St Cleer Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school. Since the last inspection very strong leadership and management have ensured a relentless drive towards providing excellent learning opportunities for all groups of pupils.

As a result teaching is now outstanding with teachers making particularly effective use of assessment to ensure work is very well matched to pupils' needs. A recent, and a very high, influx of pupils with standards lower than those of pupils already present in the school has temporarily affected levels of attainment and progress. This has resulted in good rather than outstanding progress.

However, excellent induction procedures for new arrivals, quick identifi...cation of pupils' needs and the outstanding teaching and curriculum are ensuring a rapid improvement in achievement. Current attainment in English is high, especially reading, but although mathematics is above average there is room for further improvement. Music and sport are strengths of the school.

Parents and carers are delighted with the school and many new parents and carers remarked upon the warm welcome their children had received and the excellent progress they are making. Pupils show their appreciation of all that the school offers by their diligent attitude to their work, their excellent behaviour in lessons and good attendance. They get on really well together and feel very safe in school.

The rigorous development of teaching expertise for all staff has resulted in a highly skilled workforce that is rapidly raising achievement across the school. Teachers relatively new to the profession have developed really quickly. The governing body is regularly involved in observing and monitoring the school's work.

This enables governors to ask challenging questions as well as support the school.

Information about this school

St Cleer is an average-sized primary school and all pupils are taught in single-age classes except for one class of mixed Reception and Year 1 pupils. Pupils attend from the village and surrounding area and a high proportion attend from the nearest town.

The headteacher is the executive headteacher for this school and another much smaller primary school in the local area. There are no disabled pupils in the school at the present time. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported through school action is average.

The proportion of pupils supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (which provides additional funding for children in local authority care, those known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils with a parent or carer in the armed services) is below average. There are a very small number of pupils from ethnic minority groups; no pupils are in the early stages of learning English.

There is a breakfast club run by the school. The school has been awarded British Council Comenius funding and as a result has extensive international links involving many reciprocal visits abroad for both staff and pupils. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in mathematics and English.