Shepton Beauchamp Church School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an inadequate school Leadership is inadequate. Over time, leaders and governors have not acted swiftly enough to raise the standards of education. Leaders' monitoring and their plans for improvement are ineffective.

Pupils' outcomes have, for more than two years, been below those seen nationally. Current pupils make insufficient progress from their starting points. Teachers' expectations of pupils are too low.

Teachers have an inaccurate picture of pupils' abilities. On too many occasions, the work set does not meet pupils' needs. As a result of weak teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar, pupils' writing progress is significantly hampered.
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While safeguarding is effective, not all staff have received adequate training in the 'Prevent' duty. Phonics teaching is too inconsistent across early years and key stage 1 and does not help pupils to develop their reading skills. Pupils' problem-solving and reasoning skills in mathematics are weak.

Relationships between school leaders and the wider community are fractured. Leaders have not developed effective communication systems to respond to the concerns of parents. Middle leaders have not been sufficiently supported to become effective in their roles.

Teaching in the early years is ineffective. Staff do not provide suitable activities to help children develop their knowledge and skills. Therefore, children make very little progress.

Behaviour is inadequate. Low-level disruption in class is common. Pupils' weak learning habits hinder their progress.

The school has the following strengths The curriculum in key stages 1 and 2 is broad and balanced. A strong Christian distinctiveness permeates the school. Pupils treat each other with respect and work well with the local community.

Information about this school

The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Pupils are taught in two key-stage classes. The vast majority of pupils move to a middle school at the end of Year 4.

The school is in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. The school last received a section 48 diocesan inspection in October 2014, with overall effectiveness judged to be 'Good'. Shepton Beauchamp Primary School is part of a federated arrangement with St Mary and St Peter's Primary School.

Both schools share an executive headteacher and governing body. The majority of pupils are of White British background. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.

The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is below the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the national average. The chair and vice-chair of the governing body were appointed to their roles in February 2019.