Henry Bradley Infant School

Henry Bradley Infant School Princess Street, Brimington, Chesterfield, S43 1HR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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.  Pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. Attainment at the end of Year 2 is improving in reading and writing, and consistently above average in mathematics.  Teaching is typically good and it has some outstanding features. As a result, pupils make good progress from relatively low starting points on entry to the nursery.  Leadership and management are good. The relatively new senior leadership team is focused successfully on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement further.  Pupils behave well and are keen to learn. Their relationships with each other and with adults are good. Pupils feel safe in such a positive climate for learning.  The range of taught subjects and other activities contribute well to pupils’ basic skills as well as broadening their overall learning.  The governing body supports the school well, and is clear about what it is aiming to achieve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not enough outstanding teaching to speed up pupils’ achievement further.  In some lessons, teachers do not make the reasons for learning clear and the work they give does not demand enough of all pupils. Some of their comments on pupils’ performance are not precise enough to help improve it.  In Reception, some pupils do not make sufficient progress in developing their communication skills. The activities planned and the help and guidance from adults to build these skills are not always effective.  The school’s efforts have led to improvements in attendance, but it remains below average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 20 lessons or parts of lessons, two of which were jointly observed with the headteacher. The lead inspector and the headteacher jointly reviewed a small sample of the written work of Year 2 pupils.  Meetings were held with a randomly selected group of pupils, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Governing Body and senior and middle leaders. The lead inspector met a representative of the local authority on the first day of the inspection.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of school documents, including the school’s tracking data concerning pupils’ current and recent progress, planning and monitoring documentation, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.  Inspectors took into account the views of 26 parents’ responses to the online Parent View questionnaire, together with the school’s own evidence of parents’ views. One of the inspectors talked informally to five parents at the start of school on the second day of the inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors also considered 22 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Krishan Sharma, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Faheem Chishti Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action is slightly above average, and the proportion at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is below average. This is extra funding provided by the government to support certain groups of pupils. In this school it applies only to pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those from service families.  Most pupils are White British.  The school has a relatively new senior leadership team. The headteacher, deputy headteacher and special educational needs coordinator all joined within the last two years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding so that pupils make rapid and sustained progress, by ensuring that all teachers and adults:  make the purpose of learning clear in all lessons  set tasks that provide the right level of challenge, particularly for the more-able pupils  give precise feedback on pupils’ performance, and how to improve it  increase opportunities for pupils to practise and improve their speaking skills in all subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Help all children in Reception to make strong progress in developing their communication skills by ensuring that they:  improve their ability to listen carefully to adults, and to each other, for longer periods of time  are routinely expected to respond to adults’ questions and comments  are sensitively guided and supported during indoor and outdoor activities to help them maintain focus and interest in their learning for longer.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Work closely with parents, particularly those of pupils who do not attend regularly enough, to make sure attendance rises to at least the national average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join the nursery with skills and knowledge that are below the levels expected for their age, and progress well across most areas of learning. They do particularly well in the nursery, although in Reception they make uneven progress, particularly in their communication skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Progress improves again in Key Stage 1, and it gets stronger during Year 2. Currently attainment is broadly average in speaking and listening, just above average in reading and writing, and clearly above average in mathematics. The standards being achieved now represent good progress from these pupils’ starting points at the beginning of Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ knowledge of phonics (linking letters and the sounds they make) is getting stronger as it is now being taught systematically throughout the school. This is helping the school to raise standards in reading. Less confident readers know how to use their phonic skills in reading unfamiliar words.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Writing is improving and is stronger than reading. The written work seen during the inspection shows that pupils write for a wide range of purposes in their topics. Their understanding of basic punctuation is good because its correct use is consistently emphasised by teachers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ speaking and listening skills are not as strong as they could be. Often they lack fluency in their responses to adults’ questions and their choice of vocabulary is limited. In some lessons, pupils have insufficient opportunities to practise speaking and listening.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement in mathematics is consistently good. Pupils enjoy working with numbers and handle them accurately. Many of them are able to show how they work out their calculations.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make progress similar to their classmates. The support for them is carefully planned to meet their specific needs. In some lessons, the more-able pupils make slower progress because tasks set for them are not demanding enough.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2012 Year 2 national tests, the gap in attainment in English and mathematics between pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and other groups was slightly larger than that found nationally. The school’s current data show that this gap is closing, and these pupils are making good progress in line with their classmates. Pupil premium funds are carefully targeted to provide extra help in improving their reading, writing and mathematics skills in one-to-one and small group situations.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is usually good, and it has some outstanding features. This has helped the school to maintain pupils’ good progress and achievement over time. In addition to improving pupils’ basic skills, teaching promotes their social skills and good relationships well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the nursery and Reception classes, adults engage children in conversation to improve their communication skills. This is done exceptionally well in the Nursery, but in Reception, some children make slow progress in their speaking and listening skills because activities planned for them are not always interesting enough to hold their attention for long. Adults do not intervene enough to keep children involved, or support their learning through questions and comments.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In most lessons, teachers’ planning takes into account pupils’ previous learning. Teachers ask questions skilfully to check pupils’ understanding. In some lessons, teachers do not make the purpose of learning clear and the tasks they set are not demanding enough for all pupils, particularly the more able. When this happens, pupils do not make the best possible progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the most effective lessons, teachers achieve a very high level of commitment from pupils, who demonstrate good gains in their learning as a result. Their feedback on pupils’ progress during lessons and in written work is precise and clearly points to what pupils could do to improve it. These features do not feature strongly in all lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of reading has benefited from the school’s adoption of a phonics programme which thoroughly consolidates and builds on pupils’ skills. It is already beginning to make a difference in Year 1, where pupils’ phonic skills are stronger than those of last year’s Year 1.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults encourage pupils to talk about their work and express their opinions, but do not always make the most of opportunities arising in lessons to help them practise and improve their speaking skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and those who are being supported through pupil premium funding, is carefully planned. The extra help provided is helping them to catch up with other groups.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Most pupils, parents and staff believe that behaviour in school is good, and that it is consistently well managed.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Even when some pupils occasionally lose concentration when lessons do not capture or maintain their attention, this very rarely leads to disruption.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Good behaviour not only contributes to pupils’ strong academic achievement, but also promotes good relationships across the school. As a result pupils get on well with each other, irrespective of their backgrounds.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe and secure. They say that bullying is rare and that adults promptly sort out disagreements and quibbles. Pupils understand that bullying can take different forms, including name-calling or misuse of the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is improving, but it is still below average and this remains a continuing challenge for the senior leaders and the governing body. The school is well aware of the small number of parents and families whose children’s attendance is irregular, and takes appropriate action to promote good attendance.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders have been successful in securing pupils’ good achievement and the good quality of teaching. Their plans show that the school knows its future direction, and the current systems for checking performance at all levels demonstrate that it has good capacity to improve further.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ progress is regularly tracked to ensure that the needs of individual pupils and all groups, including those whose circumstances make them vulnerable, are accurately identified and met. Extra help is provided to those who need it, to help them catch up with others. Senior leaders maintain a regular review of their performance to ensure that these pupils continue to get a fair deal.

