Charmouth Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not benefit from a coherent curriculum. As a result, they often find it difficult to acquire the necessary knowledge to be well prepared for the next stage in their education, including in the early years foundation stage (EYFS). Pupils have gaps in their knowledge or sometimes struggle to connect what they know to new or different situations.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are not consistently learning as well as they should.

Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of pupils in lessons. Consequently, some pupils have developed poor attitudes to learning.

Pupils are not routinely motiv...ated to do their best. This reduces the quality of work they often produce. Nevertheless, pupils enjoy coming to school.

They learn through a range of different activities, such as using the beach in history lessons.

Pupils enjoy harmonious relationships with each other and adults. This helps to create a positive feel at school.

Pupils feel safe. They say that bullying is rare. Pupils are confident that adults tackle any bullying, if it happens.

Parents hold very differing views about the school. As a result, leaders are taking steps to improve communication and relationships with all parents.

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

Since the previous inspection, senior leaders have struggled to gain the momentum needed towards becoming a good school.

Their intentions have been interrupted by the pandemic, but other factors have also played a critical role. For example, for too long, senior leaders and governors lacked the necessary challenge and rigour in holding teachers to account. This led to an overly positive self-evaluation and unidentified weaknesses which leaders are now having to address.

However, following the involvement of the local authority, the appointment of a supporting external headteacher, and some recent appointments to the governing body, the school is refocused and energised. Leaders are taking the right steps and have got the school 'back on track'.

Staff have confidence in the school's leadership.

Leaders, including governors, are mindful to help staff manage their day-to-day workload. Staff are positive and feel well supported to continue making the improvements that this school still needs.

Senior leaders and those responsible for SEND did not previously have the right systems and processes to ensure that pupils consistently got the timely help they needed.

This was a failing that went undetected for too long. However, senior leaders and governors are now taking effective action to ensure that the right staff, who have the capacity to complete referrals, assessments and diagnoses are securing the necessary improvements. Pupils are being identified, referred and supported appropriately through a range of internal and external services.

This is a much-improved picture, although there are still some pupils whose individual plans are not good enough. Some support plans lack the necessary precision or detail to ensure pupils can make the best possible progress.

The school's curriculum is not planned and sequenced well enough, including for children in the EYFS.

Some pupils find it difficult to learn new knowledge or apply this to different situations. Leaders do not ensure that individual subject knowledge is broken into small and logical steps to help pupils deepen their knowledge and further their understanding. This holds pupils back and sometimes leads to confusion, including in the core subjects, such as mathematics and science.

The weaknesses in the curriculum model and its implementation prevent pupils from being consistently ready for the next curricular challenges they face.

Leaders ensure that the school has an appropriate early reading and phonics programme in place. This is suitably ambitious.

Most pupils have a book that matches their phonics knowledge. However, teachers do not implement the scheme with fidelity, including how they assess pupils. Assessments are not completed in a timely or thorough manner.

This means the needs of some pupils are not spotted or met well enough. The organisation of the daily phonics sessions prevents some of those who have fallen behind from catching up quickly, including a few pupils with SEND. This is because learning is not always matched closely to all pupils' needs.

However, reading is widely celebrated and promoted. For example, pupils enjoy reading for different reasons and pleasure. They like hearing stories and using the library during the school day.

Pupils are kind, tolerant and respectful. They enjoy learning about different cultures and how to make the world a better place. For example, they talk passionately about key historical figures and events from the civil rights movement in the United States.

Pupils show a great understanding of the different kinds of prejudice that exist and how these cause harm. However, they lack knowledge of different religions, which is a barrier to their understanding of life in modern Britain and the world beyond.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders, including governors, fully understand their safeguarding responsibilities. As a result, they ensure that safeguarding procedures, including staff training, pre-employment checks and arrangements for reporting concerns are implemented appropriately. Staff are tenacious in undertaking their safeguarding duties to keep pupils safe.

Leaders ensure that pupils know how to stay safe. This includes teaching about the school's local context, such as beach safety, and the process for making emergency contact with the coast guard.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The early reading and phonics programme is not implemented well enough, including the use of assessment.

As a result, some pupils do not get off to a strong start in reading. Leaders must ensure that the phonics programme is implemented effectively so that all pupils can quickly become fluent and confident readers. ? The curriculum is not planned and sequenced well enough, including in the EYFS.

This leads to confused or disconnected knowledge for some pupils. Leaders must make sure that the curriculum is designed well to enable pupils to acquire deep knowledge in each subject. ? Leaders' recent actions have led to some vital but early improvements for pupils with SEND.

Previous weaknesses mean that the school is still catching up. The identification of pupils' needs and the effectiveness of targeted support is still not good enough. Leaders must continue to implement strong processes and systems so that all pupils with SEND are swiftly identified and get the support they need, as quickly as possible.

• Teachers do not have consistently high expectations of pupils' attitudes to learning. Consequently, pupils do not take pride in their work and sometimes lack motivation. Teachers must have high ambitions so that pupils can produce high-quality work and achieve well across the curriculum.