Salcombe Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 June 2025

Pupils are proud to be part of 'Team Salcombe'. This is underpinned by the respectful and nurturing relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils, staff, parents and carers highly value the safe and happy community ethos of the school. Pupils are encouraged to meet the high standards that the school has for their behaviour and conduct. This begins with two-year-olds in the Nursery and continues throughout the school. For example, children in the early years learn to take turns appropriately. They develop empathy through listening to stories. Throughout the school, pupils play together and ensure, through their understanding of tolerance and equality, that everyone can join in. The school prioritises widening pupils' awareness of the world around them. This is supported by the well-known school values of 'SAIL - service, aspiration, integrity and love'. Pupils enthused about experiences that enable them to show the SAIL values. These include residential trips and adventurous activities such as sailing or community activities such as beach cleaning. Pupils are keen to learn, and the school is aspirational for what it wants pupils to achieve. However, the many changes in leadership and staffing since the last inspection have hindered the establishment of a high-quality curriculum and clear expectations of what pupils can do. Consequently, pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

What the school should improve

• Expectations for pupils' learning are not high enough. Ambition for what pupils can achieve has been hindered by the many changes in the school's leadership and staffing. Consequently, the intended curriculum is not fully realised, and pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school, working with the trust, should ensure that the increased stability in the school leads to fully shared and understood expectations for what pupils can achieve in each subject.
• The curriculum does not provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to practise, consolidate and transfer what they learn and can do. As a result, pupils do not secure and build new learning well enough or make links within their learning. The school should ensure that the curriculum in all subjects provides pupils with enough deliberate opportunities and time to become fluent in skills and apply learning with greater automaticity.
• Not enough subjects in the wider curriculum are designed and implemented as well as those where the school has focused its attention. Consequently, in these subjects, pupils do not retain their knowledge and learn effectively. The school should ensure that the effective model it has established in some subjects is used across the whole of the wider curriculum and that staff get the necessary training to ensure that pupils receive a high-quality learning offer.

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