Eden Park Primary & Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Eden Park Primary School Academy

Following my visit to the school on 20 June 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2013. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your astute leadership is driving this good and strongly improving school forward. Eden Park is a happy, welcoming school that fosters a love of learning.

Parents typically describe the school as 'a supportive and caring school that ai...ms to get the best out of its pupils'. This is borne out by 2016 key stage 2 progress measures, which put the school in the top 25% of all schools nationally. You and your senior leadership team have an acute understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.

The leadership team's precise and timely actions have been pivotal to school improvement. You and the head of school lead with an unwavering moral purpose and are highly respected by pupils, staff and parents alike. Staff morale is high.

The school community share your drive and ambition. Your senior leaders are highly skilled. Consequently, all areas identified for improvement in the previous inspection have been successfully tackled.

In addition, your work is highly respected in the local authority. The skills of you and your team make an effective contribution to schools across Torbay in supporting inclusion. Your passion for training has led teachers to plan learning processes that ignite pupils' interests.

You successfully draw on the skills and interests of teachers across the three schools in the Coast Multi-Academy Trust in the development of teachers' expertise. Pupils told me that 'teachers make learning exciting'. Consequently, the broad curriculum motivates pupils to learn.

Pupils are particularly enthusiastic about their 'learning experiences outcomes' where they present their learning. For example, pupils were proud to share their learning with their families, when their murder mystery novels were displayed at Greenway, Agatha Christie's house. You and your team are not complacent and recognise that there is still more to do.

You have successfully developed a curriculum that deepens pupils' thinking in English and mathematics. Pupils' skills in, for example, history and geography are also well developed. However, you recognise that the next stage in the school's development is for teachers to challenge pupils further in creative subjects, such as art and music.

Safeguarding is effective. A strong culture of safeguarding is evident in the school. The school's safeguarding policies and procedures are thorough and comply with the most recent government guidelines.

Staff are recruited safely and are well trained to spot and act on signs of risk or harm. The pastoral team follows up concerns swiftly and is relentless in pursuing support for families. Strong relationships with a wide range of external agencies, for pupils and parents, support pupils when they face particular challenges in their lives.

Pupils say they enjoy school and that they feel safe. Their overall attendance has improved to be in line with the national average. This was identified as an area for improvement in the previous inspection.

Similarly, the attendance of pupils in receipt of the pupil premium has also improved to be in line with the national average. Pupils are well prepared to face a wide range of situations they may encounter in the future, including when using the internet. Pupils who responded to Ofsted's online questionnaire commented that there is an adult at school they can talk to if something worries them.

Inspection findings ? To establish whether the school remained good, one of my key lines of enquiry was to explore the effectiveness of leaders in deploying additional funding for disadvantaged pupils across the school. Work in pupils' books demonstrates that the differences between disadvantaged pupils and others in the school are diminishing over time. This is the result of effective intervention and support.

In 2016, outcomes at the end of key stage 2 showed that disadvantaged pupils make strong progress, particularly those with lower starting points. Current outcomes in year groups across the school show that more of your disadvantaged pupils than previously are achieving the higher standards. For example, in phonics in Year 1, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard is higher than last year's national average for all pupils.

Similarly, outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics in Year 2 show that more disadvantaged pupils than those nationally last year are meeting the expected standard. However, you are not complacent and are well on the way to ensuring that more of your disadvantaged pupils achieve the highest standards. ? My next line of enquiry focused on the effectiveness of the early years in developing writing skills.

It applied in particular to disadvantaged children and those who are most able. More of the disadvantaged children are achieving a good level of development than in previous years. As with other disadvantaged pupils in the school, the difference between disadvantaged pupils' achievement and that of others is diminishing.

This represents good progress from children's starting points. ? The governing body's investment in provision for two- and three-year-old children is reaping rewards. Governors are knowledgeable about standards and, because of this, recognised that more needed to be done to give pupils a better start to their school career.

Both the Nursery for two-year-old children and the Nursery for three-year-old children provide a safe and enticing environment for children to explore. Adults are skilled and ambitious for the children in their care. As a result, children are happy and confident.

The strong focus on communication, language and literacy has been successful in helping pupils to become ready to write. Your deployment of an experienced member of the leadership team to lead the early years is driving the pace of improvement. Work to improve learning environments and assessment practices reflects raised expectations and ambition.

However, you recognise that children's writing skills are less developed than other areas of learning. There are some inconsistencies in writing to be ironed out between the two Reception classes. ? In 2016, few Year 2 middle-ability pupils achieved the higher standard of greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics compared with the national picture.

Your leaders were swift to investigate and put actions in place to tackle this. More pupils are now working at the higher standards. Increased support in key stage 1, particularly focused on emotional well-being, is helping pupils to achieve their potential.

Current outcomes for the 2017 Year 2 pupils reflect an improving picture. ? My final line of enquiry focused on the quality of teaching of English grammar, punctuation and spelling across the school. Outcomes in this aspect last year were lower than standards in writing.

Staff training and the raised profile you have afforded grammar, punctuation and spelling have led to improved standards. In particular, work in pupils' books shows that pupils are consistently applying accurate punctuation in their writing. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers' expectations and their use of assessment information improve the consistency and quality of writing in the Reception classes ? teachers provide as much high-quality challenge in creative subjects, including art and music, as they do in English and mathematics.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Torbay. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Tracy Hannon Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, your leadership team joined me in observing learning in classrooms and we looked at a number of pupils' books.

I spoke with pupils in lessons. Meetings were held with you, senior leaders and three members of the governing body. I also spoke with an officer of the local authority by telephone.

I scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school's own self-evaluation and development plan, assessment information and safeguarding records. I considered the views of 24 parents who responded to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and the responses to Ofsted's questionnaires of 63 pupils and 45 members of staff. I also considered the 241 responses to the school's own recent parental questionnaire.