Biggin CofE Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 19–20 March 2012 Inspection number 378569 Biggin CofE Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 112822 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 378569 Inspection dates 19–20 March 2012 Lead inspector David Edwards

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 18 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Eric Page Headteacher Heather Gosney Date of previous school inspection 20 April 2007 School address Main Street Biggin Buxton SK17 0DQ Telephone number 01298 84279 Fax number 01298 84279 Email address headteacher@biggin.derbyshire.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. The inspector visited four lessons and observed three teachers. One lesson was jointly observed jointly with the local authority advisor. The inspector also heard children reading, observed intervention groups being taught, scrutinised pupils’ work, visited an assembly and undertook other activities in order to observe the pupils’ learning. He held meetings with parents and carers, groups of pupils, a number of staff and a member of the governing body. The inspector took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work and looked at school self-evaluation and planning documents, policies and procedures, as well as the school’s own analysis of pupils’ attainment and progress. Questionnaires completed by 18 parents and carers were received and analysed, as well as others from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

Biggin Church of England Primary is much smaller than the average village primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The percentage of the school’s population who are girls is lower than that seen nationally. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average. Most pupils are of White British heritage. Very few pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

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Information about the school

The school meets the current floor standard, which sets the government’s minimum expectations of pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6. All pupils from Reception to Year 6 are taught in mixed-age classes. The permanent headteacher is currently on long-term sick leave. An executive headteacher has been appointed for one day a week. A senior teacher leads the school for the remainder of the week and a temporary teacher is covering the absent headteacher’s four-day teaching commitment. The school has achieved National Healthy School status, Activemark and the International School’s Gold Award.

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Information about the school

A pre-school on the school site is managed by an outside provider and was inspected separately.

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Key findings

 Biggin C of E Primary is a good school that has been rigorous in following up the areas identified for improvement in its last inspection. Despite strengths in most aspects of the school’s work, it is not outstanding because more-able pupils are not challenged to reach their full potential in key areas such as writing and mathematics.

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Key findings

 Achievement is good. From below average starting points, pupils make good progress to reach above average attainment in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make equally good progress.

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Key findings

 Pupils respond well to the good teaching they receive in the mixed-age classes. Teachers know their pupils well and in most lessons work is closely tailored to their needs. Teachers’ clear explanations, good subject knowledge and use of interesting resources help pupils to make good progress. Marking is not as detailed in mathematics as it is in English and does not consistently inform pupils what they need to do to improve, to help them make even better progress. Pupils are not given enough opportunities to assess the quality of their own work. In mathematics, pupils are not demonstrating their understanding of their work through systematic methods of working and recording in calculation.

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Key findings

 Behaviour is consistently good and pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe. They take very good care of each other and are proud of the learning environment. They say that bullying is very rare.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are good at all levels, including the leadership of teaching and management of performance. This is because the permanent headteacher has built a strong team who share the same ambitions and aspirations for the pupils in their care.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement in writing and mathematics, particularly for more-able pupils, by: – ensuring that teaching in all lessons is consistently good or better – getting pupils to demonstrate their understanding of their work in mathematics by systematically showing their working of calculations in their books – teaching pupils how to evaluate the quality of their work and that of others by regularly using success criteria in lessons to help accelerate progress – achieving greater consistency in teachers’ marking, particularly in mathematics, so it effectively guides pupils to know their next steps to improvement – ensuring consistent challenge in lessons for more-able pupils to accelerate their progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Inspection findings endorse the views of parents and carers that their children are making good progress. The majority of children join the school with skills and understanding that are below expectations for their age. Staff in Reception make good use of resources both indoors and outside, and get children off to a good start in all areas of learning. Children make good progress and quickly learn to cooperate and work and play together. This gives a good foundation for the excellent relationships between pupils and staff built thereafter throughout the school. Effective links with the pre-school on site ensures that the needs of children on entry to Reception are well met.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make good progress throughout the school although the very small number on roll means that there is variation in attainment year on year. Pupils’ attainment in reading is generally above average at the end of Key Stage 1, because basic reading skills are taught frequently, regularly and skilfully. Pupils read aloud regularly to adults and this is enhancing their confidence. Attainment in English has been broadly average but current attainment in reading at the end of Year 6 is above average. Pupils are given good opportunities to develop their comprehension skills and make judgements about aspects of their reading by reference to the text. Reading and books are promoted well and the rise in attainment in reading across the school reflects the success of efforts to raise standards Writing skills are above average because pupils are given many opportunities to use their writing in other areas of the

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Achievement of pupils

curriculum, but not enough pupils reach the higher levels. Attainment in mathematics is above average at the end of Year 6. The school’s assessment and tracking data and work seen during the inspection show that attainment is rising and most pupils in the school are making good progress from their starting points. The current Year 2 and Year 6 are on track to achieve challenging targets.

