips to Bristol help pupils develop an understanding of more urban areas of the UK. Visits from professionals such as doctors, midwives and farmers support pupils to learn about people's roles in society and the different careers available to them. Pupils enjoy visits to the zoo that extend their learning in science.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure teachers develop their expertise to adapt teaching and the curriculum appropriately to reflect what pupils know and can do, so that the work pupils complete in mixed-age classes is as ambitious as it could be. Leaders should ensure that they closely monitor the impact of support provided to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), so that they use this information to understand its impact and ensure the targets set for pupils with SEND are precisely matched to their needs. Leaders should ensure that staff use assessment effectively to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and adapt teaching to meet the needs of all pupils. Leaders need to ensure that pupils with significant gaps in handwriting are given the support they need to become accurate and fluent writers across the curriculum. School and trust leaders and those responsible for governance, should strengthen how

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Next steps

they use information about the school to evaluate the impact of improvement strategies to secure consistent school improvement.

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About this inspection

This school is part of the Learning Academy Partnership which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Tracey Cleverly, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Joanne Tisdall.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, the CEO, senior trust leaders, subject leaders and the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator team.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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56

The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted Parent View and by talking with parents and carers. The inspectors also reviewed responses to Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys.

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56

There is a before- and after-school club for pupils who attend the school.

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56

This school is registered as having a Church of England character. The last section 48 inspection took place in September 2023.

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56

The school does not currently make use of alternative provision.

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56

Headteacher: Melody Sterry Well below average

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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