FARWAY Church of England Primary School in Colyton has been downgraded by Ofsted from Good to requires improvement.

Inspectors visited the school on March 19 and 20 and rated the school on the following criteria; 

  • The quality of education Requires Improvement
  • Behaviour and attitudes Good.
  • Personal development Good.
  • Leadership and management Requires Improvement.
  • Early years provision Requires Improvement.

The examiners did say that "pupils enjoy coming to school. They are happy and feel safe. Pupils are proud of the ‘family feel’ of the school."

They noted that pupils behave well and are keen to learn. However, they added: "They do not learn effectively. This is because the curriculum is not implemented well in several subjects. So pupils do not build their knowledge securely."

"Since the previous inspection, the school has not been swift enough to make effective changes to improve the curriculum. The school and the federation have not worked strategically to improve the quality of education for the pupils at this school. As a result, the quality of education for pupils is not good."

The good things that the school did well are also noted pupils learn well at the school and the school 'recognises and quickly acts upon' any SEN provision needed for pupils at Farway Primary School.

The report said that children in the early years play well together. They are kind and polite to one another. The environment is calm and organised with a range of activities that reflect the interests of children. This means children enjoy learning.

"However, the school has not designed the early years curriculum well. It has not clearly identified small steps in learning that build progressively to link to learning in Year 1 and beyond. As a result, children are not well prepared for the next stage of their education.

"The school has systems in place to track the attendance of pupils. This has led to some improvements in rates of attendance. However, the school is aware that further work is needed."

Read the full report on the Ofsted website, searching for Farway Church of England Primary School.