Cobden Primary School

Overview

The report states that the school has "not acted with sufficient urgency to address weaknesses identified at the previous inspection," resulting in an educational offer that is "too variable." Leaders and governors are judged inadequate because they lack the necessary information and robust evidence to hold leaders to account or ensure a high-quality education for pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils "enjoy attending" the school, with most behaving well in lessons and feeling safe through the personal, social and health education curriculum.
• The phonics programme is "well established," allowing children to "get off to a strong start in their reading," with effective support for those needing extra help.
• Children in the early years "settle well into school life" and benefit from "positive relationships between staff and children."
• Pupils benefit from a range of additional experiences, such as overnight residential trips and learning skills for local festivals.

Areas to improve

• The school’s improvement efforts "lack clarity, urgency and effectiveness," meaning changes are not sustained or happen too slowly.
• Teaching does not meet the needs of all pupils, particularly in writing where the curriculum "does not clearly set out the sequence of learning," and for pupils with SEND who do not receive consistent adaptation.
• Governors do not have an "accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas that need improvement" and must use robust evidence to check the impact of leaders’ actions.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective," though there are inconsistencies in implementation and the school does not routinely evaluate how well staff follow procedures.