Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School

Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School Stonebow Road, Drakes Broughton, Pershore, WR10 2AW

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Children get off to a good start in the Reception class. Tests at the end of Year 6 show that they learn at a faster rate than similar pupils in other schools, particularly in mathematics where their achievement is outstanding.  New pupils joining the school in Year 5 do well throughout Years 6 and 7. The most able pupils, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do better than similar pupils in other schools.  Pupils enjoy lively and often exciting lessons and persevere well. Teachers have high expectations and ask questions that make pupils think hard. They regularly check on pupils’ progress and set clear targets for improvement.  Pupils try to do the right thing. They get on well with each other and are considerate and polite. They have good opportunities to reflect on their values, attitudes and beliefs and they respect people with different backgrounds to their own.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Senior leaders help staff to develop their skills and to plan stimulating learning experiences for the pupils. The governing body is well informed through their involvement in a full range of school activities.  The headteacher and staff have accurately identified priorities for development. Senior leaders have good oversight of teaching and learning and the school has good capacity to improve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ achievement in English is sometimes limited by their ability to sound out words.  Teachers do not always check on the learning of the slower learners in lessons.  Subject leaders and other teachers with extra responsibilities do not measure how much their actions improve teaching and learning. Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 2 of 9

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 21 parts of lessons taught by 17 teachers. Three of these were joint observations with the headteacher or the deputy headteacher. Additionally, nine pupils were heard reading.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and members of staff, pupils, four governors and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of 68 responses to the online questionnaire and letters from parents, and spoke to parents in the playground at the beginning and end of the day.  The inspectors observed the school’s work, looked at a number of documents, including records and documents relating to monitoring and evaluation, behaviour, safety, safeguarding and attendance. They examined 17 staff questionnaires and carried out a work scrutiny with the headteacher to assess progress.

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Inspection team

Kathy Hooper, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Devinder Riat Additional Inspector Gillian Weston Additional Inspector Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 3 of 9

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than average, and numbers have risen since the last inspection.  Most pupils are White British and all of them speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils eligible for additional funding for children in the care of the local authority and those eligible for free school meals, the pupil premium, is well below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is much lower than average but the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is very much higher than average.  Pupils are taught in four classes according to age in Reception and Years 1, 2, 3 and 4. In Year 5, pupils from two local First Schools join the school, doubling the numbers. There are considerable differences between cohorts with respect to their abilities and needs.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  All pupils are educated on site. The school does not use alternative provision to support any of its pupils.  Approximately two thirds of pupils in Years 5, 6 and 7 are brought to school by bus.  There is a pre-school centre on the school site that is not managed by the governors was not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure consistency in teaching by:  extending all teachers’ knowledge and skills in teaching the sounds that letters make  making sure that all teachers check on the progress of slower learners in each lesson.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that staff who are responsible for subjects and aspects of the school check how well they have helped teachers to increase pupils’ progress. Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 4 of 9

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well because their progress is checked twice termly, targets are set and any pupil who is falling behind is promptly helped to catch up through one-to-one support or group work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children in the Reception class start school with weaker that average language skills but, by the end of the year, they have made good progress. Year on year, standards are improving because there is a good mix of individually chosen and adult-led activities. Records of their learning journeys show good evidence of their progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards by the end of Year 2 are broadly average. Standards by the end of Year 6 are good. In comparison with pupils of the same age nationally, more Year 6 pupils achieve higher than average grades in English and mathematics. Some pupils achieve grades in mathematics that are usually expected of more-able Year 8 pupils in secondary school. Overall, there is no difference in the performance of boys and girls.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is better than others in similar circumstances. They make good progress because the teaching and support staff use interesting activities and resources with them that suit their individual needs and help them to understand.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Those pupils who are supported through pupil premium achieve well. Their attainment is better than similar pupils nationally and the gap between their achievement and that of other pupils in the school is reducing. Parents and carers are helped to understand the barriers to their children’s learning. When teachers find that pupils are struggling, staff give prompt and intensive support. In these situations, the school works closely with parents.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils in Years 6 and 7 speak clearly and confidently, explaining themselves fully. In discussions with their classmates, they listen well and build on each other’s ideas. They enjoy their storybooks and read with expression. Their writing is lively and they write well for a range of audiences. Their punctuation is accurate but their spelling is not as good because they do not always sound words out. Pupils make good use of information and communication technology (ICT) for communications and data handling. They manipulate numbers well in mathematics and relish solving problems.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Occasionally, in lessons, slower learners do not achieve as well as they should because teachers do not always check they have fully understood.

