Buxworth Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 19–20 June 2012 Inspection number 395368 Buxworth Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 112526 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 395368 Inspection dates 19–20 June 2012 Lead inspector Julie Price Grimshaw

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 88 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gordon Reynolds Headteacher Lesley Hartley Date of previous school inspection 25 November 2008 School address Station Road Buxworth High Peak SK23 7NJ Telephone number 01663 732426 Fax number 01663 732426 Email address info@buxworth.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

Julie Price Grimshaw Additional Inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspector observed four lessons involving three teachers and three support staff. In addition, she carried out a series of short visits to six other lessons across the school and observed a whole- school assembly. Meetings were held with pupils, staff and the Chair of the Governing Body. The inspector took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at examples of pupils’ work, national published data and the school’s own data on pupils’ progress, as well as documents relating to self-evaulation, improvement planning and safeguarding. Questionnaire responses from 40 parents and carers, 84 pupils and eight staff were analysed and considered.

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Information about the school

The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. It serves the village of Buxworth but takes over half of its pupils from outside the immediate locality. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds and none are at the early stages of learning English. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action plus is below average. No pupil has a statement of special educational needs. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average.

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Information about the school

Pupils are currently taught in three mixed-age classes; from September the school is expecting an increase in pupil numbers and will move to four mixed-age classes. The school meets the government’s current floor targets, which set the minimum national expectations for attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

There is a pre-school setting on the school site, but this is subject to a separate inspection. 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 that is successful in fulfilling its aim ‘to develop lively inquiring minds together with a sense of fun and good humour.’ It is a friendly place where pupils develop excellent social skills and thrive in a supportive and caring environment. The school is not outstanding because the quality of teaching is not yet consistently high enough to ensure that pupils make rapid and sustained progress, and improvement planning is not fully effective.

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Key findings

 As year groups are small, pupils’ attainment on entry fluctuates from year to year. Nevertheless, pupils make good progress across the school and their attainment is generally above average in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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Key findings

 Teaching is good overall with some outstanding practice. Teachers convey their enthusiasm to the pupils and put a great deal of thought into planning activities and preparing resources to make learning engaging. A key strength of pupils’ learning is their ability to work independently, but occasionally the pace of learning slows when staff do not check pupils’ understanding frequently enough during lessons. Most written feedback to pupils is helpful, but at times pupils do not respond quickly to teachers’ suggestions for improvement and subsequent marking does not always pick this up.

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Key findings

 Behaviour and safety are outstanding. Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and consistently show kindness and consideration to each other and to adults.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are good; teaching and staff performance are managed well and the school has a secure awareness of its strengths and weaknesses. However, the links between monitoring, evaluation and action planning are not close enough to ensure that the school makes rapid progress in tackling identified areas for development. The curriculum is outstanding and provides pupils with a wide variety of interesting and stimulating opportunities for learning. 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, increase the proportion of outstanding teaching so that pupils make rapid and sustained progress by: – accelerating the pace of learning, particularly when pupils are working independently, through regular checking of learning during lessons – ensuring that pupils respond quickly to the advice and guidance given through teachers’ marking, and that subsequent written feedback builds upon this.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate the rate at which identified priorities for development are tackled by sharpening the links between monitoring, evaluation and action planning.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils are rightly confident that they are making good progress in school and almost all parents and carers agree that this is the case. Children’s attainment on entry to Reception varies considerably from year to year, but the majority of children join the school with skills that are close to national expectations for their age. They make at least good progress in all areas of learning, with some making outstanding progress, particularly in their personal and social development. Children of Reception age enjoy working alongside Year 1 pupils and several parents and carers commented that pupils within the class had made their children feel extremely welcome on joining the school. Staff are particularly skilled in providing high-quality support without dominating activities, and children thoroughly enjoy the wide range of learning opportunities available to them, both indoors and outside.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ attainment in reading is broadly average by the end of Year 2, although good teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) is now leading to improvements in reading and writing, with some Year 1 pupils achieving particularly well; for example, one wrote, without adult assistance, ‘The queen is 86 and she has been queen for 60 years. That’s a long time, a really long time.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils achieve well by the end of Key Stage 2 and attainment in English, including reading, and mathematics is generally above average. All groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, progress at a similar rate. The most-able pupils make particularly good progress in upper Key Stage 2 as a result of the high level of challenge provided for them.

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Achievement of pupils

Even the youngest pupils are able to work well independently without adult intervention. Pupils are also highly adept at teamwork and collaborative learning. A group of younger children composed their own song, with percussion 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

accompaniment, and invited the inspector to listen to their very well-organised performance having allocated responsibilities amongst themselves. In a mathematics lesson, older children enthusiastically shared ideas with each other in order to solve a series of problems.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers’ enthusiasm for their work is much appreciated by the pupils, who agree that ‘Teachers work hard to make learning fun for us!’ Planning is thorough and imaginative, and as a result lessons typically include a variety of enjoyable activities. Teachers take great care in preparing resources for learning and pay much attention to ensuring that the needs of individuals are met within the mixed-age classes.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers use themes from the planned curriculum to design engaging activities. For example, one class combined their topic on Shakespearian England with work on Elizabethan recipes as part of the whole-school theme of ‘food week’. Carefully tailored tasks were allocated to groups of pupils so that all were suitably challenged; for instance, some investigated the language used in such recipes and demonstrated their effective research skills in gathering information. The teacher’s excellent questioning extended pupils’ learning and they made outstanding progress as a result. The ‘forest school’ initiative is also being used effectively by staff to promote pupils’ learning, particularly their language development, by promoting investigative work which encourages them to be curious and inquisitive. Spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is promoted particularly well through topic work and this is

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Quality of teaching

evident in pupils’ excellent social skills. Pupils’ levels of engagement are usually high and they rarely drift off task, but occasionally the pace of learning drops when staff do not check pupils’ learning and progress at regular intervals to ensure that they understand exactly what is expected of them.

