Foxton Primary School

Foxton Primary School Gallow Field Road, Foxton, Market Harborough, LE16 7Qz

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  This is a very welcoming and friendly school which values and treats all pupils equally. It has several exemplary features, including pupils’ excellent behaviour and attitudes to learning, the high quality of its safeguarding arrangements and the very good the levels of care shown by adults.  Pupils achieve well in response to good teaching that typically provides learning tasks and support that are closely matched to pupils’ differing needs and abilities.  Attendance is above average. Pupils commit themselves wholeheartedly to their work, feel safe and really enjoy their time in school.  Pupils readily help each other to learn and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very strong.  The skilled teamwork shown by staff and the school’s close links with the wider community and other schools have helped the school make good improvement since the last inspection.  Leaders and managers, including governors,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

provide strong leadership and direction that have led to improvements in both teaching and pupils’ achievements.  The headteacher and governors have established excellent links with parents that underpin pupils’ above average attendance and participation in the good range of learning activities provided by the school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some pupils do not develop their basic number skills quickly enough.  Lesson introductions sometimes continue for too long, limiting the pupils’ ability to find out things for themselves.  Pupils’ skills in checking their own work to bring improvement are not sufficiently developed as they move through the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited seven lessons and was accompanied by the headteacher during five of these observations. In addition, the inspector made visits to six other lessons for between 10 and 15 minutes.  The inspector observed morning playtime and lunch breaks and also attended one assembly.  Meetings were held with all the Year 6 pupils and many other pupils were spoken to during lessons and break times. The inspector met with governors and had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector held meetings with school staff, including senior leaders.  The inspector took account of 11 parents’ and carers responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). The inspector also spoke informally with a number of parents and carers as they brought their children to school, in addition to one view given in a letter, and a recent survey carried out by the school.  The inspector observed the school’s work, and looked at a number of documents, including the

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Information about this inspection

school’s own data of pupils’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to safeguarding.  The school provides a breakfast club for pupils. Independent childcare is provided on the school site, but it is not managed by the school’s governing body and was not part of this inspection.

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Inspection team

Andrew Stafford, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is below average in size.  The vast majority of pupils attending the school are of White British heritage, and all pupils speak English as their first language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is below the national average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average.  Only a very small proportion of the pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  A small proportion of pupils leave or join the school at a time other than the usual.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is one Reception class. Other pupils are taught in mixed Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6 classes.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum

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Information about this school

expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school has a breakfast club which is managed by the governing body. It also has a pre- school setting that is managed privately and does not form part of the current inspection.  The school works in partnership with other local village schools and liaises effectively with the secondary school to which most pupils transfer.  No pupils are educated off-site.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that more is outstanding by:  making sure that lesson introductions are more succinct so that pupils have more time and opportunity to investigate and find out things for themselves  increasing pupils’ ability to check the quality of their own work and make improvements for themselves as they move through the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make pupils’ number skills more secure and quicken the progress of the minority of pupils who find mathematics difficult, by focusing more specifically on basic number facts, particularly in the case of less able pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children’s skills on entry usually match those expected for their age, but attainment varies from year to year and the range of abilities within the very small year groups across the school is often wide. Staff are committed to providing equal opportunities for all pupils and ensure they derive equal benefit from the significant amount of individual attention and support the school provides. As a result, pupils rapidly develop self-confidence and an eagerness to learn.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children make a good start in Reception and Years 1 and 2. They continue to make good progress that typically exceeds that expected by the time they move into Year 3.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils continue their good progress through Years 3 to 5. Often progress quickens in Year 6 as pupils are encouraged and are more able to think about and apply their learning skills in a more mature way. For example, pupils showed a very good understanding of area and perimeter in a mathematics lesson in the Year 5 and 6 class. The more able pupils confidently moved to calculating diagonals. However, some less able pupils’ grasp of basic number facts is not as strong as it needs to be.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils really enjoy listening to stories, learn quickly about the sounds that letters make and then move on to reading and discussing texts with an adult and each other. Additionally, pupils continue to read frequently on an individual basis to an adult at school, and often at home, to sustain good progress. As a result, attainment in reading is above average by the end of year 6.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs and those who have entered later than the usual time from other schools, achieve well. This is reflected in the pupils’ above average speaking, listening and writing and mathematics skills evident by the time they leave the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils supported by the pupil premium funding achieve well because these additional funds have been used to provide additional adult support that is concentrated on developing their literacy and numeracy skills. Consequently, their standards are rising and the gap between this group and other pupils in the school is narrowing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is typically good. The sharpness of teacher’s questioning and the very encouraging way teachers build on pupils’ responses to develop new learning are particularly strong features. For example, in the Years 5 and 6 class, the teacher questioned pupils carefully to develop their understanding of a wide range of different types of writing and this enabled them to write more expressive sentences.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In all classes, teachers and other adults manage pupils’ behaviour skilfully. Relationships between teachers and pupils are very good, and pupils consequently learn with real enthusiasm. For example, younger children accurately drew coloured bar graphs based upon data about pupils’ favourite pizza flavours. At the end of the lesson they happily described what they thought was effective in their classmate’s graphs and constructively suggested possible improvements.

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The quality of teaching is good

 On occasion, teachers work through too many examples during introductions to lessons. This means that those pupils who already understand are not able to get on and learn more quickly at their own level and have less time to explore ideas or work things out for themselves.

