THE 273-pupil Landscore Primary School in Crediton has received a thumbs up from Ofsted inspectors who visited the school on March 29 and 30.

The school was judged Good in all areas, including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, early years provision and overall effectiveness.

The inspectors said: “Pupils enjoy their time at this school. They feel well looked after and appreciate the care and support that staff provide. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour.

“From early years onwards, staff help children to manage their behaviour and feelings. Pupils benefit from a broad and ambitious curriculum. This helps them to become confident and successful learners.

“Pupils are proud to live up to the school’s values represented by ‘ACHIEVE’. They learn how these values are reflected in a range of world religions and cultures. Pupils collaborate well and listen to each other’s views. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and that it is wrong to judge people because of their beliefs or appearance. Pupils say that bullying is rare and that staff help to resolve issues when they occur.

“Pupils enjoy taking on responsibility. This includes helping in the school garden and looking after the hens and quail. They care about the environment and organise the school’s recycling scheme. Pupils take part in raising money for charities. For example, they sponsor a schoolchild in Uganda. This helps prepare pupils to become responsible citizens.

“Pupils enjoy a range of after-school activities, including in sport and music.”

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

They added: “Leaders are determined that each pupil in the school will succeed. They are committed to providing high-quality education and to supporting pupils’ social and emotional needs. The quality of education that pupils receive is good.

“Leaders have designed a curriculum that identifies clear steps of learning in all subjects. From early years onwards, teachers use their secure subject knowledge to provide meaningful and interesting learning opportunities across the curriculum. Staff encourage pupils to discuss issues, and they promote and model the use of precise vocabulary.

“Leaders and staff carefully identify pupils’ individual needs. They support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to access the full curriculum and to benefit from specific interventions. This helps these pupils to learn well.

“The school promotes a love of reading. There is a well-thought-out reading programme throughout the school. Right from the start in Reception, staff guide children through a clear and structured phonics programme. Pupils learn to read using books that help them practise the new sounds they are learning. Pupils talk confidently about their favourite books and authors. They benefit from a wide and varied range of high-quality books in the school library. As a result, pupils learn to read well.

“In mathematics, teaching builds securely on an understanding of pupils’ prior learning. As a result, pupils apply their mathematical knowledge well. However, in some other subjects, the checks on what pupils know and understand are not as precise. At times, this leads to pupils having gaps in their knowledge.

“Some subject leaders are developing in their roles. However, they need to develop greater rigour in checking how well staff are implementing the curriculum, as they do not have sufficient oversight of how well pupils are learning the curriculum.

“Pupils are polite and well mannered. They behave well in lessons and have positive attitudes to learning. This means that they can concentrate on learning with very little disturbance.

“Pupils learn about democracy and have voted for representatives on the school council. They have recently been involved with a parliamentary select committee about online behaviour. Staff regularly remind pupils how to stay safe when online. Pupils know that it is their responsibility to seek help if they see or hear of any harassment. If they have worries, they know they can rely on the support of staff in school.

“Governors support and challenge school leaders well. They monitor the school improvement plan and check its impact on learning.

“This helps them to understand the school’s strengths and areas for development. Staff feel well supported by leaders. Staff feel that their workload and well-being are considered well. Parents and carers, pupils and staff appreciate that the school is well led and managed.”

Safeguarding

The inspectors said arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

They said: “Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. They know how to recognise signs of abuse or neglect. They record their concerns diligently. Leaders follow up any concerns appropriately. Leaders work effectively with other professionals and agencies to minimise pupils’ risk of harm. Pre-employment checks on adults working in the school are carried out thoroughly.”

The inspectors said that the only areas that needed improvement was that in some subjects, assessment is not used consistently well to check what pupils know and understand.

They believed that this slows pupils’ learning down. They suggested leaders ensure that assessment is used effectively so that pupils can build on their prior learning to develop the knowledge they should in every subject. They added that the leadership of some subjects is not well developed. As a result, leaders do not know how effectively the curriculum is being delivered, or how well pupils are learning. Leaders should ensure that subject leaders get the training and support needed to be able to monitor and account for the quality of the curriculum in all subjects.”

Head Teacher Debbie Main, said: “We are extremely proud that Ofsted recognised what a good school Landscore is.  This report is a validation of the hard work and dedication shown by every pupil, member of staff, governor and parent.

“We all work together to make Landscore the great school that it is.”