West Coker CofE VC Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy warm relationships with adults and their peers. Pupils know and understand the school's values of respect, kindness, community, wisdom and hope.

Pupils show this through their conduct and attitudes. Pupils enjoy coming to school to learn.

The school has high expectations for all.

Pupils behave very well in the classroom and playground. The family feel of the school is evident as pupils across the year groups play together like siblings. Pupils support one another and value their friendships.

If bullying occurs, the school deals with it swiftly. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the support their children receive.

Older p...upils eagerly take on positions of responsibility.

For example, they can be 'well-being warriors', members of the school council or sports leaders. Pupils are proud to support the school and value these opportunities.

For a small school, there is a wide range of clubs to help pupils develop new talents and interests.

These include crochet, boccia and board games. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit consistently from these inclusive activities. The school dodgeball team has recently reached the regional finals in Bristol.

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

The school is determined that all pupils succeed. It has worked at pace to address the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection.

The school has carefully designed the curriculum to ensure it is suitable for pupils who are taught in mixed-aged classes.

Where the curriculum is more established, learning is broken down into appropriately small steps and then sequenced in a logical way to enable pupils to deepen their learning. For example, in mathematics, younger pupils learn about position and direction. Older pupils build on this knowledge and apply it to solving problems involving coordinates using mathematical rules.

The school has adopted a new curriculum for some subjects. In most subjects, it is well sequenced and ambitious, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. This allows staff to teach a curriculum in a way that enables pupils to build their knowledge securely over time.

However, in some subject curriculums there is too much content and this makes it challenging for staff to focus on the core knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember.

The school has prioritised reading. The actions the school has taken to improve the teaching of early reading have been effective.

Children begin to learn to read as soon as they start school. They read books that are matched to the sounds they have been taught. This builds pupils' reading fluency and confidence.

Staff use regular assessments and their detailed knowledge of pupils' individual needs to spot gaps in their phonics knowledge. Pupils who struggle with early reading are given additional help to keep up.

The school ensures that pupils with SEND are identified early.

Learning targets are precise and matched well to what pupils need to focus on. Staff understand and use these targets well, which results in well-rounded support for these pupils.

The school has invested in pastoral care, which ensures that pupils get the emotional support they need to be successful in the classroom.

Adults help pupils to recognise their emotions through 'zones of regulation'. This helps pupils to develop effective communication skills.

In the early years, children settle quickly and make a strong start to their education.

Children follow familiar routines calmly, making the most of activities that promote their curiosity. For example, children enthusiastically write sentences for a newspaper article based on the book 'The Enormous Turnip'. Children play alongside their peers and learn important skills of turn-taking, sharing and working together.

In personal, social and health education, pupils learn about puberty, healthy relationships and keeping themselves safe online. Pupils have a deep understanding of the fundamental British values and protected characteristics. Pupils learn about different cultures and religions.

They are tolerant and respectful. The school has reinvigorated their reputation with the local community. Pupils now make trips to the church and go to sing songs at a residential home for the elderly.

The school recognises that there are still too many pupils who do not attend school regularly enough. However, actions taken by the school are not improving attendance and reducing persistent absence quickly enough.

Governors have the knowledge and confidence to challenge and support the school.

Staff enjoy working in the school. They appreciate the school's consideration of their well-being and workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils are safe in the school. The school knows pupils and families well. All staff have received training to identify pupils who are at risk of harm.

Staff know how to report concerns they may have. However, some actions to keep pupils safe and supported have been missed, including contacting outside agencies when necessary. These concerns were resolved before the end of the inspection.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some curriculum areas, the school has not identified the essential knowledge pupils need to know and remember with enough precision. As a result, pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they do in more established subjects. The school must ensure that the precise knowledge is identified across the curriculum, so pupils know more and remember more.

• Leaders' work to improve attendance and reduce persistent absence has not been robust enough. Pupils, therefore, do not benefit as well as they should from their education. The school, including governors, must take decisive action to improve attendance and reduce persistent absence as quickly as possible.

• Although the culture of safeguarding means that pupils are kept safe, at times safeguarding actions lack oversight. Because of this, there is the potential for some safeguarding actions to be missed. The school needs to ensure that all those responsible for overseeing safeguarding fully understand and fulfil their roles and that there are suitably robust actions to maintain the culture of safeguarding.