Combe Martin Primary School

Overview

Pupils attend a “happy and welcoming school” where they take pride in their learning and show “positive attitudes.” However, the quality of education and leadership require improvement because the curriculum is not yet implemented consistently, meaning pupils are “not yet learning the curriculum well enough.”

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate “positive attitudes to their learning” and focus on virtues such as “resilience.”
• The school provides a “wide range of opportunities,” including trips and experiences that enhance the curriculum and support safety.
• Staff build “positive relationships” with pupils, creating a “nurturing environment” with high-quality pastoral support.
• The school promotes a “love of reading” and supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to learn alongside peers.
• Pupils are encouraged to be “active citizens” through community involvement, charity work, and leadership roles.

Areas to improve

• The trust must develop staff expertise to ensure children in the early years build “solid foundations” for future learning.
• The trust must ensure staff teach the intended curriculum with “high ambition” to reduce variation in implementation and help pupils learn well across subjects.
• The trust needs to ensure checks on pupil learning are “precise” so that subsequent learning builds securely on existing knowledge, addressing gaps and errors.

Safeguarding

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