Boothferry Primary School

Boothferry Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 25–26 April 2012 Inspection number 379505 Unique Reference Number 117941 Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Inspection number 379505 Inspection dates 25–26 April 2012 Lead inspector Rajinder Harrison

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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 380 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jeff Watson Headteacher Rosalind Williamson Date of previous school inspection 11 September 2008 School address Newport Street Goole DN14 6TL Telephone number 01405 762151 Fax number 01405 720429 Email address boothferry.primary@eastriding.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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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 after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Rajinder Harrison James McGrath Additional inspector Additional inspector Peter Allen Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 18 lessons, taught by 16 teachers, over approximately nine hours. Three of the lesson observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher. Meetings were held with two representatives of the governing body, a wide range of staff and pupils, and informally with parents and carers. Inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at a wide range of documentation including the tracking of pupils’ progress, evidence from the school’s lesson observations, pupils’ completed work, procedures relating to safeguarding and children’s welfare, the headteacher’s reports to the governing body and school development plans. Inspectors also listened to pupils read. They analysed the responses to 91 questionnaires completed by parents and carers, together with those completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

The school is larger than most primary schools. The proportion of pupils from minority-ethnic backgrounds is above average with the largest group being of Eastern European origin. A high number of these pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is broadly average. The proportion of children with a statement of special educational needs is above the national average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is average. A higher than average proportion of pupils join the school at times other than the start of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The school meets the current floor standard, through which the government sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

The school holds the Activemark and Eco-schools gold award and has achieved Healthy School status. 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

 This is a satisfactory school. It is not yet good because the quality of teaching, which affects progress as pupils move from year group to year group, is inconsistent, and the more-able pupils are sometimes not sufficiently challenged. The school has a particular strength in the provision for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is outstanding. Pupils are also looked after well and the care the school provides for pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable is good. Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged as satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Key Findings

 Overall achievement is satisfactory. By the end of Year 6 pupils’ attainment is broadly average in reading, writing and mathematics. Some pupils struggle to understand subject–specific words, such as used in number problems. Pupils who speak English as an additional language, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress because they are supported well.

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Key Findings

 Teaching is satisfactory overall but varies between classes in Years 1 to 6. Some teachers challenge pupils effectively. They use assessment information well to match activities to pupils’ needs and use marking to provide clear guidance on how pupils can improve. These procedures are not applied consistently across all classes. Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is of a high quality.

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Key Findings

 Pupils’ behaviour is good. The school has a caring ethos and places much emphasis on promoting pupils’ emotional well-being. Pupils work and play cooperatively with each other and say they feel safe in school. They attend regularly because they say they enjoy learning and make good friends.

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Key Findings

 The effective partnership between the headteacher and recently extended leadership team is helping the school move forward. The leadership of teaching is satisfactory and senior leaders have accurately identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The management of teachers’ performance, apart from in the Early Years Foundation Stage, is not always sufficiently rigorous to accelerate pupils’ progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning so it is good or better in every class by: - making effective and consistent use of assessment information to plan work that challenges and closely matches the needs and abilities of all groups of pupils, particularly the more able - providing clear and sufficiently challenging targets for all learners, which are used on a daily basis - ensuring that marking consistently gives pupils a clear understanding of their next steps for improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate progress and raise attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 by: - giving pupils more opportunities to use and understand subject-specific vocabulary, especially when reading number problems - giving the more-able pupils more opportunities to read at depth and develop the skills necessary to attain the higher levels of attainment.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by: - having expectations of teachers that are sufficiently high to accelerate pupil progress - ensuring that all teachers implement the school’s marking procedures fully.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make satisfactory progress and attainment is broadly average in English and mathematics by the age of 11. Attainment in reading is also average. The school’s work to improve pupils’ skills in reading to help with writing is having a beneficial impact. The school has also revised the mathematics curriculum to make problem- solving more relevant to pupils’ everyday experiences, which is raising attainment for most pupils, although some struggle with the vocabulary. However, too few pupils are achieving the higher levels of attainment. This is because the more-able pupils are not always challenged sufficiently. Standards fell significantly at the end of Year 2 last year. Improved teaching means that current Year 2 and Year 6 pupils are working at broadly-average levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs or who speak English as an additional language achieve well because they receive good support. Work for these

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Achievement of pupils

pupils is generally matched well to their needs. Effective tracking procedures identify when pupils are beginning to fall behind and so staff are better placed to help them catch up. The gap between the performance of the lowest-attaining pupils and pupils nationally is narrowing effectively. The parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire agreed that their children made good progress. Progress is not yet consistent across the school to be good overall.

