Shaugh Prior Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This school does not have high expectations of what pupils can and should achieve. Pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge, which means they are not ready for the next stage of their education.

Pupils are safe. They said that if they have any worries, there is always an adult who will support them. However, some pupils regularly experience disruption to their learning.

This is because staff do not deal with the low-level disruption in lessons caused by some pupils.

Older pupils are proud of the leadership roles that they hold. Eco-leaders learn about sustainability and the environment with a visit to Plymouth waste facility.

Play leaders enjo...y supporting younger pupils in the playground. Pupils appreciate attending after-school clubs like singing and craft club. These opportunities help to develop pupils' interests and talents.

Visits to the local church to celebrate the harvest festival, along with participation in the village annual festival, help pupils to build links with their local community. Pupils learn to be respectful of other people. However, they do not have a well-developed understanding of the diverse people and communities of modern Britain.

This affects their readiness for their future lives.

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

Since the previous inspection, the school's actions to improve the quality of education have not been swift enough or effective. The school does not have an accurate view of the effectiveness of their actions or their decisions concerning curriculum design.

Governors have an overly positive view of the school. The actions that they have taken to address the declining standards have been too slow.

The school has set out the key knowledge and skills that it wants pupils to know and remember.

However, not enough consideration has been given to the age and needs of pupils who are in mixed-aged classes. The design of the curriculum does not help pupils to build their knowledge progressively. This means that pupils across multiple age ranges learn the same curriculum and complete the same activities.

This hinders them from deepening their learning and progressing well through the curriculums.

Teachers do not use assessment information effectively in order to check how well pupils are learning. Considerable gaps in pupils' fundamental knowledge have built up overtime.

These go unchecked. As a result, the curriculum is not matched to what pupils know and can do. Furthermore, the way in which these curriculums are delivered is weak.

Pupils do not develop secure foundations on which to build their future learning. As a result, pupils remember little of what they are taught. This means pupils do not achieve well, and they are poorly prepared for the next stage of their education.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not achieve well. The school does not identify or assess the needs of pupils well enough. This means that pupils with SEND do not receive the support they need that will help them to learn a broad and balanced curriculum.

The school has introduced a new phonics programme. However, some staff do not have the appropriate subject knowledge that they need to teach the phonics curriculum effectively. Staff do not check well enough to make sure that pupils understand the phonics that is being taught.

As a result, the phonics curriculum sometimes does not meet the needs of pupils. This means that some pupils develop gaps in their phonics knowledge, while others do not complete work that is ambitious enough. The reading curriculum lacks ambition.

The texts that pupils read do not reflect their age. This means that pupils do not build age-appropriate vocabulary that they need to be successful learners.

The school is generally calm and pupils are used to the routines.

However, staff's expectations of behaviour are not sufficiently high. This means that, at times, there are incidents of low-level disruptive behaviour in class. The school has not helped pupils to develop self-discipline and resilience in order to be independent learners.

This means some pupils do not learn effectively.

Pupils know to treat each other with tolerance and respect. However, the school has not checked effectively how well the curriculums to promote pupils' personal development are implemented.

Pupils do not have an age-appropriate understanding of different countries, cultures or fundamental British values.

The school works closely with families to improve pupils' rates of attendance. Strong relationships between parents, carers and staff mean that support for pupils is personalised.

As a result, the number of pupils who attend school regularly has increased. Staff are happy to work at the school. They said that the school considers their well-being and supports them to manage their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The design of the curriculum does not meet the needs of pupils in mixed-aged classes. It is not delivered well.

This includes aspects of the curriculums that are used to promote pupils' personal development. Consequently, pupils do not gain the knowledge that they need to achieve well. The school must ensure that the curriculum takes account of pupils ages and needs.

It should make sure that this curriculum is implemented effectively, and that it is monitored carefully, so that pupils learn more and progress well towards more successful outcomes. ? The needs of pupils with SEND are not identified accurately enough. This means that teachers are not aware of the support that these pupils need in order to access the curriculum.

As a result, pupils with SEND do not build their knowledge well enough across the curriculum. The school should ensure that the quality and effectiveness of the support for pupils with SEND improves. It must ensure that staff have the expertise that they need to support pupils with SEND to achieve well.

• Teachers do not use assessment information well enough. Teachers do not take account of pupils' prior knowledge when designing new learning. Pupils develop gaps in their knowledge and struggle to remember their learning.

The school should ensure that assessment information is used effectively so as to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge so that they can build their knowledge successfully. ? Some staff do not have sufficient expertise to teach phonics effectively. They do not have secure knowledge of the phonics curriculum or understand the best ways to help pupils to learn to read well.

As a result, the implementation of the phonics curriculum is weak and contributes to pupils' underachievement. The school should develop staff's subject and pedagogical knowledge to support pupils to learn to read quickly and confidently. ? The school's expectations for pupils' behaviour are not high enough.

Therefore, some pupils become easily distracted from their learning and cause low-level disruption. This negatively affects their own and other pupils' ability to learn effectively. The school should raise expectations among all staff so that the procedures for managing behaviour are followed consistently well.

• The school and members of the governing body have an overly generous view of the quality of education. They have been too slow to implement the necessary improvements. As a result, pupils do not benefit from a high-quality education.

The school and governors must ensure that they identify weaknesses and take appropriate steps to ensure that pupils achieve well.The school may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.