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The quality of teaching is good

 There is good morale among teachers and they work well together to plan lessons. Teachers have good subject knowledge and present lively lessons that interest pupils. At the time of the inspection, pupils were learning about space and the stars and had looked at the stars in the space dome. This exciting experience helped them to write about their experiences. Others in Year 6 learned about the rainforest. They looked at the insects, such as spiders, scorpions and butterflies, to be found in the Amazon and questioned the visitor who regularly visited the area.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the best lessons, pupils have ample opportunities to learn for themselves and from their classmates. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 developed their understanding of ‘metaphor’ and ‘similes’ by designing advertising for robots they had made from junk. They made good use of dictionaries Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 5 of 9

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The quality of teaching is good

and thesauruses to help them write accurately. Year 7 pupils used ICT to extend their understanding of e-safety by designing a website. In each case, pupils evaluated the work of others using agreed features of success.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and other adults question pupils well. The most able pupils respond well to the challenges but, occasionally, the misconceptions of others are not always addressed before moving on.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils are taught how to sound out words in Reception and in Year 1, and there are opportunities for one-to-one and small-group support in other years. However, pupils’ understanding of sounds and letters is not reinforced enough because teachers do not all have the expertise to teach this consistently throughout the school. This affects pupils’ progress in reading and writing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work thoroughly. They make helpful comments and suggestions for improving. The best marking showed that they had encouraged pupils to write comments for the teachers, to develop a dialogue about learning. Although pupils know how to improve their work, the slower learners do not always know what they are good at.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers make good use of ICT in lessons, for example, to help disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs to write about space. The school’s website is very well developed and encourages pupils and their parents and carers to find out about homework and the activities that have taken place in different classes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils develop a love of learning, persevere very well, and are proud of their work. Parents and pupils agree that behaviour is good. Pupils are cooperative and respectful and behaviour is well managed by staff.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is higher than average and there are no exclusions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are taught to reflect well and develop a strong belief in doing things the right way. They look out for each other and collaborate in a host of different settings. They learn about a wide range of different cultures and to respect differences.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in school, and this is confirmed by their parents. They understand how to keep themselves safe and are taught how to deal with potentially dangerous situations.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Any occasional bullying is promptly addressed. Concerns regarding some thoughtlessly rough behaviour at playtimes have led to the introduction of play leaders. As a result, there has been a huge drop in playground incidents this year.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Poor behaviour on some of the buses has been firmly addressed. Nevertheless, some less confident pupils still talk about the poor behaviour of a few of their classmates.

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The leadership and management are good

 Strong, effective and thoughtful leadership and management are evident in the many ways in Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 6 of 9

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The leadership and management are good

which the school has improved since the last inspection.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has supported the school well, in using information about how the pupils are doing to make sure every pupil achieves. The information is used to set targets for teachers to improve their work, and to make plans for improving aspects of the whole school, for example, reading. Regular meetings are held to check each pupil’s progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 There is a good range of well-attended clubs and out-of-school activities involving sporting, musical, art, cultural and performance activities. Attendance is checked to make sure that everyone is involved.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school works extremely well with the other local schools. Judgements about pupils’ levels at the end of Year 4 across the schools are now more accurate and provide a firmer basis for measuring pupils’ progress through Years 5 and 6. Joint activities for teachers to plan and for pupils to work together across schools helps to establish common expectations.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ literacy, numeracy and their ICT are often related to the topics being studied and reinforced in lessons. Concern about the number of boys who were not doing well enough in Year 5 and 6 prompted a research project with other local schools and this has resulted in a big rise in their achievement so that there is no difference between the achievement of boys and girls.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers in charge of subjects and other areas of the school’s work are not checking well enough that all teachers are following the school policies, particularly in phonics. Although they describe what they have done, they do not measure sufficiently how well the changes that they have introduced have improved pupils’ learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is well informed as a result of good information from the headteacher and other staff, governor training and frequent visits, involvement in activities such as residential trips with pupils. Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths, trends in pupils’ achievement as compared with other schools, and what the school is doing to improve. Pupils’ progress data, records of staff development, and evidence from the headteacher’s reviews are used alongside their own insights from visits and discussion in committee meetings to ask challenging questions. Governors check how well the pupil premium is helping more vulnerable pupils to achieve. They understand which teachers should be rewarded and go up the pay scale because their pupils are doing well and have a good understanding of the budget. Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 7 of 9

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. Inspection report: Drakes' Broughton St Barnabas CofE First and Middle School, 7–8 February 2013 8 of 9

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School details

Unique reference number 116862 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 401626

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school First and Middle deemed primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–12 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 301 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julie Lloyd Headteacher Paul Kilgallon Date of previous school inspection 11 February 2010 Telephone number 01905 840366 Fax number 1905841043 Email address office@st-barnabasfirstmiddle.worcs.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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. 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

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School details

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School details

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

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