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Quality of teaching

Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are taught well, with close attention being paid to their individual needs. The school uses a range of programmes to support the progress of these pupils and involves external agencies as appropriate.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly and most of the feedback provided is of good quality. Nevertheless, the pupils themselves do not always respond to teachers’ advice and some continue to make the same errors in their work. Although some marking praises pupils for making the effort to correct mistakes in subsequent pieces of work, this good practice in marking is not sufficiently widespread and teachers do not always highlight pupils’ lack of response to written feedback.

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Quality of teaching

Almost all parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire felt that their children were taught well and a few remarked that teachers provided very good role models. For example, one commented that ‘My daughter in Reception can’t wait to get to school and plays at ‘teachers’ every night.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

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

Pupils are exceptionally polite and well-mannered. They are respectful towards each other and courteous to adults, including visitors to the school. Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and respond particularly well to teachers’ efforts to stimulate curiosity. The lessons observed, parental comments and school records show that behaviour over time, both in classrooms and around the school, is excellent, and staff are skilled in managing pupils’ behaviour.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils have a good awareness of the different forms of bullying, including cyber- bullying and prejudice-based harassment, but they insist that bullying is not an issue at their school. They understand that they have an important part to play in preventing and tackling bullying; as one said, ‘You couldn’t turn away if you knew someone was being bullied.’ All feel safe in school and have an excellent awareness of how to stay safe. Pupils greatly enjoy taking on responsibilities and contributing to the school and local communities. Attendance is above average and pupils are punctual. All parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire expressed positive views about pupils’ behaviour and safety.

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Leadership and management

In this small school all teaching staff take responsibility for aspects of the school’s work and they do this with commitment and enthusiasm. All staff who responded to the questionnaire stated that they were proud to work at the school. Teaching and learning are managed well and the headteacher carries out regular classroom observations, which help to identify areas for professional development. Staff have benefited from recent training in a number of initiatives, particularly those related to improving the quality of writing across the school, and this in turn is having a positive impact on pupils’ achievement. Equality of opportunity is promoted well across the school; staff know each individual pupil very well and there are no discernable gaps between the achievement of groups. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.

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Leadership and management

The effective steps taken to improve the school since its last inspection show that it has the capacity for further improvement. The governing body has extended its involvement in monitoring. Its members have an increased awareness of pupils’ achievement and ensure that all statutory requirements relating to safeguarding are met. Provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage has improved. However, the links between monitoring, self-evaluation and improvement planning are not always clear enough to ensure that areas for development are tackled as quickly as possible.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is outstanding because it provides pupils with an excellent variety of opportunities and experiences that promote a love of learning. Pupils are encouraged to put forward their own ideas, which are then incorporated into teachers’ planning. Opportunities for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills across a range of subjects are built effectively into all topic work. One parent commented that ‘My son is a reluctant writer but has been very much encouraged by the outdoor work and his work has improved both in quality and quantity.’ Another wrote, ‘My child has 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

made excellent progress in all areas of the carefully tailored curriculum.’ The curriculum is enriched through a variety of visits linked to the topics being studied, and numerous clubs and after-school activities. Provision in music is particularly good. The school’s promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong; as a result, pupils grow in confidence and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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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 Buxworth Primary School, High Peak, SK23 7NJ

As you know, I visited your school recently to find out how well you are doing. I would like to thank you for making me feel so welcome and for sharing your views with me, including those some of you expressed in questionnaires. You attend a good school. One of the things that impressed me most was your excellent behaviour, and it was wonderful to see everyone working and playing so well together. You are well taught and make good progress. You told me that your teachers work hard to plan lots of interesting activities that make learning fun and I agree with you. I enjoyed watching some of you cooking meringues and scones for food week. I observed some of you working very well in the outdoor space as part of your forest school work, and I could see that this is helping to develop your writing and thinking skills.

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Inspection of Buxworth Primary School, High Peak, SK23 7NJ

Your headteacher and all of the staff are very keen for each one of you to do as well as you can, and they are working hard to help you make rapid progress. I have asked them to do a number of things to help make your school even better. First of all, I noticed that all of you – even the youngest children – work very well on your own in lessons. This is very impressive, but I have asked the staff to check on your work frequently during lessons so that they can make sure you are working as well as you can. You told me that the teachers mark your work regularly and I could see that you are right, but some of you are not acting on their advice. You have an important part to play here, so always make sure that you read your teachers’ feedback very carefully so that you improve as quickly as possible. I have also asked the staff and governors to keep a close watch on how well the school is helping you to improve your work, so that they can plan carefully the actions they will take in the

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Inspection of Buxworth Primary School, High Peak, SK23 7NJ

I am very pleased to hear that you are proud to be pupils at Buxworth Primary School and I wish you well in the future.

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Inspection of Buxworth Primary School, High Peak, SK23 7NJ

Julie Price Grimshaw 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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