St Bede Church of England Primary School

St Bede Church of England Primary School Gordon Road, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 7DD

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Pupils’ achievement is outstanding. All pupils, including those who are disabled, those with special educational needs and pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium, make outstanding progress. Pupils’ standards of attainment in both the Year 2 national assessments and the Year 6 national tests have been significantly above average for the last five years.  The quality of teaching is outstanding and caters exceedingly well for the needs and interests of all pupils.  Teachers use information about how individual pupils are achieving very effectively to plan work in lessons which is always well matched to pupils’ different abilities. As a result, all pupils work hard at tasks which they find interesting and enjoyable to complete. Those pupils requiring extra help with their learning are very well supported by other adults and this ensures they make the progress they are capable of.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils feel very safe in school and their behaviour is excellent at all times. Bullying of any type is extremely rare and pupils say that they are confident that, should any ever occur, adults would deal with it quickly and firmly. Attendance is above average and pupils are usually punctual to school each morning.  The leadership and management of the school are outstanding. The school has improved since the last inspection because the headteacher is dedicated to ensuring that the school gives the best possible education to all pupils. Working together, leaders are very effective in managing the performance of staff and ensuring that the quality of teaching continues to be consistently high.  The governing body fulfils its role extremely well and governors are not afraid to ask challenging questions about the school’s effectiveness when required to do so. This includes ensuring that the school’s resources,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

such as the money it receives for the pupil premium, are used effectively for their intended purpose.

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Information about this inspection

 The four inspectors spent a total of ten hours 20 minutes observing 20 lessons taught by 14 teachers. Three were joint observations with members of the school’s senior leadership team.  The inspectors listened to pupils from Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 read and made short observations of sessions on the teaching of phonics (pupils learning letter patterns and the sounds they represent).  Discussions were held with the headteacher, members of the senior leadership team, members of the governing body, staff and pupils. A telephone conversation was held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and scrutinised the school’s safeguarding procedures.  The inspectors took account of the 126 responses to the online Parent View survey and 32 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspectors observed the work of the school and looked at documentation, including the

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Information about this inspection

school’s self-evaluation, teachers’ planning, school development planning, tracking documentation of individual pupils’ progress, performance management documentation and school policy documents.

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Inspection team

Michael Barron, Lead inspector Additional inspector Janet Simms Additional inspector Michael Elpin Additional inspector Jennifer Cutler Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average size primary school located in the centre of the city of Winchester.  Nearly all pupils attending the school come from a White British background.  The proportions of pupils supported by school action or school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs are below average. These needs include moderate learning difficulties and behaviour, social and emotional difficulties.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding from the government for groups of students including those known to be eligible for free school meals) is below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school does not use any alternative provision for pupils’ education.  The school building has recently been extended with the addition of three new classrooms.

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Information about this school

 The school has received several recent awards including the Eco Silver award and the Silver Sing Up award.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Although pupils’ attainment in Year 6 has been, and continues to be, significantly above the national average in English and mathematics, it is higher in reading than writing. In order to improve pupils’ attainment in writing to match attainment in reading and mathematics the school needs to:  ensure pupils are provided with more opportunities to further develop their writing skills not only in English lessons but also in other subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Most children start school at the age of four with the skills and knowledge expected for their age although their social skills are often less well developed. The Early Years Foundation Stage classrooms provide children with stimulating, well-resourced environments in which to learn. Outstanding teaching ensures that children thoroughly enjoy their time in the Reception Year.  Children make outstanding progress in both their social and academic development, especially in building up their numeracy and language skills. A strong focus on teaching phonics ensures that children develop their reading skills exceptionally well. For example, children quickly develop their ability to use letter combinations when reading new words correctly.  This excellent start is built on very well in all other year groups because the school has very high expectations of what pupils are capable of achieving. Outstanding teaching ensures that pupils

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

continue to make rapid progress in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and meet and often exceed the challenging individual targets set for them. All pupils, including the more able, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, consistently outperform their peer groups nationally.  Pupils’ attainment is well above average in mathematics and English in both Year 2 and Year 6 and has been for several years. This was evident from the school’s results in national tests and assessments, from a scrutiny of pupils’ work in mathematics and English and from the school’s systems to track the progress of individual pupils.  A scrutiny of work in a range of subjects confirmed that this progress is not just limited to mathematics and English. Much of the learning also aids pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, pupils in Year 4 displayed a growing understanding of the

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

moral implications and importance of ‘Fair Trade’ in the production of chocolate. They used the internet very well to improve their knowledge of the effect of unfair trading practices on people living in developing countries.  Pupils also use their well above average mathematical skills very effectively when problem solving. For example, in a lesson to a mixed Year 5 and Year 6 class, pupils used a wide range of strategies to develop their ability to work out quite difficult percentages of numbers without the aid of a calculator. Work was very well matched to their different abilities and pupils gained a real sense of achievement when they calculated percentages correctly.  Attainment in writing, although well above average, is not as high as in reading because pupils have less frequent opportunities to further develop their writing skills in a range of subjects other than English.  The school uses the money it receives from the pupil premium funding to target support very

