Great Torrington Bluecoat Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 November 2024

This is an inclusive school that welcomes all pupils. Staff share a strong commitment to supporting pupils' emotional needs. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and encouraging. All pupils are valued and feel part of the school community. They love coming to school and attend well. The school has high aspirations for pupils' achievement. However, pupils underachieve because there is weakness in the quality of education. This is because pupils have not benefited from a curriculum that builds knowledge securely over time. Pupils appreciate the focus placed on their mental health. The culture of respect means that pupils know they can talk to a trusted adult if they have any concerns. As a result, they feel safe. Pupils behave well in the classroom and at social times. During breaktimes, pupils from different age groups play together cooperatively. They construct dens, climb trees and participate in sports. Pupils value the enrichment activities they have. Clubs like yoga, darts and running develop pupils' interests and build character. Trips and visits enhance the curriculum. Pupils build knowledge of other cultures, for example, through an exchange trip to Berlin.

What the school should improve

• In subjects where the curriculum is new or recently refined, pupils, including those with SEND, have gaps in their knowledge. This makes it hard for pupils to build their knowledge over time. The school should ensure that the curriculum sequencing in all subjects provides pupils with the best chance of building their knowledge securely over time.
• The school has not checked the impact of the curriculum in some subjects with enough rigour. Consequently, some staff do not cover content in sufficient depth. This limits the breadth of knowledge pupils acquire. The school should ensure that the school strengthens its checks and evaluation of the impact of the curriculum on pupils' learning.
• In some subjects, teachers do not provide pupils with work that matches the intent of the curriculum. This means that pupils are not supported to reach the aims of the curriculum. The school should ensure that teachers have the knowledge that they need to design activities that connect learning and help pupils to build up a deep body of knowledge.
• Governors do not have a secure insight into the quality of the school's curriculum. This means that they are not well placed to hold leaders to account for the impact of their actions and are not sufficiently informed about how well curriculum changes are being implemented. Governors should review how they oversee the work of the school so that they can be assured that pupils are able to achieve well throughout the curriculum.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)