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The leadership and management are good

 The arrangements for the management of teachers’ performance make a clear link between teachers’ pay and the impact of their teaching on pupils’ learning and achievement. The continuing staff training is rightly linked to the school’s key priorities for development as well as the individual needs of staff. Recent training on the teaching of reading has strengthened teachers’ skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school works well with parents and carers. Most say they receive good information about their children’s performance.

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The leadership and management are good

 The range of subjects and activities taught contributes well to the development of pupils’ basic skills and promotes their personal development. Educational visits, visitors to school, sport, music, art and celebrations of different cultural traditions all promote pupils spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided ‘light-touch’ support for this school, which has continued to do well in national tests since the last inspection. The support provided to the headteacher in confirming the accuracy of the school’s judgements on its own performance and the practical support in improving provision in the nursery have been worthwhile.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a good knowledge of the school’s strengths, including the overall quality of teaching, and an increasing awareness of the details of its weaknesses. It maintains an overview of pupils’ progress and knows how well the school performs in comparison with similar schools nationally. Governors are fully aware of the need for clear links between teachers’ performance in the classroom and their pay rises and promotion. They have a good grasp of the school’s budget and know how well pupil premium funding is being used to boost the achievement of eligible pupils. They are aware of what the school is aiming to achieve through its priorities. The governors have a good range of skills and experience to help them in their work, and are confident to challenge senior leaders to account for any weakness. Governors ensure that the school’s safeguarding arrangements meet current national

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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 112519 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 413337

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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 Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 223 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kath Kearney Headteacher Cliff Hadley Date of previous school inspection 5 March 2007 Telephone number 01246 273857 Fax number 01246 540795 Email address enquiries@henrybradley.derbyshire.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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