Barton Primary School

P R O T E C T – I N S P E C T I O N School report

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Barton Primary School and Early Years Centre Green Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 2AW

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  Pupils underachieve in English and mathematics in Key Stages 1 and 2. Their speaking, reading, writing and mathematical skills are not developed well enough to prepare them for the next stage of their education.  Too much teaching is inadequate. Expectations of what pupils can do are too low, and they are not challenged to achieve their best. Teachers and teaching assistants do not provide the right activities for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.  Marking does not consistently identify what pupils need to do to improve. Pupils have little opportunity to respond to teachers’ comments and learn from their mistakes.  Few adults ask questions that help pupils develop their ideas and understanding. Progress in lessons is not checked..  Activities do not engage pupils’ interests sufficiently or develop their own ideas. As a result, they lose interest and do not take

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

sufficient pride in their work. Some pupils do not attend regularly. Their behaviour and attitudes to learning require improvement.  The local authority has not challenged the school robustly about how well it is doing, making it difficult for the governors to be decisive in tackling important weaknesses.  Leaders, including governors, have not managed the quality of teaching well enough to improve pupils’ achievement. Staff are not held accountable for pupils’ slow progress.  The school does not have an effective leadership structure. Subject and key stage leaders have not been able to carry out their roles effectively. Current plans for the long- and short-term development of the school are imprecise and lack ambition.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children make a good start in the Nursery where their curiosity about the world is promoted well. They make good strides in their social and language development.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 22 parts of lessons, including staff working with pupils in small groups. Several lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Some pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 read to an inspector. Others in Years 5 and 6 discussed their views of the school. Pupils’ behaviour was observed in lessons and at various times around the school.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and staff with responsibility for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, the Early Years Foundation Stage, English, mathematics and family support. Inspectors also met with representatives of the governing body and local authority.  The responses of 14 parents who completed the on-line questionnaire (Parent View), and the responses of 52 parents to the school’s own survey in May 2013 were taken into account.  Documents reviewed included the school’s improvement plan, the summary of the school’s

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Information about this inspection

checks on how well it is doing, local authority reports about the school’s effectiveness, arrangements for appraisal, safeguarding, and records of pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

Kath Beck, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Roger Fenwick Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Full report

The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Information about this school

 This school is similar in size to most primary schools. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage attend the Nursery or Reception class.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is high. This is the additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children and those with a parent in the armed forces. Currently, the school has very few looked after children and none with parents in the armed forces.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is high. Many have speech, language and communication difficulties.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club every day of the week in term time.

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the number of pupils attending the school has risen. Following reorganisation within the local authority, the school now has pupils in Years 5 and 6. National tests were taken by pupils in Year 6 for the first time in 2012.  The headteacher took up his post in April 2013. A full-time special educational needs coordinator began working in the school in January 2013. Two members of staff left at the end of March. Three staff are employed on a temporary contract. Many governors are new to their roles.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is good or better by:  ensuring teachers are more ambitious for pupils’ progress, and the quality of the presentation of their work  ensuring teachers provide activities which engage pupils’ interests, challenge pupils to think hard, make decisions for themselves, and sustain their concentration throughout the lesson  making sure that teachers use information about pupils’ attainment to plan work that is securely based on their previous learning and is adjusted to meet their varied needs and abilities  explain to pupils what they are expected to achieve in lessons, how they will know they have been successful, and what they can do to aspire to higher levels of achievement  checking pupils’ progress throughout lessons and adjusting the work if it is too hard or too easy  developing the skills of all adults in asking pupils questions that require them to think through

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

their ideas and deepen their understanding  ensuring marking tells pupils how their work might be improved and they are given time to respond to teachers’ comments and learn from their mistakes  clarifying the role of teaching assistants so that they support pupils effectively throughout lessons and promote their ability to work by themselves, especially disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.  Raise achievement in speaking, reading, writing and mathematics throughout the school by:  providing pupils with a good range of opportunities to develop the vocabulary they need to communicate effectively with adults and each other and to enhance their writing  reviewing the programme for teaching the sounds letters make (phonics) so that pupils know how to read unfamiliar words successfully, and spell correctly  ensuring pupils make good use of the library to read books that are at the right level for them

