Cullompton Community College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. As a result, pupils feel safe and enjoy attending this school.

Leaders want the best for pupils. They have high expectations for pupils' learning and wider development.

Pupils make an important contribution to the life of the school.

There are captains, vice-captains and prefects for different areas, such as community and sustainability. Those with leadership roles speak with pride about their responsibilities. Pupils feel that staff listen to them and act on their ideas.

Pupils behave well. Those who need help with their behaviour receive the right support. Overall, pupils have positive... attitudes towards their learning.

Sometimes, however, teaching does not meet some pupils' needs. When this is the case, pupils struggle to learn as well as they could. This also affects their attitudes to learning.

Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs and societies. They feel empowered to lead their own initiatives. For example, some groups of pupils promote awareness of global issues.

Others champion well-being.

Pupils say that bullying is rare. When it does occur, the school deals with it effectively and quickly most of the time.

Pupils learn to respect people from other backgrounds and how to treat everyone equally.

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

Leaders have designed a curriculum which sets out precisely what pupils should learn. The curriculum is carefully planned so it builds on what pupils have learned previously.

Leaders keep the curriculum closely under review and make changes to it where necessary. Each part of the curriculum prepares pupils for the next stage in their education.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils.

This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils. The suite of subjects, known as the English Baccalaureate, is at the heart of leaders' ambition for the key stage 4 curriculum. Improvements to the teaching of the curriculum at key stage 3 are preparing pupils to follow a broad curriculum in key stage 4 successfully.

Teachers are subject experts and present information clearly. They use teaching approaches that support most pupils to remember important knowledge. Teachers use assessment effectively to check that pupils have learned the curriculum.

This enables them to identify misconceptions and correct them. Nonetheless, teachers do not use this information as consistently as they could to inform future planning.

Leaders share useful information with teachers about how to best support pupils with their learning.

At times, however, teaching does not meet the needs of some pupils well enough. This includes pupils with SEND or who are disadvantaged. Consequently, a minority of pupils do not learn as well as they could.

This also results in these pupils displaying less positive attitudes to learning.

Leaders provide support for those pupils who are at the early stages of reading. However, this is not consistently successful in improving pupils' fluency and accuracy.

As a result, these pupils are not able to learn as much of the wider curriculum as they could.

Leaders have designed a detailed personal, social, health and economic education curriculum. This is carefully planned to help pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of relationships and how to keep safe.

At times, though, the curriculum is not as well implemented as leaders intend. Leaders have made recent changes to the way the curriculum is delivered to support pupils better.

Pupils receive effective careers information, education and guidance.

They take part in meaningful work experience opportunities. These help to prepare pupils for the next steps in their education, employment or training.

Governors have a clear vision for the quality of education provided by school.

They hold leaders to account and provide support. This has enhanced the effectiveness of the school. Leaders are considerate of staff workload and well-being.

They take into account the main pressures on staff and provide effective support for those newest to teaching.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders work tirelessly to secure the help that pupils need.

They are tenacious and are prepared to challenge if help is not forthcoming. Leaders make timely referrals to safeguarding partners and collaborate effectively with external partners.

Staff know how to identify pupils who are at risk.

They receive regular training that ensures safeguarding maintains a high profile. Pupils learn about safeguarding risks through the school's curriculum, including online risks and how to keep mentally healthy.

The school has suitable policies in place to raise awareness among staff and parents about the dangers of sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and sexual violence.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• For a minority of pupils, the teaching of the curriculum does not meet their needs well enough. Consequently, these pupils do not learn the curriculum as successfully as they could. Leaders need to ensure that teaching meets the needs of all pupils consistently.

• The reading curriculum is not fully effective for pupils in the early stages of reading. As a result, many pupils do not gain the knowledge required to read accurately and fluently. Leaders need to improve the early reading curriculum to ensure that every pupil has the foundations for future learning.