Buswells Lodge Primary School

Buswells Lodge Primary School Beauville Drive, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, LE4 0PT

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Overall effectiveness

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

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Progress in reading, writing and mathematics is not good in all year groups.  In some classes, teaching is not good enough to make sure that pupils make good progress.  Support for some disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is not checked carefully enough to make sure that they make the progress that they should.  Some leaders do not use the school’s progress data well enough to quickly identify pupils who may be in danger of falling behind or to help them plan for improvement.  Governors have not yet fully implemented their plans to check more closely how well the school is doing.

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The school has the following strengths

 Teaching is good in some classes. In these classes all pupils, including those who are disabled or who have special educational needs, make good progress.  School data on pupils’ progress and achievement and work in their books show that in areas where progress was slower last year, the rate of progress is now improving.  Children get a good start to school and make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around school.  The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is a strength of the school and underpins all it does.  The leaders and managers made improvements in progress, attainment and teaching in some year groups last year. Plans are being implemented to take these improvements forward, but it is too soon to evaluate the impact.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 24 lessons or parts of lessons, one of which was a joint observation with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, staff, including senior leaders, three groups of pupils, the Chair and two other members of the Governing Body, and a representative of the local authority. Informal discussions were held with parents and carers.  There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) to be viewed, but the inspectors took account of the school’s most recent parental questionnaire .  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at: information from the school’s checks on its performance; school improvement plans; its analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress; leaders’ records of classroom observations; safeguarding arrangements; and records of governing body meetings.  Inspectors also sampled pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on pupils’