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

and read widely in different subjects  developing a clear programme for teaching mathematics that builds up pupils’ knowledge and understanding and offers increasing levels of challenge as pupils move through the school  providing more opportunities for pupils to learn and remember their multiplication tables and number bonds  teaching pupils the written methods to calculate accurately and solve problems with confidence.  Ensure that all pupils attend more regularly by working with parents to reduce the number of holidays taken in term time.  Improve leadership and management, including governance, and build the capacity to improve by:  drawing up a plan for the long-term development of the school to raise aspirations and ambitions for pupils’ attainment  revising the short-term improvement plan so it is focused sharply on the improvements needed to increase rates of pupils’ progress, and checking that it is having the anticipated

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

impact on pupils’ achievements  reviewing the structure for the leadership and management of the school so that it is clear who is responsible for what, including the line management of the teaching assistants  developing the skills of the subject and key stage leaders so that they contribute fully to the improvement of the quality of teaching and raising pupils’ achievement  putting into practice robust appraisal systems so that all staff are held accountable for their contributions to pupils’ achievements  reviewing the curriculum so that it is broad and balanced and gives due attention to the development of pupils’ skills in English and mathematics  providing a thorough training programme to raise the skills of all staff in teaching mathematics, the sounds letters make, spoken language and on how best to meet the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils Is inadequate

 Following a good start in the Nursery and steady development in the Reception class, pupils’ progress in Years 1 to 6 is too slow. Recent checks indicate that many pupils are not meeting the targets they are expected to reach in each year group. Attainment at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 is significantly lower than in most schools.  Achievement in mathematics is not good enough. There is no detailed programme for teaching mathematics to ensure pupils receive work that progressively increases in difficulty as they move through the school. Pupils do not know the written methods to use to calculate accurately and to solve problems confidently. Too often they complete worksheets of repetitive exercises, rather than activities that challenge them to use their own ideas, recall number bonds and multiplication tables quickly, and apply their skills across other subjects.  In English, the progress of many pupils is held back because they do not have the vocabulary

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The achievement of pupils Is inadequate

they need to communicate their ideas imaginatively in speech or in writing. Their knowledge of the sounds letters make is limited, making it difficult for them to read unfamiliar words and to spell accurately. Pupils do not have enough opportunities to sharpen their skills by reading books pitched at the right level for them or by using the library to read widely.  The needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are not met in Key Stages 1 and 2. Too often these pupils work in small groups or individually with adults who have not been trained in the best ways to help them learn. Work planned for them is not designed to meet their individual needs. Consequently, they make slow progress.  Pupils for whom the school received additional pupil premium funding and who were known to be eligible for free school meals were, in 2012 at the end of Year 6, more than a year behind their classmates in English and 15 months behind in mathematics. This is a much wider gap than

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The achievement of pupils Is inadequate

found in most other schools.  Children make good headway in the Nursery, especially in their personal, social and emotional development. They are encouraged to use their ingenuity and their communication skills develop speedily because they have interesting things to talk about.  Children’s progress in Reception requires improvement. In adult-led activities, children’s learning develops at a good pace. Conversely, when children undertake activities on their own, there are few opportunities for them to solve problems.

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The quality of teaching Is inadequate

 Inadequate teaching undermines pupils’ achievement. Typically, in lessons where progress is slow, expectations of what they can do are too low. The needs of pupils at different stages in their learning, especially those with a disability or special educational needs, are not met. This is because teachers’ assessments of what pupils can do are not accurate.  Teaching is inadequate in other ways:  work set is dull and fails to capture pupils’ interest or build on what they have already learned  teachers’ knowledge of how to teach the sounds letters make and basic mathematics skills is not good enough to promote rapid progress  pupils do not always understand what they are to learn and achieve in lessons, what they need to do to be successful and what they can do to reach the next level of attainment  teachers do not provide sufficient practical and visual resources to help pupils work independently in writing and mathematics

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The quality of teaching Is inadequate

