Padstow School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 September 2023

Pupils are happy and proud to be members of Padstow School. They are polite and want to do well. Staff develop positive relationships with pupils and know them well. This creates a happy place to learn where pupils grow in confidence. Parents praise the care and support provided by staff. The school, with support from the trust, has taken steps since the previous inspection to improve the quality of education for all pupils. Staff have high expectations for all pupils to be successful. This starts in the early years, where children thrive. Pupils know the school routines well. This means the school environment is calm and orderly. Bullying is well understood by pupils. Incidences are rare. However, some pupils think issues could be resolved more swiftly. The school offers a range of clubs to develop pupils' skills and talents, including choir and multi-skills. Pupils enjoy these as well as local trips and visits. For example, pupils talk enthusiastically about the regular visits from the fire station crew when learning about fire safety.

What the school should improve

• Some subjects in the wider curriculum are not as well developed as others. Consequently, pupils do not build their knowledge well enough in all subjects. The trust must ensure that the curriculum continues to be developed across all subjects so that pupils build their knowledge securely over time.
• Assessment is not used with enough precision to check what pupils know and remember. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge. This makes it difficult for them to build their knowledge. The trust needs to ensure that there is an effective approach to assessment across the curriculum. This will help teachers to adapt learning to help pupils deepen their understanding.

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