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

effectively for the very small proportion of pupils entitled to this extra help. As a result, these pupils make the same outstanding progress as all other pupils in the school and usually perform as well as pupils not entitled to pupil premium funding in national tests and assessments.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The quality of teaching over time is outstanding. This is reflected in the sustained improvement in pupils’ achievement, especially in literacy, reading and mathematics, since the previous inspection and confirmed in the results of both internal and external monitoring of teaching. Much of the teaching observed during the inspection was outstanding and never less than consistently good.  Several comments in the returned staff questionnaires mentioned how proud teachers and other adults are to be part of such a successful school.  Teachers plan imaginative lessons and work is always very well matched to pupils’ different abilities. Pupils comment that the work they are given to complete in lessons is usually, ‘not too hard or too easy’. Teachers use interesting topics and strategies in order to motivate pupils. For example, during an outstanding Year 1 lesson which linked history with literacy, the teacher

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

used drama and role play to excellent effect to stimulate pupils’ imaginations. Pupils became totally immersed in the lesson and produced high-quality written work about their emotions and feelings about fleeing from the Great Fire of London.  All teachers have developed excellent relationships with the pupils in their classes, who say that teachers always help them if they are having difficulties with their work. Teachers’ marking informs pupils very well about how their work could improve. Assessment information is used very effectively to identify any slow progress or where pupils might learn more rapidly.  Other adults work alongside teachers very effectively to ensure that pupils requiring extra help with learning are well supported and so make the same outstanding progress as all other pupils. This includes disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and those supported by the pupil premium.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Behaviour is outstanding. Pupils display a high level of respect for others and get on very well together. Attitudes to learning are exemplary and contribute to an exceptionally positive atmosphere in the school. Incidents of misbehaviour of any kind are rare.  The school places pupils’ interests at the centre of all it does and ensures that all pupils have equal opportunities to succeed. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.  Pupils say that they really enjoy school and this is reflected in their above average attendance and their consistent punctuality to school each morning. There are no instances of persistent absence by pupils.  Pupils are very well aware of the need to stay safe and say that they feel very safe in school at all times. The overwhelming majority of the parents and carers who completed the Parent View survey agreed that pupils are very well looked after in school and feel very safe. They also

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

believed that the school made sure pupils were well behaved.  Pupils have a very good understanding of the different forms of bullying, including cyber bullying, emotional and physical bullying. However, during discussions with inspectors, it became evident that pupils believe that bullying of any kind is extremely rare. They are also confident that, should bullying ever occur, adults would deal with it quickly and firmly.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is a dedicated and inspirational leader with the vision and ability to ensure that the school continuously provides the best education it can for all pupils. She is very well supported by the school’s senior leadership team, governors and staff. This has been an important factor in improving the school’s overall effectiveness since the previous inspection.  The school receives very light touch support from the local authority which correctly believes it to be outstanding.  The school has an excellent idea of its overall effectiveness and this is most notable in the quality and rigour of its self-evaluation. The school has developed very effective systems to track and analyse the progress of individual pupils and uses these very effectively to enhance pupils’ learning.  A scrutiny of pupils’ work confirmed that the school has developed a curriculum which provides pupils with rich opportunities for high-quality learning and also promotes their personal

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The leadership and management are outstanding

development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The management of the performance of staff is rigorous and is linked very effectively to their professional development and to continuing to improve the quality of teaching.  The school has developed and fostered very good links with the local community and also with parents and carers who value the quality of education the school provides for their children. The vast majority would recommend the school to other parents and carers.  The governance of the school:  Governors are proud of the school and have a complete understanding of how well it is doing compared with other schools nationally. As a result, the governing body is very effective at asking the school’s leaders and managers searching questions. For example, governors keep a close watch on how effectively the extra money the school receives for pupils entitled to extra help from the pupil premium is being spent. They also closely

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The leadership and management are outstanding

monitor information about the school’s performance, especially the quality of teaching in relation to its links to salary levels. The governing body fully meets its statutory duties and responsibilities regarding the safeguarding of pupils and other health and safety matters. It also ensures that all pupils have equal opportunities to succeed and that discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. Governors receive regular training on these and other matters, for example, on the safe recruitment of school staff.

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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 116329 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 403296

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4 –11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 420 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dominic Hiscock Headteacher Louise Fitzpatrick Date of previous school inspection 11 – 12 December 2007 Telephone number 01962 852463 Fax number 01962 865271 Email address doreen.white@st-bede.hants.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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