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Janet Bird Additional Inspector Dennis Brittain Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium, which is additional funding for children known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care or those with a parent in the armed services, is above average. Currently, there are no children in the school with a parent in the armed services.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is above average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average, while the proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is just below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 During the inspection most of the pupils in Year 6, some Year 5 pupils, five teachers and four teaching assistants were away on a residential visit.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is always, at least, good and pupils make consistently better progress through ensuring that:  the pace of learning in all lessons is brisk and ensures that no time is wasted on organisational tasks  all work is well-matched to pupils’ abilities right from the start and throughout every lesson so that all pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics  there are more opportunities for pupils to write at length and develop their literacy skills in different subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership by ensuring that:  all senior and middle leaders use data on pupils’ progress effectively so that they have a clear understanding of the progress of pupils and groups of pupils in their area of responsibility and take action to remedy any underachievement  the leadership of provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs accurately assesses the specific learning needs of individual pupils, provides advice for class teachers to meet their needs and checks the impact of support provided  governors fully implement the plans they have devised to check and report on the school’s performance. An external review of governance should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management can be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because progress is not consistently good. While pupils in some classes, particularly in Years 5 and 6, make good progress, in other year groups progress is not equally good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs varies too much. Where teaching is good, they make good progress, but there are some classes where their progress is limited. This is because support for these pupils is not always closely matched to their learning needs and abilities and not checked regularly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils start school with skills below those typical for their age. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and start in Key Stage 1 with skills closer to those expected for their age.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The results of the national screening check on how well pupils know the sounds that letters make (phonics) in Year 1 were just below average. Good progress, particularly in Year 2, means that pupils start Key Stage 2 with average standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress through Key Stage 2 is too variable. Pupils make good progress in all subjects in Year 6 and they do well in reading and writing in Year 5. In Years 3 and 4, pupils make expected, but not good, progress. This is an improvement, particularly in Year 3, where progress was slow last year. Standards by the end of Key Stage 2 are broadly average in English and mathematics, and although some pupils achieved high standards in writing last year, current standards in writing in Year 6 and throughout all year group are no better than average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium make similar, varied progress to that of other pupils in the school. The standard of their English work is currently two terms behind that of other pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 and two terms behind other pupils in mathematics in Years 4 and 6. Some of the additional funding has been spent on teachers who work with small groups and individuals. Pupils who receive this support make good progress and the gap between their attainment and that of other pupils is closing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress for pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language is good. This is because the school engages well with parents so that they can support their children’s learning. There are opportunities for pupils to practise using English in a range if situations and they have one-to-one support when needed.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it is not consistently good across all year groups. This means that all pupils are not able to make good progress. Sometimes teachers take too long organising pupils or waiting for them to settle down and this limits the learning time that they have in the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Work is not always well matched to pupils’ abilities. Sometimes, tasks are explained to the whole class, even if this work is too easy for some pupils who could be working at a high level. Occasionally, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are not supported enough for them to really understand what they are doing and make good progress.  Teachers’ planning of learning ensures that pupils practise literacy skills in different subjects. However, opportunities to do longer pieces of writing so that pupils can fully develop these skills are not frequent enough in some classes.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching is good, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported by well-briefed adults in the classroom or in small groups. The planning of this learning, however, is left mainly to the class teachers and some are more skilled at identifying specific support strategies than others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some teachers use questioning techniques well. They ask questions which help pupils think deeply about their learning. For example, Year 6 pupils were looking at habitats so that they could design a ‘bug hotel’. The class teacher skilfully questioned them about their observations of the frozen pond to check their understanding and also encourage them to use the correct scientific terms. In a similar example in the Early Years Foundation Stage, the teacher asked the children to describe the different fruits they were feeling and smelling, encouraging them to use accurate, descriptive vocabulary.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking in most books is thorough and follows the school’s marking policy. Pupils understand the ‘stars and wish’ system and say this helps them know how well they are doing. They all have targets for improvement which give them guidance as to the next steps in their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In all lessons, teachers encourage positive behaviours and attitudes. Pupils respond well by listening politely to each other and sharing equipment when working in pairs or small groups. For example, in the Nursery class, children were performing a puppet show, and when all the puppets were in use, a girl readily shared hers with a friend who spontaneously thanked her and happily joined in the activity.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour in lesson and around school is good. Pupils are polite to adults and to each other, holding open doors and being aware of the needs of younger pupils or any who may need specific help. They say that behaviour in school is good and most parents who completed a school survey in June agree with them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils understand what bullying is and can talk about different forms it can take, including physical, verbal and cyber bullying. They say it is rare in their school and any incidents are quickly and effectively dealt with. Most parents also agree that bullying is dealt with well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils know how to stay safe in different situations. They talk about ‘stranger danger’, safety on the road, and are very aware of the importance of fire drills in school. Year 1 pupils were taught about fire safety in their lessons and learnt to ‘stop, drop and roll’ if their clothes caught fire.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Older pupils show a responsible attitude towards looking after the younger ones. They readily escorted younger pupils back to their classrooms after meetings during the inspection. Year 6 pupils also help set up the large equipment for the Nursery children and have the opportunity to play with them at lunchtimes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has worked closely with parents to improve attendance, which has been below average for the last three years. Thorough systems to follow up absenteeism and the school’s attempts to promote good attendance have resulted in the number of persistent absences falling. Attendance this year has improved and is currently just within the average range.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership requires improvement. While the school checks pupils’ progress regularly and collects the data to show how well pupils are doing, some leaders are less confident than others in using the information. This means that they do not all have a clear view about the progress of different groups of pupils across the school and so cannot use the progress data available to help in planning for whole-school improvement in pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The responsibility for assessing the learning needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs and identifying what support they require currently lies mainly with class teachers. Some teachers plan more effective support than others and leadership is not robust enough to ensure that good provision for these pupils is consistent across the school, and that the support is checked to ensure that the pupils make good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Progress has improved as a result of the changes that leaders and managers made to teaching groups in Years 5 and 6 last year linking teachers’ performance to pupils’ progress. Similar changes have been put in place throughout the rest of Key Stage 2 this year, but there has not yet been time to assess the impact on raising standards.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a key strength of the school. Through assemblies and in lessons, pupils are given the opportunity to reflect on their own and others’ cultures and beliefs. For example, Key Stage 1 pupils talked about what the term ‘worship’ meant, while Year 3 pupils learnt about the teachings of Martin Luther King. Throughout the inspection, pupils were extremely sociable and keen to talk about their school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school ensures that there are plenty of opportunities for pupils to appreciate music and other art forms. For example, Leicester Cathedral Choir’s Master of the Choristers works with Year 2 pupils every week to prepare for a concert later in the year. Other pupils learn musical instruments and all pupils enjoy visiting theatre group performances. The school benefits from a wide range of cultures within the school and pupils readily share their beliefs and customs, developing respect and understanding for each other.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided appropriate support for the school. This has included supporting the senior leaders, subject leaders’ and advising on the subjects pupils are taught. However, the impact of the support given has not yet raised achievement and teaching to good.

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The governance of the school:

– The governing body is very supportive of the school. It has recently reviewed the way it works and governors recognise that they have not challenged the headteacher and senior leaders enough or held them accountable for improving the school. Currently, only a few governors visit the school to check on how well it is doing. However, plans are being applied to ensure more governors visit on a regular basis, and report back to the rest of the governing body. It is too early to know what the impact of this action will be, because an external review of governance has not yet been undertaken. Information about progress and the quality of teaching is provided by the headteacher and recent governing body minutes show that governors are asking more challenging questions so that they have a better understanding of the quality of teaching across the school. Teachers’ performance is judged against how much progress pupils make and how well staff fulfil their different roles in the

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The governance of the school:

school. A new system for evaluating teachers’ performance has been put in place so that targets are used appropriately to measure whether promotion up the pay scale is justified by the results pupils achieve. The school’s finances are well managed and governors check the effectiveness of all spending, particularly, the pupil premium. They know that while some of the money is spent on additional staff, a proportion is used to support pupils whose circumstances mean they would otherwise be unable to take part in additional activities and trips. However, they are not sure what effect the extra funds have on pupils’ progress. An external review of governance should be undertaken so that governors can take stock of their current performance and strengthen their impact on improving the school.

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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 120040 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 405904

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 427 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lee Baines Headteacher Ken Judd Date of previous school inspection 13 September 2009 Telephone number 0116 2352129 Fax number 0116 2341550 Email address office@buswellslodge.leicester.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

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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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