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The quality of teaching is good

 All teachers plan lessons carefully and make sure that when pupils move into their various groups or individual tasks they are given work at the right level. This was especially the case during a session on the sounds that letters make in the Years 1 and 2 class, as pupils enthusiastically and accurately read out a series of words as the teacher flashed them up. This was ideal preparation for when the pupils then moved on to their reading books and read in pairs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers generally work hard to develop pupils’ problem-solving skills in mathematics. For example, during studies of the ‘Rain Forest’ in the Reception class children carefully worked out how many leaves of different colours needed adding to arrive at target totals. However, the ability of some pupils to solve problems is reduced by weaknesses in recalling number facts and these weaknesses do not always receive quite the amount of attention in all classes that they need to.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use discussion effectively to keep pupils interested, to check their progress and make sure they know what to do next to improve. This approach also ensures that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, and others new to the school are equally and effectively supported.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers extend pupils’ writing skills well by involving pupils in using short-term targets to improve the quality of their work. However, there are not enough opportunities for pupils to check and improve work for themselves. They provide good opportunities for the pupils to develop literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers look constantly to expand the range of pupils’ experiences, for example by studying photographs from the Hubble telescope, the differences between our culture and others across the world and Merlin’s guide to health and safety. Other topics, such as gardening and other practical learning activities promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ behaviour throughout the inspection was exemplary. School records and discussions with parents, staff, governors and pupils all confirm that excellent behaviour is the norm.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Staff and pupils share excellent relationships that support pupils’ strong attitudes and enjoyment in learning. Pupils are respectful and attentive, work very hard and willingly share ideas to help each other, a significant reason for their good achievement. During ‘Write and Dance’ activity, for example, young pupils helped the pre-school children in following the routines.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils have a good understanding of the nature of all forms of bullying and understand that words can hurt as much as physical acts. They say that there is no bullying in the school, ‘only occasional silly behaviour,’ that is dealt with swiftly by staff. School records show that there have been no exclusions for over three years. Consequently, pupils also say that they feel very safe at school, ‘because all adults at the school get along together and are kind and friendly towards us’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils on the school council and others when acting as monitors fulfil their responsibilities diligently. Pupils also make very good contributions to the life of the school by raising funds for Children in Need on ‘Pyjama Day’ and collecting clothes for the ‘Bag for School’ for disadvantaged children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils come to school eagerly each day knowing that teachers and their parents work closely together and that parents’ and carers’ contributions to the education of their children will be valued by the school. Attendance is at above average levels.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school provides very good opportunities for pupils to develop their social skills in a safe and stimulating environment, both at the beginning and end of the school day with a breakfast and after-school clubs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, well supported by governors and staff, promotes a clear vision for the development of the school. They work strongly as a team to provide care that is of a consistently high quality, and which helps pupils to feel very safe and greatly enjoy school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors and staff promote very effective links with parents and carers, which is one reason for pupils’ eagerness to learn and above average attendance.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has introduced effective ways of measuring pupils’ progress and checking the quality of teaching. These have led to strong improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement and show the school’s secure capacity to improve further. The school quickly identifies its priorities for development, such as lifting pupils’ writing skills and teaching subjects through interesting topics, and pursues them relentlessly and successfully.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers safeguard pupils’ welfare very effectively and manage finances well to provide good quality learning experiences in a range of different subjects that well matched to all pupils across the school. Additional funds such as the pupil premium are used effectively to include pupils in these activities and to boost literacy and numeracy skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior staff strongly promote the pupils’ spiritual’ moral, social and cultural development through a wide variety of stimulating experiences, including assembly themes with stories from the Old Testament, and in Reception where children enjoy a wealth of outdoor activities. Staff also show diligence in treating pupils equally to eliminate discrimination and to ensure that all pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, achieve well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has established links with local schools which has led to joint training sessions, for example, for subject coordinators, and a writing project for pupils. The Kibworth family of schools have shared expertise and pupils have benefited from music workshops and sports coaching. Partnership with a school in Madrid leads to residential visits that broaden pupils’ cultural experiences.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has supported the school well in the past by helping to check and improve teaching and now provides ‘light-touch’ support.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors bring a wide range of expertise to the school and this is sustained through careful appointments and regular training. Governors are clear about their responsibilities and make sure that staff and pupils are safe. Governors frequently visit school to see learning at first hand. They examine data of pupils’ progress and know how to compare it with other schools nationally. The governing body also considers the headteacher’s detailed reports on standards and questions him carefully to ensure initiatives are paying off. It makes sure that better pay and promotion of staff are closely related to performance in the classroom and governors are well aware of where teaching is in need of additional support. By these means governors have ensured they hold the headteacher effectively to account. Governors ensure efficient financial management and check that funds for pupils in receipt of the pupil premium are used as

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The leadership and management are good

intended to provide effective additional adult support for those eligible. The governing body securely plans the strategic development of the school. For example, by forging partnerships with other schools, governors seek to extend leadership and teaching expertise and widen pupils’ learning activities.

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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.

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School details

Unique reference number 119923 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 403415

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 84 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Neil Stout Headteacher Phil Clark Date of previous school inspection October 2007 Telephone number 01858 545328 Fax number 01858 540171 Email address office@foxton.leics.sch.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

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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School details

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

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