Crowan Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend a school that has been transformed. Since joining the trust, and in response to the challenges faced by the predecessor school, leaders at all levels have demonstrated unwavering commitment to raising aspirations for pupils. As a result, pupils flourish at this school.

They behave well and they are keen to learn.

Pupils speak highly of their school. They say it is a school where 'everyone cares for everyone'.

The motto 'dream, believe, achieve' is fully understood and realised. Pupils know that there are no limits to what they can do and that they will get support from adults if they need it. Warm relationships across the school help pupils to f...eel safe and well looked after.

Year 6 pupils are proud to be a buddy to children in the early years to help them to settle into school life quickly.

The school promotes pupils' wider development well. The recent 'Victory in Europe Day' street party enabled the school to come together to remember a significant historical event.

Pupils make a difference to their school and community through their leadership roles. For example, pupils are reducing energy use in the school to raise money for play equipment.

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

The school, with support from the trust, has taken great strides to improve the quality of education that pupils receive.

There has been a sharp focus on the design and teaching of the curriculum. Staff speak overwhelmingly positively of the support and training they have received. As a result, there is a strong, shared vision and determination for pupils to be successful.

Across subjects, the school has identified the knowledge pupils need to learn, starting in the early years. Where subjects are further ahead in their development, staff are clear about what to teach and when, ensuring that learning builds on what pupils already know. Staff make checks to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge and provide appropriate support to help address those gaps.

They use a range of teaching strategies to help pupils learn the curriculum successfully and recall their knowledge well in these subjects. For example, pupils confidently articulate their understanding of the major world religions and explain why it is important to understand different beliefs in a multicultural society. Children in the early years use the correct vocabulary to describe key aspects of Christianity, such as their place of worship.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from the early identification of their needs. For example, the school completes a language assessment for children in the early years to identify and fill gaps in communication and language knowledge. This ensures that children get the help they need to prepare for the more formal stages of learning to read.

The school has prioritised helping pupils to become confident and fluent readers. It has been relentless in ensuring that staff are experts in teaching pupils to read. The school checks with rigour those pupils that need extra support.

As a result of the school's work, all pupils met the national standard of the phonics screening check in Year 1 in 2023 and 2024.

Some subjects are less developed as the curriculum design in these subjects is new this year. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge from the previous curriculum.

Furthermore, staff do not know these curriculum plans in the same depth as those that are more established. Consequently, gaps in knowledge are not fully known and so on occasions, learning tasks do not build on what pupils know and can do. As a result, some pupils find it hard to remember their learning.

The school has refined the writing curriculum to ensure that it is clear what pupils should learn, particularly to secure the basic transcription skills of spelling, grammar and punctuation. This is helping pupils to build their writing knowledge more securely. However, some pupils make repeated errors in their written work across the curriculum that go unaddressed.

Pupils show positive attitudes to their learning. They engage well in lessons and know what is expected of them as they move around the school. This starts in the early years where children look after their classroom and each other.

Pupils across the school want to be successful and they value the recognition they gain for doing well.

Through planned experiences, the school prepares pupils well for the wider world. For example, pupils speak enthusiastically about their residential trip to London.

This helps to develop their knowledge of culture and diversity. Pupils value the range of clubs they can attend to develop their interests, such as gardening club.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects where the curriculum is in its earlier stages of development, staff are less clear about the important knowledge pupils need to secure. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge, and this makes it harder for them to make connections in their learning. The trust should strengthen staff subject knowledge so that gaps are identified and addressed with future learning that builds on what pupils already know to help them to learn the curriculum securely.

• The school does not ensure that pupils' writing is of a consistently high standard across the curriculum. This is because staff do not address errors in writing, particularly in spelling, grammar and punctuation. The trust should ensure that staff identify and support pupils' errors as they occur in their writing to enable them to write fluently across subjects.

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