Bridgtown Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 25–26 January 2012 Inspection number 380792 Bridgtown Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 124067 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 380792 Inspection dates 25–26 January 2012 Lead inspector Derek Aitken

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 250 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alex Gribbin Headteacher Joanne Raybould Date of previous school inspection 12 May 2009 School address North Street Bridgtown WS11 0AZ Telephone number 01543 510201 Fax number 01543 510202 Email address office@bridgtown.staffs.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors visited 14 lessons taught by 13 teachers. A scrutiny of pupils’ work in English was carried out. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, representatives of the governing body and staff. Inspectors took account of the responses to on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They observed the school’s work, and looked at documents, including policies and procedures relating to the safeguarding of pupils, self- evaluation records and assessment information. The inspectors analysed responses to questionnaires from 52 parents and carers, 100 pupils and nine staff.

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Information about the school

Bridgtown Primary is an average-sized primary school. A very large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above average. The percentage of pupils with disabilities or special educational needs is above average. The school provides for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage through one part-time Nursery class and two Reception classes. The school’s awards include the International Schools Award. It also has Healthy Schools status.

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Information about the school

In 2011 the school failed to meet the government current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

In accordance with section 13(3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement.

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Key findings

 Pupils make insufficient progress from their starting points in Nursery and by the end of Year 6 their attainment is low. No pupil in the current Year 6 class is working at the higher Level 5 in either English or mathematics. The low attendance of a significant proportion of pupils has a negative impact on their achievement.  Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are satisfactory. Their progress is improving due to actions taken since the last inspection.  Despite some good elements, teaching is inadequate because it is does not sustain satisfactory or better progress for pupils as they move through the school. Teachers do not use assessment information well enough to plan to meet the needs of all groups of pupils effectively. The quality of teachers’ marking is inconsistent and not enough use is made of personal targets to raise pupils’ aspirations and enable them to achieve the next level.

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Key findings

 A significant weakness of the inadequate curriculum is that pupils do not have enough good opportunities to reinforce and extend their literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects.  Pupils’ behaviour and safety are satisfactory. A few pupils display extremely challenging behaviour. Appropriate procedures and strategies are employed to manage these pupils and minimise disruption. Pupils’ attitudes towards learning are satisfactory and, in a few instances, good.  Some recent initiatives have been successful in raising pupils’ cultural awareness.  Leadership and management are inadequate. While there is evidence of positive Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

impact in a few areas of the school’s work, two key areas identified for improvement in the last report have not been remedied. The work of the school is not evaluated rigorously enough to inform strategic planning. Targets for pupils are too low. The role of the governing body in holding leaders to account for pupils’ academic achievement is underdeveloped.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement by:  ensuring that teachers make good use of assessment information to plan lessons that are effective in meeting the needs of all groups of pupils  making better use of marking and pupils’ personal targets to raise aspirations and guide pupils in their learning  increasing the range of opportunities for pupils to practise and extend their literacy and numeracy skills in different subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the impact of actions rigorously to inform strategic planning  developing the ability of the governing body to hold leaders firmly to account for pupils’ levels of attainment and progress  setting realistic and challenging targets for pupils that raise expectations for their performance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Renew efforts to work purposefully with parents and carers to improve punctuality and to raise pupils’ attendance to at least the national average by April 2013.

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Achievement of pupils

Achievement by the end of year 6 is inadequate. Children’s attainment on entry to Nursery is well below what is typical for their age, especially with regard to their speaking and social skills. They make sound progress, particularly in numeracy, but there are still significant gaps in their skills in all areas of learning when they join Year 1. Most parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire are satisfied with their children’s achievement. However, several responses expressed concerns and these are confirmed by inspection evidence. Last year, pupils’ attainment in Year 2 was low and these pupils made slow progress. There has been a small improvement in rates of progress for pupils currently in Key Stage 1, including pupils with disabilities or special educational needs. This is reflected in pupils’ attainment in reading which has edged upwards, but remains below average. More-able pupils

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Achievement of pupils

read fluently and confidently. Less-able pupils demonstrate correct techniques in sounding out words, but occasionally stumble when attempting to articulate letter Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

