The Duke of Bedford Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 10–11 July 2012 Inspection number 378149 The Duke of Bedford Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 110705 Local authority Peterborough Inspection number 378149 Inspection dates 10–11 July 2012 Lead inspector Miranda Perry

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 190 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Pauline Coakley Headteacher Jackii Crockett Date of previous school inspection 22 February 2007 School address Wisbech Road Thorney Peterborough PE6 0ST Telephone number 01733 270243 Fax number 01733 271004 Email address enquiries@dukeofbedford.peterborough.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. Twenty-two lessons or part lessons were observed, amounting to about nine hours in total, taught by eight teachers. Five lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and staff. Inspectors looked at a range of evidence, including the school’s documents on self-evaluation and safeguarding.They observed the school’s work, looked at pupils’ books and the tracking system used to monitor their progress. Inspectors considered the responses to the 97 questionnaires completed by parents and carers, as well as those returned by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

The Duke of Bedford is a smaller than average-sized primary school. Almost all pupils are White British The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average.The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average. The school meets the current floor standard, which sets the government’s minimum expectations for attainment and progress. The school has received national Healthy Schools status, the Governor Mark, the Eco- Schools Bronze Award. The current headteacher took up post in September 2010. The school shares a site with a privately run childcare club which was inspected separately. 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

 The Duke of Bedford is a satisfactory school. While attainment is currently above average, it is not a good school because teaching and progress are satisfactory overall. Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Key findings

 Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 has improved over the last year from average to above average. Progress in Years 5 and 6 is good. In the other year groups, there are examples of good progress but also examples of progress which is no better than satisfactory. When marking is inconsistent, pupils do not make good progress. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress.

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Key findings

 Teaching is satisfactory. In the better lessons, pupils are excited by their learning and they benefit from challenging resources. This is not always the case. Lessons lose pace when activities do not focus pupils sufficiently on learning. Pupils find it difficult to overcome obstacles to learning, when teachers do not demonstrate what they want the pupils to do, or provide stimulating examples.

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Key findings

 Behaviour and safety are good. Pupils behave well and are very positive about their learning. The school has improved strategies to integrate pupils with challenging behaviour into lessons so that they are supported and generally learn well.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher has led improvement in teaching by focusing teachers on progress through their performance management. Middle leaders are enthusiastic and committed. Although they set up interventions to bring about improvement, they are not all responsible for identifying the weaknesses that have led to a need for improvement, nor do they consistently measure the success of the interventions Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

in a systematic way. Pupils benefit from a broad range of extra-curricular activities which they enjoy, and parents praise.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that at least 60% of all teaching is good or better by April 2013 by: - ensuring that the pace of lessons is consistently challenging - supporting pupils to understand their learning through demonstrating what they need to do and using examples of desired outcomes - marking books regularly and consistently, so that pupils’ next steps for learning are clearly identified.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Enable at least 60% of pupils at both key stages to make good or better progress in lessons by July 2013 through ensuring that all middle leaders: - are actively involved in the collection and analysis of pupil progress data - use the information gained from this data to analyse strengths and weaknesses - formulate, implement and support appropriate improvement strategies to consolidate strengths and address weaknesses - monitor and evaluate the impact of these strategies on pupils’ learning.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Reception Year with knowledge, skills and understanding broadly in line with national expectations for their age and start in Year 1 with slightly above national expectations in all areas. Attainment at the end of Year 6 has recently improved and is currently above average.

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Achievement of pupils

Progress in the majority of lessons is satisfactory. Teachers’ feedback does not consistently make clear to pupils how to improve, which is why some of them feel that it does not help them as well as it could. For example, one Key Stage 1 pupil said that when the teacher said lots of things in her book, she ‘zoomed along’, but when the teacher did not, she went slowly.

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Achievement of pupils

Progress is good in Years 5 and 6 because pupils are challenged by marking and targets which mean that they know clearly how well they have done, and are motivated to do better. In Year 5, pupils benefit from marking which is thorough, systematic and results in them improving their work. One Year 6 pupil said, ‘My teacher pushes me hard with my targets, right to the end of term.’ Parents and carers feel that their children are making good progress although, in the majority of 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

lessons, the inspection team found that progress was satisfactory.

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Achievement of pupils

The progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is good because the school works effectively with outside agencies to identify and overcome their barriers to learning. The school is innovative in developing support for pupils with additional needs. Some pupils enjoy a programme of physical activities before school, which result in their improved attention in lessons.

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Achievement of pupils

At the end of both Key Stage 1 and 2, pupils’ attainment in reading is above average. The school has recently reorganised the teaching of phonics (letters and sounds) so that pupils are taught consistently from one year-group to another. This is having a positive effect, but some pupils are not yet confident in using an appropriate variety of strategies to understand difficult words because teachers do not always demonstrate the strategies for them.

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Quality of teaching

In Years 5 and 6, teaching is good and there are occasional examples of good teaching in other year groups. In such lessons, pupils relish practical activities. For example, in a Year 4 mathematics lesson pupils were working out how to make a dog lead of a certain length. When two girls managed to complete the task within the deadline, they cheered. In a Year 6 lesson on averages, if a pupil did not understand the teacher used effective questioning to resolve their confusion. When asked about what he had learnt, one pupil said, ‘At the beginning, there is no way I thought I could do averages with such big numbers, but now it’s easy.’

