Rackenford Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The current partnership arrangements provide the school with effective leadership and management. There is a clear and ambitious vision for the school and well-structured plans which ensure this happens.

Senior leaders have worked effectively to make sure all teachers think about their practice and share ideas about how to improve it. There is a strong sense of teamwork among adults and they work hard to give pupils the challenge and support they need. Teaching is good.

The systems in the school ensure teachers have helpful information about how well pupils are learning. Teachers use this to plan carefully the work pupils are given to do.... Achievement is good.

Pupils make good progress across the school. After a dip in standards in 2013, standards have returned to previous levels, which are above average. Pupils are eager to do the tasks teachers give them and enjoy the themes they study.

They like helping each other and their behaviour helps them to learn well. The school has worked hard to improve attendance, and this is now high because pupils enjoy being at school. The Early Years Foundation Stage provides children with a good start to their education because they enjoy their learning; they make good progress.

Governors know the school well and make sure they understand what the data show about the performance of pupils and teachers. They ensure that the statutory requirements are met, particularly those to keep pupils safe. Senior leaders work with other partners and the governors to ensure that they keep up to date with recent developments and that all adults in the school are safe to work with children.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teaching is not yet outstanding. While teachers make sure that pupils have high-quality feedback, they do not always insist that pupils' responses are as detailed or effective in bringing about improvements. Pupils do not always make the most of the opportunities to respond to these comments.

Learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage is not always of such a high quality when children are following their own interests, particularly outdoors, as when they are led by an adult. Boys in Key Stage 1 are not always as determined as the girls to do their very best writing.

Information about this school

This school is smaller than average and caters for pupils from the local village and surrounding area.

There are three classes. One class includes children in Reception and Year 1, other pupils in Years 2 and 3 and some of those in Year 4, and there is a class for those in Years 5 and 6 and the rest of those in Year 4. Differences in the number of pupils in each cohort mean that the arrangement of classes changes each year.

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception) attend school full time. In some year groups, there are considerably more boys than girls; in other year groups, there are more girls. Almost all pupils are White British; there are very few pupils from other ethnicities.

No pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below average. There are very few disadvantaged pupils, supported by the additional funding known as the pupil premium.

These are pupils who have been eligible for free school meals or who are children looked after by the local authority. There are too few disadvantaged pupils in the school to be able to comment anonymously on their performance. About 18 months ago, the school became part of a co-operative learning partnership with Tiverton High School and 10 other primary schools.

The headteacher of Tiverton High School is currently the executive headteacher of Rackenford Primary School, in a management partnership. There is a head of teaching and learning based at the school full time. Other senior leadership is shared with the high school.

There is a separate governing body for the school. In 2014 there were too few pupils in Year 6 to comment on whether the school meets the current floor standards. These are the minimum expectations set by the government for the attainment and progress of pupils.

Also at this postcode