combinations in unfamiliar words. In Year 6, pupils’ attainment in reading is low. Pupils with disabilities and pupils with special educational needs sometimes make satisfactory or better progress when they are taught separately as a smaller group. For example, in Year 6, these pupils quickly mastered a sequence of spelling patterns through solving clues linked to their topic on World War Two.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ attainment in each year group in Key Stage 2 is low, although it is a little higher in mathematics in Year 5. An over-reliance on worksheets diminishes opportunities for pupils to practise the skills of writing at length, particularly in Years 3 and 4. Pupils respond well when faced with challenging tasks, matched to their capabilities. Progress slows when pupils are not stretched in their learning, which is more frequently the case in classes containing pupils of different ages or where the range of ability is wide. Pupils have limited opportunities to practise their skills, especially in writing, in other subjects. Pupils’ low levels of attainment, attendance and punctuality do not prepare them well enough for their future lives.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is not good enough to enable pupils to close the gap on the levels expected for pupils nationally as they move through the school. Good examples of teaching are too isolated to have a significant influence on pupil’s achievement. Children in Nursery benefit from lively, open-ended questioning, which prompts them to add detail to their answers and moves their learning on. Similarly, in Year 2 the teacher demonstrated calculation strategies effectively to enable her pupils to use their counting sticks accurately to answer a series of questions. On a few occasions in the classes of younger children, teachers had to work hard to foster individual pupils’ readiness for learning or deal with troubled pupils, which slowed the pace of the lesson. Most parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire held favourable views about the quality of teaching.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers’ planning is frequently not well matched to pupils’ individual needs, and provides too little stimulus for their learning. More-able pupils are not challenged well enough to reach higher levels, including in English and mathematics. Pupils with disabilities and pupils with special educational needs are identified in lesson plans, but specific strategies for their support are usually lacking. This reduces the effectiveness of the contribution of teaching assistants to the learning of these pupils. Teachers’ marking sometimes provides pupils with guidance as to how they can improve, but this is more evident in end-of-unit assessments than in pupils’ daily work. Marking is often restricted to brief comments of praise or summarises what pupils have completed. Pupils have targets in their books but these are not used productively to support their learning or promote their progress.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers’ expectations for pupils’ behaviour promote a settled atmosphere for learning in the classroom and topics such as ‘Robin Hood’ enable pupils to reflect on the importance of friendship and fairness. Such features support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development satisfactorily. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most pupils enjoy school and relate well to each other and the staff, both in the classroom and outside at play. Children behave well in the Early Years Foundation Stage, but their social skills and capacity to work without guidance are still well below average when they join Year 1. In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils’ attitudes towards their learning are satisfactory, but are better when teachers’ expectations for their progress are higher. While some pupils are responsive to the teachers’ questioning, others are less confident and content to listen passively.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Very few questionnaire responses from parents and carers expressed concerns regarding pupils’ safety. The comments related to community issues rather than concerns about the school. The perimeter of the school is adequately secure; internal security of the school buildings is controlled well by a single access point, key systems and correctly applied signing-in systems. Informal and formal discussions with pupils confirmed that they feel safe in school. Pupils have a satisfactory understanding of factors which might endanger their personal safety. The school has developed some useful initiatives such as play rangers and peer supporters to strengthen pupils’ sense of well-being. Some of the questionnaires reflected worries about pupils’ behaviour. No evidence of disruptive behaviour was noted during the inspection. A close examination of the school’s records indicates that there are some instances of poor behaviour. These are largely confined to a very small number of

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The school has appropriate procedures for recording, investigating and reporting these incidents and makes good use of external support to provide staff with the skills and confidence to manage the behaviour of these pupils. Pupils say that any worries they have or incidents of bullying are effectively dealt with by staff. The attendance rate is low, although there was a small improvement last year. Several pupils are regularly late for school.

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Leadership and management

While leaders are aware of key strengths and weaknesses, systems for monitoring, evaluating and reviewing performance are not sufficiently developed to inform purposeful strategic leadership. School leaders do not demonstrate the capacity to secure sustained improvement in provision and pupils’ achievements. The school’s development plan is weak. A suitable range of lesson observations is undertaken and several have been focused on addressing underperformance in teaching. Not enough attention has been paid to reconciling the findings of lesson observations with other evidence of pupils’ progress or developing the quality of teaching across the school as a whole. In the past, assessments of pupils’ attainment in Year 2 have been insecure. This has hampered the school’s capacity both to set accurate benchmarks for measuring pupils’ progress across Key Stage 2 and to make suitable adaptations to the curriculum to address weaknesses. The curriculum is inadequate; however,

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Leadership and management

some useful small-group interventions have been put in place recently to support disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs. Although improvements have been made to assessment systems, targets for Year 6 pupils are too low. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

Leaders have tackled a few areas of weakness well. For example, improvements have been made to the quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage, although these are not yet fully reflected in children’s outcomes.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development satisfactorily. Pupils’ cultural horizons have widened through the establishment of useful links with the local community and internationally, for example Ghana. In other respects the curriculum is inadequate because it does not enable pupils to acquire and reinforce basic skills at an appropriate rate.

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Leadership and management

The governing body ensures statutory requirements are met but their procedures for checking and promoting pupils’ academic performance are weak. Consequently, the governing body is not fulfilling its key role of holding leaders to account for pupils’ achievements and teachers’ performance. The effectiveness with which the school promotes equalities and tackles discrimination is inadequate because outcomes are inadequate for all groups of pupils and gaps between their achievements and those of primary pupils nationally are not closing. The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet requirements and provide no cause for concern regarding children’s safety.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Bridgtown Primary School, Bridgtown WS11 0AZ

I would like to thank you for your help when the inspection team visited your school recently and for sharing your views with us. Children in Nursery and Reception get off to a satisfactory start. You know how to stay safe and most of you behave in a kindly way to each other and the staff. However, your school is not providing all of you with a satisfactory education and it needs extra support in order to do so. For this reason we have decided that the school needs ‘special measures’. Your attainment is low in English and mathematics in Year 6 and by the time you move up to secondary school, many of you have not made enough progress in your learning.

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Inspection of Bridgtown Primary School, Bridgtown WS11 0AZ

To help the school improve quickly so that you all achieve as well as you should do we have asked the senior leaders and teachers to:

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Inspection of Bridgtown Primary School, Bridgtown WS11 0AZ

 improve lesson planning to make sure all of you get challenging work to help you learn better  make better use of marking and your personal targets to provide you with good quality support to improve your work  give you better chances to practise your literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects  set you more challenging targets to aim for  improve the school’s plans to provide a better standard of education  make sure that the governing body keeps a close check on how well you are achieving  work with your parents and carers to make sure all of you come to school on time and attend very regularly.

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Inspection of Bridgtown Primary School, Bridgtown WS11 0AZ

Other inspectors will visit the school in the near future to check how well these areas for improvement are being tackled. You can all help by coming to school every day (unless you are ill) and by working as hard as you can to improve your literacy and numeracy skills.

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Inspection of Bridgtown Primary School, Bridgtown WS11 0AZ

Derek Aitken Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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