Boothville Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 13–14 June 2012 Inspection number 380357 Boothville Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 121931 Local authority Northamptonshire Inspection number 380357 Inspection dates 13–14 June 2012 Lead inspector Stephen Lake

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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 532 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andy Croft Headteacher Philip Buckle Date of previous school inspection 17 September 2008 School address Booth Lane North Northampton NN3 6JG Telephone number 01604 491545 Fax number 01604 642830 Email address head@boothville-pri.northants-ecl.gov.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 observed the school’s work, and looked at the school development plan and samples of pupils’ work. A variety of classroom observation techniques were used, from single observations, to ‘learning walks’ across a group of linked lessons, such as the numeracy and literacy carousels in Years 3 and 4. The majority of observations were in partnership with a member of the senior staff. Inspectors visited 30 lessons or parts of lessons and made a further 16 short focused visits to classrooms, observing 19 teachers. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, governors, and staff. Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including curriculum planning, documents relating to safeguarding and child protection, records of pupil attainment and progress, and records relating to the monitoring of teaching. Some parents and carers were spoken to at the start of school. Questionnaires from pupils, staff and

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Information about the school

This school is larger than average and growing. This year, it expanded to three Reception classes and will also have three in September. The vast majority of pupils are White British, with fewer pupils than average from other ethnic groups. There is an increasing number of pupils who join the school speaking English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals has increased recently and is now average. The large majority of pupils come from the immediate area, but a growing number are joining the school from other parts of the town. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those supported by school action plus or with statements of special educational need, is below average. A breakfast and after-school club and lunchtime care for nursery children are managed by the governing body. The school has recently been re-awarded Artsmark gold. The school meets the government’s current

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Information about the school

floor standards, which set 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

 This is a good school. It is not outstanding because progress in writing is not as strong as in reading and mathematics. In addition, the percentage of pupils whose attendance is below 85% is above average. The vast majority of parents and carers who completed inspection questionnaires would recommend this school.

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Key findings

 Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and build securely upon this as they move through the school. Progress by the end of Year 6 is good and pupils’ attainment is above average overall. Although more pupils than average attain the expected Level 4 in writing by the end of Year 6, attainment in writing is average because not enough of the more-able pupils are attaining the higher levels of which they are capable. The slight drop in achievement over the last few years has been reversed.

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Key findings

 The quality of teaching is good, especially in mathematics, but, in writing, there is a little inconsistency and some lessons do not challenge the most-able pupils well enough. In addition, not enough opportunities are taken to develop writing skills throughout the curriculum.

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Key findings

 Pupils feel very safe in school. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, and social development very well and the consistently high expectations that teachers have of their behaviour ensure the good behaviour of the vast majority of pupils. Pupils are kept safe and have a strong understanding of how to stay safe.

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Key findings

 Good leadership and management ensure that the school has an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses. The information is used effectively to promote improvement through the school development plan. Performance management is used well to improve the quality of teaching and the leadership skills of middle managers through well-targeted professional development. 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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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 By July 2013, improve achievement in writing, especially for more-able pupils, by:  ensuring that tasks set in lessons challenge all pupils, especially the more able, to achieve their very best  providing more, consistent opportunities to develop writing skills across the curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 By July 2013, improve attendance by reducing to below 3% the proportion of pupils whose attendance is below 85%.

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Achievement of pupils

Almost all of the parents and carers who completed inspection questionnaires believe that their children make good progress in their learning. Children start school with skills that are below the levels normally found, particularly in communication, language and literacy. That is partly due to the changes in the intake of the school, with a greater proportion of the increased numbers in Reception Year speaking English as an additional language. Additional time has been given to support those children and, together with the increased focus on teaching letters and sounds systematically (phonics), this ensures that they make the same good progress as other children. Children in the Nursery and Reception Year make particularly good progress in their personal and social development because of the great attention given to promoting these skills. As a result, children start Year 1 well prepared for learning. Achievement in Years 1 and 2 is consistently strong and attainment at the

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Achievement of pupils

end of Year 2 is above average. The revised systems for teaching letters and sounds ensure that attainment in reading and writing is particularly good. Pupils enjoy writing and good teaching encourages them continually to improve. For example, in an outstanding lesson in Year 2 that focused upon middle-ability pupils, the high expectations and secure subject knowledge of the teacher ensured that pupils produced extended pieces of creative writing quickly. Good use was made of simple similes, such as ‘He had blue eyes, blue as a teardrop’.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make good progress in Years 3 to 6. The above-average attainment from Year 2 is built upon effectively, especially in reading and mathematics. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are supported well to keep them included in lessons. As a result, they are fully engaged in learning and make similar progress to other pupils. Attainment is above average overall by the end of Year 6, but, in writing, the proportion attaining the higher Level 5 is lower than in reading and mathematics. Progress in writing, throughout the school, is improving rapidly as teachers focus upon developing the spoken word, in order to prepare pupils to 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

undertake written tasks, and make increasing use of drama. In an outstanding lesson in Year 6, pupils demonstrated great maturity and understanding when reading and discussing an extract from Romeo and Juliet. That type of lesson, where pupils’ reading is guided and improved, is increasing pupils’ confidence and their ability to analyse and interpret complicated text. As a result, the proportion now attaining the higher Level 5 in reading has increased considerably over the last year. Inspection evidence shows that Year 5 pupils are maintaining that improvement and are on track to attain highly by the end of Year 6.

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Achievement of pupils

Achievement is good in many areas of the curriculum. Pupils have strong information and communication technology skills and much good artwork was observed, reflecting the school’s achievement of the Artsmark gold award.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is mostly good, with some that is outstanding. That supports the views of the overwhelming majority of parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers make good use of technology to stimulate and motivate pupils. For example, Year 5 pupils were very stimulated by the use of devices that enabled them to choose an answer to a question electronically. The results were then shown on the interactive white board in the form of a motor race in which each pupil was a car. Pupils were keen to get the correct answer quickly and developed their understanding of units of measure very effectively.

