Inspectors found that:
- Staff at Penponds are united in their vision for pupils to ‘Aim high and achieve our best.’
- Staff work tirelessly to check pupils’ welfare and happiness.
- The school’s relentless focus on curriculum has been intertwined with an impressive personal development programme.
- The school explicitly teaches its pupils about what good behaviour looks like. As a result, pupils behave well with positive attitudes to learning. Bullying is rare.
- Like staff and pupils, parents and carers feel positive about their relationship with the school. One comment, typical of many, said, ‘Our children love their teachers and look forward to going to school. If we ever want to chat about anything with the staff, they always make themselves available.
- Leaders, including the trust and governors, know the school well. Their self-evaluation of the school is accurate.
- The school has crafted an ambitious and well sequenced curriculum from Reception to Year 6. It is planned to a high level of detail. This means teachers are clear on the precise knowledge pupils need to know and remember. Subject content has been carefully ordered to accommodate the mixed age classes.
- Staff continually check how much previous learning pupils can remember. This ensures they quickly plug any gaps in knowledge. As a result, pupils learn the curriculum well over the long term. They recall and explain their knowledge well.
- The school has considered the adaptations pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) at every step of its design. The school is rightly proud of its work with these pupils, including those with education, health and care plans. It has clear systems to help identify those who need additional support. This starts in the early years. Pupils with SEND quickly have their needs well met.
- Pupils learn to read well. Children in the Reception Year start to learn phonics as soon as they start school. Well-trained staff skillfully explain new concepts and identify any misconceptions pupils may have. They swiftly help the small number of pupils who fall behind to catch up. These well-established systems are reflected in pupils’ very high outcomes in the 2023 phonics screening check.
- Pupils develop their leadership skills through roles such as prefects and the ‘buddy’ system. A series of residentials develops pupils’ confidence and risk-taking. ‘Aspiration days’ help pupils to consider potential careers.
- The school utilises external organisations to help develop pupils’ social and moral understanding. For example, it works closely with Cornwall Pride and Black Voices Cornwall to help pupils understand the diverse nature of society. Consequently, pupils talk about issues of discrimination with empathy and passion.
- The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