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Quality of teaching

In lessons where pupils learn less well, time is wasted. Pupils are given too long to talk about their ideas, so they run out of things to say. Clear explanations are not always given for group activities, pupils spend too long working out what to do rather than doing the activity itself, and pace is lost. Pupils struggle to produce extended pieces of writing when the teachers do not model for them how to develop their sentences, or give them examples of what their finished piece should look like. While parents and carers feel that teaching is good, inspectors found that teaching in the majority of lessons was satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching

When the teaching of reading is good, pupils are given activities which excite them about the different spellings of words that sound the same. In a phonics lesson, where Year 1 pupils had to sort words into different groups, pupils were given their own envelope of words, and one pupil commented, ‘I’m going to do my best with my very own words.’ During group reading sessions, pupils are less challenged. They feel that they are not given enough to do and that the group reading lessons go slowly.

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Quality of teaching

Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are taught well. This is largely because of the expertise and deployment of teaching assistants who have good subject knowledge and use successful strategies to motivate. In a problem- 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

solving activity, one pupil with additional needs cracked a difficult code because he was motivated by the teaching assistant to find the solution quickly. The good emphasis the teacher assistant placed on their social and moral development helped his peers celebrate this success.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are well behaved and keen to do the best they can, even when the pace of lessons is not challenging. Most of them think behaviour is good in the school; they respect the school’s behaviour reward system and are delighted when they receive a certificate to acknowledge their good behaviour. One Year 4 pupil said, ‘You can keep it on your wall for ever if you like, so everybody knows.’ Pupils are polite, courteous and keen that visitors to the school enjoy their time there.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils feel safe, and parents and carers endorse this. The school has worked hard to ensure that the pupils flourish in a safe environment. Pupils are confident, for example, in checking that all visitors are wearing an identification badge and they demonstrate a good awareness of the dangers that exist when using the roads or when playing near water.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils think that there is only very occasional bullying in the school. If it happens, they say they are happy to go to a member of staff and express confidence that the matter will be dealt with quickly. Key Stage 1 pupils were able to tell each other about appropriate behaviours to adopt which prevented bullying. Pupils understand different types of bullying, and are wise to the risks of cyber-bullying.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The school is very thorough in exploring the causes of changes in pupils’ behaviour and highly successful in improving behaviour over time. Staff recognise when issues outside school are impacting negatively on pupils’ attitudes to learning, and work closely with families to get pupils rapidly back on track. Attendance is above average. A large majority of parents and carers who answered the questionnaire believe behaviour is good and the inspection team concurs.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher has driven improvement at the school, and her detailed and accurate three-year planning demonstrates a capacity to improve further. Changes in performance management mean that any inadequate teaching has largely been eliminated and attainment improved. Teaching assistants have benefited from professional development, which has meant that they are skilled in supporting all learners, particularly disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. The governing body has developed its understanding of tracking pupil progress and has worked concertedly with senior leaders, to communicate changes in the school to parents. Safeguarding procedures have been successfully developed and are effective in meeting current government requirements. 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

Middle leaders have been given new responsibilities and they are keen to bring about improvement. While exciting strategies are in place to improve progress in mathematics and reading, the impact of these in raising achievement is not monitored systematically. Middle leaders do not have responsibility for diagnosing areas for development through data analysis. As a result, they are not clear about what progress pupils are making in their areas and there is not a consistent understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses across the management team.

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Leadership and management

Pupils’ learning at the school is based around a set of core values which promote their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development and their appreciation of equality of opportunity. One Key Stage 2 pupil explained that empathy was an attribute that everybody at the school should work on. The school tackles discrimination uncompromisingly with its mission to provide a genuinely inclusive learning environment.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad and meets the range of pupils’ needs. The pupils flourish most when their curriculum is practical. At the time of the inspection, the Year 5 pupils were on a camping expedition on the school field. They were given leadership responsibilities, built up their resilience, learnt how to work well in teams and independently, and developed skills for their next stage in life. They behaved well and were thrilled with the experience. A Year 5 pupil commented, ‘I didn’t know how much I liked it here at the Duke of Bedford until I came camping.’

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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 The Duke of Bedford Primary School, Peterborough, PE6 0ST

My colleague and I enjoyed our recent visit; thank you for telling us so much about your school. We were impressed by your good behaviour and your confidence. We appreciated it when you checked whether we were having a nice time. It was good to be at the school when the Year 5 camping expedition was taking place so we could see how much you like it.

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Inspection of The Duke of Bedford Primary School, Peterborough, PE6 0ST

Your school is a satisfactory school and you make satisfactory progress. By the end of Year 6 you reach standards that are above average. Some of your lessons are good, but not all of them. We noticed that you try very hard to do the best you can in lessons, and that is one reason why we think your behaviour is good.

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Inspection of The Duke of Bedford Primary School, Peterborough, PE6 0ST

We have asked your headteacher, staff and members of the governing body to make your lessons better. We have asked them to give you more examples of what they want you to do, and model with you how they want you to do it. Some of you told us that some marking in your books was not as good as other feedback. Some of you felt that this meant you were not helped to do as well as you can. So, we have asked teachers to make marking better so that you are clear what your next steps for learning are.

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Inspection of The Duke of Bedford Primary School, Peterborough, PE6 0ST

You can help by continuing to behave well in lessons, always reading what your teachers write in your books, answering your teachers’ comments and doing what they suggest.

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Inspection of The Duke of Bedford Primary School, Peterborough, PE6 0ST

Miranda Perry 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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