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Quality of teaching

In most lessons, teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. The school has reviewed its assessment procedures to ensure a sharp focus is placed upon assessing pupils’ progress and setting challenging tasks matched closely to their prior learning. Nevertheless, a little inconsistency remains and, in a small minority of lessons, especially in writing, broad objectives are set for the whole class which do not challenge the most-able pupils enough. In the large majority of lessons, the pace of learning is brisk and ensures at least good progress. In a few lessons, however, teachers take too long explaining the lesson or going over previous work. When that occurs, it limits the time available for the more-challenging tasks matched to the different abilities of pupils. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs receive good support to keep them engaged in learning.

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Quality of teaching

The well-planned curriculum is taught effectively and makes a particularly strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. For example, in a good English lesson in Year 5, pupils reflected upon the story of Oliver Twist. The lesson made an outstanding contribution to their spiritual, moral, and social development as they discussed the feelings of different characters in the scene studied. Pupils’ mathematical skills are often developed well in other subjects of the curriculum, such as science, when discussing the comparative sizes of the moon, the earth and the sun and scaling down the distances to be able to model them on the school field. However, there are fewer opportunities to develop writing skills 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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Quality of teaching

Books are marked regularly and frequently, with good guidance to pupils on how to improve their work. Pupils like the targets in their books and clearly understand how well they are achieving them. Regular homework enables parents and carers to support learning at home. It ranges from reading with younger pupils to homework tasks for older pupils, which are regularly placed upon the website learning platform.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The overwhelming majority of parents and carers feel that their children are safe in the school and that there is a good standard of behaviour. A few parents and carers were concerned that the school does not deal with bullying well enough. Inspection evidence supports the positive views of parents and carers. Discussion with pupils shows that they have a good understanding of bullying, including name-calling, physical bullying, and cyber bullying. They say there is very little bullying and they trust adults to deal effectively with any that might occur. Pupils have good opportunities to bring concerns to the attention of adults, including through a ‘worry box’ on the school website learning platform. The school has worked hard to improve attendance and overall absence rates have decreased. Nevertheless, the proportion of pupils whose attendance falls below 85% has increased this year. The school is

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

working to improve that and is carefully examining the circumstances of each pupil in the group to determine what support is required. The breakfast and after-school club are popular with those pupils who attend and provide a calm environment for the start and end of the day. Children in the Nursery who stay all day benefit from a well-run lunchtime club.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher and senior leaders have an ambitious vision of how the school can improve further that is shared by all staff. The effective governing body has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development and provides clear direction to the work of the school. Over the last few years, changes to the leadership structure have enabled more teachers to contribute to leadership and management. Good-quality professional development is improving the quality of teaching and developing the leadership and management skills of middle managers. Good use is made of performance management, coaching, and peer mentoring to develop the skills of all staff. The broad, balanced, and well-planned curriculum ensures a creative environment that stimulates and promotes good learning. It makes a very strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development through activities such as the artist in residence and links with a school

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Leadership and management

in Uganda . Procedures for safeguarding, especially those for child protection, are robust and firmly established, with up-to-date safeguarding and child-protection training for staff and the governing body.

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Leadership and management

The school takes great care to ensure equality of opportunity and prevent discrimination. The progress of all groups, especially the increasing number of those 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

whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, is monitored regularly and frequently. The information gained is used effectively to provide suitable support for those pupils. Robust systems for recording and analysing data ensure that all leaders and managers, including the governing body, have accurate information on the school’s performance. Strengths from the previous inspection, especially in achievement and pupils’ personal development, have been maintained and improved upon. Areas for improvement in the previous inspection report have been tackled well and the slight drop in standards of the last few years has been tackled through well-targeted actions to improve the quality of teaching. That indicates a secure capacity to improve.

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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. 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 ). 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

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

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Boothville Primary School, Northampton, NN3 6JG

Thank you for making us welcome when we came to visit your school. We enjoyed talking with you during your lessons and at playtimes and reading your questionnaires.

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Inspection of Boothville Primary School, Northampton, NN3 6JG

Boothville is a good school and improving. You achieve well to attain standards better than those in most schools. Here are a few of the things that we liked particularly.

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Inspection of Boothville Primary School, Northampton, NN3 6JG

 The stimulating activities and good teaching ensure that you get a good start to school in the Nursery and Reception classes.  The quality of teaching is good, which is why you achieve well.  The school looks after you well and helps you understand how to stay safe, especially when you are using the internet.  The school works very hard to make your learning enjoyable through an exciting and creative curriculum. We liked the work of the artist in residence particularly.  You behave well and have positive attitudes to learning and to each other, showing great respect for others and thinking carefully about how they might feel; these things make the school an enjoyable place in which to learn.  Your school is led and managed well and all leaders and mangers, including the governing body, are working hard to make the school even better.

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Inspection of Boothville Primary School, Northampton, NN3 6JG

In order to help you learn even more effectively, we have asked the school to:  make sure that those of you who find learning easy are challenged to improve your writing in all lessons and have more opportunities to write in a range of subjects: you can help by continuing to do your best to become good writers  help those of you who miss school a lot to attend more regularly so that you can learn better: you can help by always doing your best to be at school.

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Inspection of Boothville Primary School, Northampton, NN3 6JG

Thank you again for making us so welcome.

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Inspection of Boothville Primary School, Northampton, NN3 6JG

Stephen Lake Lead Inspector (on behalf of the inspection team) 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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