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Achievement of pupils

Children start in the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills typically below, and for a significant proportion, well below those expected for their age, with communication skills the weakest area. A high emphasis on speaking and listening skills, both in the classrooms and in the imaginative outside area, helps children gain confidence and skills quickly. Staff listen to children, questioning their understanding effectively. Key skills such as linking sounds and letters (phonics) are introduced early, so children as young as three learn and apply these skills when looking at texts and when writing. Those new to learning English as an additional language make rapid progress because they receive excellent individual help. All children make good and often very good progress because work is matched to individual needs and expectations are very high. Children enjoy many activities that promote cooperation and

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Achievement of pupils

independence. For example, children loved flying their homemade kites and explained very knowledgably that, ‘You must have lots of wind to make kites go up.’ Outcomes for children at the end of Reception are broadly average.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils enjoy reading and take books home readily. They read aloud regularly, particularly in Years 1 and 2. They extend their vocabulary and language skills through activities such as writing in history. However, not all are confident in using adventurous or subject specific words and a number struggle to interpret problems that require good reading skills. For example, pupils in Year 3 and 4 were unsure of the definitions of fractions such as thirds, quarters, eighths and their relationship to a ‘whole’ and so were unable to complete their work successfully. Lower-attaining readers continue to receive good support as they progress through Key Stage 2. The more-able pupils say they would like more opportunities to read to adults in school because they like reading but are not listened to enough.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers say that their children are taught well. Though over half of the lessons seen during the inspection were good or better, teaching is satisfactory overall because, over time, it results in only satisfactory progress in Years 1 to 6.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers create a calm and purposeful atmosphere where pupils are keen to learn. Pupils work together and cooperate well. Positive relationships ensure pupils are willing to attempt sometimes challenging work because they want to achieve well. In the best lessons, teachers create an air of anticipation and excitement, pace is brisk and pupils are actively engaged through discussions. For example, pupils in a Year 6 mathematics lesson enjoyed exploring how chance and probability affected the likelihood of them winning the lottery or Liverpool winning the cup this year. Questions are targeted well to extend pupils’ knowledge and probe their understanding. Teachers provide a clear sequence to their learning and additional adults are deployed effectively. Support staff plan work that challenges the needs of disabled pupils, pupils with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language. This sometimes involves use of specialist staff including

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Quality of teaching

bilingual teaching assistants. For example, in a Year 3 /4 reading activity, the teaching assistant gave pupils good individual guidance to achieve their target words. However, practice is not consistent across the school because teachers do not always use assessment information to match work accurately to pupils’ needs. In a few lessons, all ability groups start from the same point and so the more-able pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable.

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Quality of teaching

The teaching of reading is satisfactory. Teachers build effectively on children’s good reading skills from the Early Years Foundation Stage in Key Stage 1. Pupils are able to draw on their knowledge of phonics to break down unfamiliar words, so they read them and show a good understanding of the text. Although pupils in Key Stage 2 have regular guided reading sessions to extend their reading skills, the more-able pupils are not always challenged sufficiently to attain higher levels in reading. The curriculum provides some links between subjects. For example, children in Reception apply their phonics and practise early writing skills throughout the day, and older pupils write detailed accounts of how life was for ordinary people in the Second World War. Pupils’ work is marked regularly and, while some marking is good, practice is inconsistent in explaining to pupils why their work is good or how they

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Quality of teaching

might improve it. Pupils have individual targets but these are not referred to sufficiently for pupils to know how their work relates to the levels expected for their age or ability. The ‘learning journeys’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage, however, are exemplary. These provide a valuable and very comprehensive record of what the children have achieved and show the effective balance between adult-led and child- initiated activities.

