Veryan CofE School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Veryan is a good school. Despite some instability in staffing in recent years, it has improved well since the previous inspection and continues to do so.

The headteacher promotes good teamwork in an unobtrusive, yet very effective manner and this has strengthened the shared commitment to improvement. She empowers staff and the governing body to make valuable contributions to the running of the school. Above all, the school's exemplary care, guidance and support and excellent procedures to safeguard pupils' welfare underpin consistently good quality provision.

They are also major factors in helping pupils to feel very safe and to willingly and wholeheartedly participate in sports and to adopt ...very healthy lifestyles. The school's caring ethos and sense of community also lift pupils' confidence and promote the pupils' good achievement and full enjoyment. Children make a good start in Reception and continue their good progress through the remainder of the school.

Progress is good for pupils across the range of ability and backgrounds, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those arriving from other schools. This continuity of progress in response to good teaching and learning reflects good improvement through Years 2 to 4. It shows that good use of assessment and earlier identification of pupils' needs and well-targeted intervention and support, often on a one-to-one basis with a caring adult, is bridging gaps in previous learning.

Progress is particularly good in Years 5 and 6, especially as pupils are given greater opportunity and show greater maturity in taking responsibility for their own learning. As a result, overall attainment at the end of Year 6 is above average, most notably in speaking and listening and in reading and using computers and, more recently, in mathematics. Pupils' attainment in writing is broadly average.

While it often shows a good breadth of vocabulary and expression, pupils' writing is too often constrained by underdeveloped handwriting and punctuation skills. The headteacher has established effective mechanisms for monitoring the quality of provision and to accurately assess pupils' progress. To accomplish this she has developed the leadership roles of staff and encouraged members of the governing body to play a full part in monitoring the work of the school.

As a result, self-evaluation is good, focuses on the right priorities and is illustrated by the consistently good teaching and learning across the school. In addition, the acceleration in pupils' progress, now most notably and recently seen in the pupils' above average attainment in mathematics and information and communication technology (ICT), further demonstrates a good capacity for sustained improvement. The curriculum is enriched by a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and residential and other visits.

Topics which link subjects together, for example 'Dinosaurs', provide good opportunities to extend pupils' literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. However, the curriculum does not always include sufficient time for pupils to complete their writing tasks or to work more independently by exploring their own ideas.

Information about the school

This is a small village primary school with four mixed-age classes.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. Currently all the pupils attending the school are of White British heritage and there are no pupils who speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average, but there is wide variation in the year groups across the school.

There are an above average number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs. The proportion of pupils entering or leaving the school other than at the usual time is above average. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are taught in a mixed Reception and Year 1 class.