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Achievement of pupils

Learning in most lessons is good. Pupils were keen, for example, to undertake scientific investigations and capacity work in mathematics and enjoyed finding things out independently. Work in pupils’ books is usually well presented, and shows evidence of good progress over time. Teachers’ high expectations are moving most pupils on at a fast rate and pupils are eager to improve their performance. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make progress at the same rate as their peers because of the good support they receive from skilful teaching assistants who plan work in small steps. Pupils are particularly proud of their many sporting achievements.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching in most lessons is good throughout the school. Classrooms are well equipped with ample resources for learning. Relationships between adults and pupils are good. The best lessons are well planned, teachers make clear to pupils what they are going to learn, and then encourage them to investigate for themselves. For example, in a mathematics lesson, Year 6 pupils were required to use ratio and proportion to solve real-life problems. Children in Reception were using a robotic toy to develop positional language and programming skills. Pupils in Year 2 used an information and communication technology animation programme to develop their creativity and writing skills. Interest in the different tasks was high and learning for these pupils was rapid. Most pupils consistently rise to the challenges they are set, particularly when the work is practically based. Teachers make regular use of opportunities, such as working cooperatively, to help pupils to clarify their

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Quality of teaching

Teaching assistants are deployed effectively and play a vital role in supporting different groups. This ensures that most pupils make the same good progress over time, particularly disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, or those whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable.

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Quality of teaching

Occasionally, the pace of learning slows when teachers take too long with their explanations about tasks, or do not offer enough challenge, particularly for more- able pupils. While work in books, observations in lessons and scrutiny of the school’s data show that most pupils are making good progress in their mathematics, it is difficult to assess pupils’ understanding of their work because they are not showing their working out consistently. Marking praises achievement without giving enough advice on how to improve, particularly in mathematics. While pupils understand their targets to effect improvement over time, they are not given opportunities in each lesson to assess the quality of their own work and that of others.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers implement the stimulating curriculum well to develop pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, such as in ‘philosophy for children’ sessions. Pupils’ understanding of different cultures is a strength of the school. This has led to the school gaining the International School’s Gold Award. The teaching of reading and writing skills is systematic and these are practised in many subjects. Parents and carers are very positive about the quality of teaching in the school and pupils also say that they enjoy their learning. This accords with inspection findings.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour is good throughout school. The good relationships between adults and pupils have a positive impact on learning. Pupils listen closely to teachers’ instructions and to their peers, and their good behaviour helps them to sustain their concentration well over extended periods of time. Parents and carers have positive views about pupils’ behaviour and feel they are well looked after. Pupils agree that behaviour is good around school and in their lessons. School records show that incidents of poor behaviour are exceptionally rare. The school is very successful in integrating pupils whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable and it pursues the interests of these pupils vigorously when working with outside agencies. Pupils say they feel safe in school and there is very little indication of bullying of any kind. Pupils and their parents and carers are very confident that it would be swiftly

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

and appropriately managed. Pupils are well taught from an early age about the potential dangers of the internet, social networking sites and mobile telephones. Pupils are proud to be members of the school community, which they leave as thoughtful, caring and very considerate young citizens.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance has been consistently well above national averages for many years. This is a testimony to pupils’ enjoyment of school.

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Leadership and management

The whole staff team, under the very capable leadership of the permanent headteacher, is committed to further school improvement and focused on raising pupils’ achievement. Her rigorous systems have allowed the staff and executive headteacher to maintain pupils’ good achievement and progress in her absence. Careful monitoring and accurate self-evaluation have assisted the school in identifying the right priorities for improvement. The tracking of pupils’ progress has improved since the last inspection. Staff training and programmes to assist pupils’ learning are well targeted and their impact is carefully monitored. The role of subject leaders is more effective than at the time of the last inspection and they are making a greater contribution to raising standards within their subject. Writing has improved so it is now consistently above average at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. Better provision in the Early Years Foundation is ensuring that children make good

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Leadership and management

progress. These improvements indicate that the school has good capacity to improve further.

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Leadership and management

The governing body is effective. Its members have an accurate picture of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They are supportive but not afraid to challenge and hold the school to account. Safeguarding is threaded through the curriculum, so that pupils have a good understanding of what constitutes safe and unsafe situations. Safeguarding arrangements meet current statutory requirements.

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Leadership and management

The stimulating curriculum meets pupils’ needs well. It ensures that all key skills are developed effectively, with a strong focus on improving literacy. Pupils enjoy many imaginative experiences that improve both their personal and academic achievement. These include work with the Peak Park Rangers and Ashbourne High School, which could not have been provided by the school alone. This variety of experiences, combined with good academic progress, ensure that pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Leadership and management

The school is successful in promoting equality of opportunity and tackling discrimination. It has robust systems for identifying and helping groups and individuals, making this an inclusive school. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through the curriculum. There are opportunities for pupils to work together and learn about their responsibilities through the personal, social and health education programme and they have a good understanding of the lives and culture of other people in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

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

Inspection of Biggin CofE Primary School , Buxton , SK17 0DQ

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

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave me when I inspected your school this week. A particular thank you to those of you who read aloud to me, filled in the questionnaire, talked with me and told me so much about your school. Please thank your parents and carers who also filled in the questionnaire. I found that you go to a good school and these are some of the things I found out about it.

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

 Your achievement is good because you make good progress and often reach higher levels of attainment than other children of your age by the end of Year 6, particularly in mathematics.  The youngest children get a good start to their education in Reception.  The teaching you receive, the way your school is led and managed and the curriculum you follow are all good.  Your behaviour is good and you enjoy learning.  Your school ensures you are kept safe.

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

To make your lessons even better, I have asked your school to:  give you opportunities to assess the quality of your own work and that of your classmates  give you clear feedback on how to improve your work  make sure that the most able of you get work that is hard enough  make sure that you can show your understanding of your work in mathematics by asking you to always show your working out .

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

All of you can help your school to become even better by always doing the very best you can and asking the teacher for harder work if you need it.

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

David Edwards 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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