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Quality of teaching

Pupils’ personal development is a strength. Pupils are taught the school values of cooperation, respect, kindness and perseverance. This supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils appreciate the many enrichment activities the school provides to enhance teaching.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Parents and carers say their children feel safe in school and that behaviour is good. Inspectors found behaviour to be typically good and that pupils are cared for well. The school is a friendly, harmonious community where new pupils are quickly made welcome. Pupils understand well how they should behave and treat each other. They are polite and friendly and have positive attitudes to learning. A few pupils stated that behaviour was not always good, but said that teachers sort out problems promptly. Occasional lapses in behaviour do occur when teaching does not hold pupils’ interest fully, but even on these occasions most pupils try their best. Older pupils are gainfully employed around the school working with the younger pupils, for example at lunchtimes and serving at the tuck shop. This has a positive impact on behaviour and promotes a good sense of responsibility. Rewards and sanctions are applied consistently and all staff are committed to promoting good behaviour, a point

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

pupils were quick to convey in conversation with inspectors.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils demonstrate an awareness of risk and unsafe situations and know who to turn to if a problem arises. They know the difference between playground disputes and bullying and say that there is no bullying, including racial or homophobic behaviour. Pupils also have a good awareness of the dangers of cyber-bullying.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance in 2011 was below average. The effective strategies put into place to promote attendance have already had a positive impact, with attendance now being average and rapidly improving. Fewer families are taking holidays in term time and persistent absenteeism has declined.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher is committed to improving outcomes for pupils. She ensured that effective action was taken to address the decline in standards in Year 2 in 2011. The upward trend that has been established in reading, writing and mathematics attainment demonstrates that the school has capacity to improve further.

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Leadership and management

The newly-established leadership team holds an accurate view of strengths and weaknesses. Improved tracking systems ensure all staff have an accurate view of pupils’ progress and attainment. This results in staff being more able to intervene quickly when pupils start to fall behind, and useful pupil-progress meetings support this work. Leaders monitor teaching and learning regularly and accurately identify where it needs further improvement. Staff have good opportunities to undertake support and training to improve their classroom practice, hence outcomes for pupils in Key Stage 1 have improved this year. However, performance management is not implemented as rigorously as it might be to ensure pupils in Years 1 to 6 make the same level of progress as seen in the Early Years Foundation Stage. While all staff believe the school to be well led and managed, not all adopt agreed school procedures, for example, regarding marking and target-setting.

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Leadership and management

Members of the governing body are actively engaged in the life of the school and provide satisfactory challenge. The governing body ensures that the requirements for safeguarding are met and discrimination tackled effectively. The school carefully tracks the progress of different groups of pupils to ensure equality of opportunity. This is resulting in the school successfully closing the gap in attainment with all pupils nationally for different groups, such as those speaking English as an additional language.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum makes a sound contribution to pupils’ progress and achievement. It is designed well to support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Assemblies provide good opportunities for pupils to consider their role as young citizens. A good range of enrichment activities, including educational visits to different localities, help pupils extend their interests and appreciate social and cultural diversity.

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Leadership and management

Engagement and communication with parents and carers are positive. The school works closely with a number of outside agencies to support the emotional and social well-being of both the pupils and their families.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 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 ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Boothferry Primary School, Goole, DN14 6TL

 On behalf of the inspection team I would like to thank you for the very friendly welcome you gave us when we inspected your school recently. Thank you for talking to us about your school and for filling in the questionnaires. As you know we came to see how well you were doing, and what you said helped us with our findings.

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Inspection of Boothferry Primary School, Goole, DN14 6TL

Boothferry Primary is a satisfactory school. You say you feel safe and well looked after at school and that you know who to go to if problems arise. We could tell that you like being at school. Your behaviour is good and most of you try to do your best in your lessons. We agree that your teachers take good care of you. It was really good to see that children in the Nursery and Reception classes have an excellent start to their learning. It was also good to see how you help each other and look after new pupils who join the school, especially those who are new to learning English as an additional language or need extra help in lessons. Your achievement overall is satisfactory but we can see that you are starting to attain better in your lessons and are doing as well as other pupils of your age. The headteacher, teachers and governing body are committed to doing their best to make sure that the school

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Inspection of Boothferry Primary School, Goole, DN14 6TL

In order for the school to do this we have asked your headteacher, teachers and the governing body to:

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Inspection of Boothferry Primary School, Goole, DN14 6TL

 raise attainment and improve your progress in reading, writing and mathematics  make the teaching even better in every class  make sure that leaders keep a close eye on how well staff are doing to help you achieve well in every class.

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Inspection of Boothferry Primary School, Goole, DN14 6TL

We know that you like your school so please continue to do your best in all your lessons. We wish you every success in the future.

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Inspection of Boothferry Primary School, Goole, DN14 6TL

Rajinder Harrison 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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