 adults do not ask questions that challenge pupils’ understanding and ideas, or check their progress during lessons to push learning along at a faster rate if work is too easy or too hard  teaching assistants are not used effectively to add impetus to pupils’ learning. Too often they tell pupils exactly what to do and this limits their ability to work by themselves.  Pupils’ work is marked, but this is not helping pupils to make better progress. Teachers do not always show them how to improve their work or give them time to consider their comments and learn from their mistakes.  Pockets of good teaching in Years 3 and 4 show a brisk pace of learning and a good variety of lively activities that stop pupils becoming bored. Pupils work well together and contribute their ideas to help others learn. In the Nursery, children have many opportunities to satisfy their curiosity and excitement about the world around them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Where teaching is inadequate, or requires improvement, pupils do not sustain their attention. Activities do not engage them in their learning. Concerned that what they are doing may be wrong, young pupils repeatedly rub out their work leaving it looking untidy. This slows their progress. That said, they do not actively interrupt lessons. Where teaching is good, pupils complete a great deal of work and behave extremely well.  Parents and staff are confident that behaviour is good. Most pupils show courtesy and good manners, especially at lunchtime. The school has a harmonious community atmosphere because there is no discrimination. When participating in events away from school, pupils are praised for their good behaviour.  Pupils with challenging behaviour are supported effectively and learn different ways to help them manage situations that upset them. Very few pupils have been stopped from coming to school

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

for short periods because of inappropriate behaviour.  Pupils know about different kinds of bullying. It has been a worry for a few of them and their parents. However, they reported that when they mentioned their concerns an adult stepped in immediately to help them.  Attendance is low. The school is taking determined action to improve the frequency with which pupils attend school, but some parents continue to take their children on holiday in term time. Recent changes to the school day have had a positive impact on the number of pupils getting to school on time.  The school places strong emphasis on working with parents and other professionals to protect pupils with high levels of welfare and safety needs.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Leadership and management are inadequate because too many pupils are not experiencing an acceptable standard of education. The local authority has not challenged the school robustly about the decline in pupils’ attainment in Year 2 and their slow progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Checks on the school’s effectiveness are too generous because they are not supported by rigorous analysis of numerical information about pupils’ progress that shows the limited impact of teaching on pupils’ learning.  The new headteacher, together with the special educational needs coordinator, has accurately identified the strengths and weaknesses in the school as found during the inspection. While the headteacher has the drive and ambition to take the school forward, he recognises that the school does not have the capacity to improve without significant support.  The lack of an ambitious long-term plan for the development of the school makes it difficult for

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The leadership and management are inadequate

everyone to know how they should contribute to raising pupils’ aspirations and achievements. The short-term plan is not focused sharply enough on the specific improvements needed to increase the rate of pupils’ progress throughout the school. It lacks precise criteria to enable leaders, managers and governors to measure the impact of each development easily.  The current range of leadership and management responsibilities is unsuitable now that the school includes pupils up to 11 years of age. Leaders are unclear about who is responsible for what, including the consistent management of teaching assistants.  Subject and key stage leaders have done little to raise achievement in their areas of responsibility. The appraisal process that links improvements in pupils’ progress to teachers’ pay reviews, has not been strong enough to hold individuals to account for pupils’ underachievement.  Staff have received too little training to help them know what to do to raise achievement.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

Consequently, they lack the skills to:  lead and manage their areas of responsibility effectively  support disabled pupils and those with special educational needs well in their learning  ensure that all pupils have an equal opportunity to make the progress they should.  The programme of work in Key Stages 1 and 2 lacks breadth and balance. While pupils take part in many enjoyable creative and sporting activities, they are not acquiring sufficient skills in English and mathematics in preparation for the next stage in their education. In contrast, in the Nursery and Reception classes, children enjoy a range of imaginative activities designed to meet their interests.  Pupils are taught about other faiths, religions and cultures from around the world. Residential visits develop the social skills they need when living away from home. Their recent involvement in a production of Twelfth Night contributed to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural

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The leadership and management are inadequate

development.  The governance of the school:  Many governors are new and undertaking training to make governance more effective. Those who are longer serving have been poorly placed to challenge and hold the school to account fully for its performance. The reports they receive, including those from the local authority, are too optimistic to provide an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness, especially with regard to the quality of teaching. Governors have made few visits to see pupils’ classroom experiences for themselves. They have only recently become aware of how to make use of information about pupils’ achievements when compared with other schools nationally. Governors know how pupil premium money is allocated, but were not aware of the lack of impact on the progress of these pupils. They have set targets for the new headteacher to achieve, but are not currently included in the procedures for reviewing the pay of all other

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The leadership and management are inadequate

staff. They are working closely with the new headteacher to check the budget carefully and find ways to use funds more efficiently.

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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 118163 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 413459

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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 245 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ashley Bishop (Co-Chairs of the Governing Body) Rachel Brown Headteacher Mark Snow Date of previous school inspection 3 ‒ 4 March 2010 Telephone number 01983 522469 Fax number 01983 522469 Email address info@bartonprimary.co.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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