Liskeard Hillfort Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming and happy school. Pupils describe it as a place that treats everyone equally. Teachers help pupils to do their best.

Pupils enjoy their learning and playing with their friends.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils respond well to the school rules and routines that are in place.

They behave well in lessons and when moving around the school. As a result, their learning progresses without interruption. This starts in the early years, where children follow instructions and behave well.

Pupils value the positive relationships they have with staff. Staff and pupils treat one another with respect and kindness. P...upils feel safe and know that staff will listen to them.

They particularly appreciate how the owl boxes in their classrooms help them to share any worries or concerns.

There are many wide-ranging experiences to enrich the curriculum. Pupils speak fondly of the range of trips and clubs on offer to them, such as bike club and judo.

They value the opportunities they have to become play leaders and school councillors. Pupils say that these roles help them to act as role models to others.

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

The school has high expectations for what all pupils can achieve.

An ambitious curriculum has been designed which carefully considers what pupils need to know and when they need to know it, from the early years to Year 6.

In subjects where published outcomes are below national expectations, the school is taking effective action to strengthen the curriculum. For example, in reading, the school has made sure that staff implement the reading curriculum effectively across the school.

Reading is at the heart of the school's work. From the entrance, along corridors and in classrooms, the environment promotes and celebrates reading. Pupils enjoy their visits to the school library.

They enjoy listening to adults read stories to them. As they move through the school, pupils read a range of texts with increasing fluency and accuracy.

Children begin learning phonics as soon as they start school.

They quickly develop an enjoyment of books, rhymes and songs. All staff benefit from the training they receive to teach phonics and reading effectively. Books that pupils read match the sounds they learn, which helps them gain confidence.

Staff regularly check the sounds that pupils know. This means that pupils who may find reading difficult receive the help they need to catch up quickly.

Pupils learn well in most of the wider curriculum subjects.

In geography, for example, pupils confidently recall what they have learned about the continents and climate change and make links to concepts such as renewable and non-renewable energy. However, the implementation of this curriculum is not as effective in some subjects as in others. Pupils do not build their knowledge well over time.

This hampers the progress that some pupils make.

The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. This starts with the youngest children as they join Reception.

Staff know these pupils well and identify their needs accurately. School and trust leaders work well with teachers to create plans which are precise and regularly reviewed. Pupils with SEND follow the same curriculum as their peers.

Pupils display positive attitudes to learning and are kind to one another. The environment in classrooms and around the school is calm and orderly. Children in the early years settle into new routines quickly.

They take turns and play well together.

Pupils' broader personal development is well considered and designed. The curriculum helps pupils to learn about different cultures, faiths and relationships well.

Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and healthy, both physically, emotionally, and when online. The school enriches the curriculum through activities, trips and residential visits. This helps pupils to build their understanding of the wider world.

Trustees and local governors are ambitious for the school. They accurately understand what the school does well and where it needs to improve. They hold the school to account.

Staff, including those who are new to teaching, value the team spirit at the school. They appreciate how their workload is considered and their development supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• An effective curriculum is not yet fully implemented in some subjects. As a result, pupils have not yet gained the depth of knowledge that they should. The trust needs to ensure that all subjects are implemented fully and effectively so that pupils build the knowledge they need.

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