Clawton Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Since joining the trust, leaders have guided the school through a period of significant staffing and leadership changes. The school is now stabilised.

Staff and the trust are determined for all pupils to be successful. The curriculum has undergone many changes to ensure that staff have high expectations of pupils. This work is making a difference to the quality of education pupils receive.

However, it is early days. Pupils do not build their knowledge well enough across the curriculum. Some pupils do not quickly become accurate readers.

Pupils benefit from high-quality pastoral support. This helps pupils feel safe and welcome. Parents and carers value the car...e the school provides to their child.

Equality is important to pupils. One pupil said, 'Everyone treats others equally here.' Staff have warm relationships with pupils to help them learn in a nurturing environment.

The support in place for pupils beyond the academic is a strength. The development of character is a high priority for the school. 'Character virtues' underpin the school's offer.

Pupils focus on different virtues throughout the year. For example, pupils develop an understanding of active citizenship by learning about the virtue 'inspiring fundraiser'. Pupils use their fundraising activities to help others in school and beyond the school gates.

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

The school's work to develop an ambitious curriculum is ongoing. In some subjects, the curriculum does not make clear how pupils can build on their prior learning. In these subjects, some staff do not have the expertise they need to present important knowledge clearly to pupils.

Staff do not always help pupils to close gaps in their knowledge. This stalls progress through the curriculum for pupils. The school has prioritised training for staff in these subjects, which has resulted in some improvements to teaching.

For subjects that are further ahead on their journey, the school has identified with precision the knowledge it wants pupils to know and remember. As a result, teachers are clear about what to teach and when. This is helping pupils to build their knowledge more securely.

The checks on pupils' understanding are not precise enough to enable staff to support future learning. Some pupils have unknown gaps in their knowledge or make repeated errors in their learning that go unaddressed. Consequently, pupils do not learn the curriculum well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

The school has introduced a variety of teaching strategies to help pupils learn. For example, pupils revisit prior learning more regularly to help them remember important knowledge. This helps pupils to recall their learning more securely.

Some pupils, including those who have fallen behind, do not get the help they need to learn to read quickly enough. They do not benefit from reading books that match the sounds they know. This reduces their opportunities to practise and to become confident and fluent readers.

As a result, they find their learning across the curriculum more challenging. However, the school promotes an enjoyment of reading. Through carefully considered texts, the school exposes pupils to a breadth of genres and builds their understanding of diversity.

Children begin to learn to read formally when they start in Reception. The school trains staff to strengthen the teaching of the phonics scheme and works with the local English hub to improve the teaching of reading. This helps some pupils to quickly grasp the basics of reading.

Children in the early years get off to a strong start. The school designs learning activities that capture children's interests and follow a precise curriculum. Children sustain high levels of concentration.

They learn with confidence and show curiosity about the world around them. This starts in pre-school, where children enjoy exploring paintbrushes and colours while chatting with their friends. As a result, they are well prepared for their next steps.

Pupils' behaviour is calm and orderly. Most pupils show positive attitudes to their learning and want to do well. The school provides additional support when necessary, which helps pupils who might struggle to manage their behaviour.

The school supports families to promote high attendance. As a result, attendance is above national figures.

The school considers carefully how to develop pupils' understanding of the wider world.

For example, pupils visit Bristol to compare city living to their life in a Devon village. To be well prepared for life in modern Britain, the school teaches pupils about the importance of the fundamental British values. Pupils understand the need for the rule of law to keep everyone safe.

Those responsible for governance have an accurate view of the school. They help to bring about improvements in the school's provision for pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils do not always read books matched to the sounds that they know. As a result, these pupils do not have as many opportunities to practise reading and to become confident and fluent readers quickly. The trust must ensure that pupils get the precise support they need, including the opportunity to read books matched to the sounds they know, in order to learn to read successfully.

• In some subjects, strategies to check gaps in pupils' knowledge are not used effectively. As a result, staff do not routinely identify gaps in pupils' learning and are not consistently able to adapt their teaching to address those gaps. The trust needs to ensure that gaps in pupils' knowledge are identified precisely so that staff can adapt subsequent learning to support pupils to know and remember more.

• The school has not ensured that staff have the subject expertise they need to deliver the new curriculum effectively, including presenting important knowledge clearly to pupils. In the subjects where this is the case, pupils do not build their knowledge securely. The trust must continue to strengthen staff's expertise so that pupils receive the advice and guidance they need to develop their understanding of the subjects they study.