Bude Primary Academy - Juniors

Overview

Bude Primary Academy - Juniors is described as a “happy, welcoming and inclusive school” where staff establish positive relationships that allow pupils to thrive. Following a period of turbulence, leaders have successfully turned things around, embedding curriculum changes and raising expectations so that the “upward trajectory in pupils’ achievements is now back on track.” The inspection confirms that the school is “rapidly improving” with strong outcomes in education, behaviour, and personal development.

Strengths

• Staff know pupils individually and use this knowledge to make learning relevant, resulting in work that is “often of a high standard.”
• The curriculum is “better matched to pupils’ needs,” with appropriate sequencing and explicit links between subjects, helping pupils remember key knowledge with increasing depth.
• Reading is “prioritised highly” through a robust programme; staff provide targeted support for those lacking secure phonic knowledge, ensuring pupils “learn to love reading.”
• Pupils behave well, bullying is rare, and the school promotes wider development effectively through varied clubs, trips, and discussions on diversity and British values.
• Leaders have worked “determinedly” to manage challenges, including high staff turnover, and have improved the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND.

Areas to improve

• The school’s assessment approach does not consistently identify gaps in pupils’ learning, meaning knowledge gaps persist in some subjects for older pupils.
• Work to improve attendance has “limited impact overall,” with overall attendance remaining below average despite slight reductions in persistent absence.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”