Bedgrove Infant School

Bedgrove Infant School Ingram Avenue, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP21 9DJ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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. From the time they enter school, pupils consistently make rapid progress to reach well above average standards at the end of Year 2.  All groups of pupils, including pupils who receive pupil premium, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, make exceptional progress from their starting points. This is because their needs are quickly identified and highly effective, skilled support put in place.  Behaviour for learning in lessons and around school is exemplary. Pupils say they feel safe; they are confident; and they show a huge amount of respect towards each other and adults.  Teaching is outstanding and contributes strongly to the outstanding progress the pupils make over time.  The extremely strong leadership of the headteacher and senior leaders is well supported by leaders at all levels. As a team, all leaders are highly supportive of the vision to

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

continually improve and act as powerful role models around the school.  The inspirational curriculum and stimulating outdoor learning environment support the excellent enjoyment and achievement of the pupils and strongly contribute to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The governing body has a wide range of skills and expertise, which it uses well to support and challenge the school in ensuring consistently high outcomes for all pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 29 lessons or part lessons taught by 13 teachers, nine of which were completed jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school improvement plan; planning documents; the school’s information on pupils’ current progress and achievement; checks carried out by leaders on the quality of teaching; school improvement reports; and records relating to attendance, and safeguarding and behaviour.  Inspectors listened to pupils read individually as well as observing pupils reading during lessons.  They held meetings with pupils, senior leaders and four members of the governing body, and held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. The views of staff were taken into account from the 44 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors took account of the 79 responses to the online Parent View survey, two letters and

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Information about this inspection

the informal discussions held with parents and carers during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Kerry Rochester, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Cliff Mainey Additional Inspector Michael Lafford Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average-sized infant school.  The proportion of pupils receiving pupil premium is well below average. This additional funding is for pupils looked after by the local authority, children with a parent in the armed forces and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is slightly below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs and receive support through school action is well below average.  The proportion being supported through school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is well below average. These needs relate mainly to speech, language and communication.  The breakfast club on site is not managed by the governing body and therefore did not form part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that pupils consistently have the opportunity to respond to teachers’ marking by providing clear guidance on what they need to do to improve the quality of their work and increase their involvement in setting their own next steps.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 All groups of pupils make excellent progress through the school and achieve well. As a result, the school promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination exceptionally well.  Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage, with skills broadly in line with national expectations. They make consistently rapid progress as they move through the school and, by the time they leave at the end of Year 2, are achieving standards significantly above average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Children in the Nursery and Reception classes make considerable gains, both in their personal, social and emotional development, and academically. This is because staff have a really good understanding of children’s next steps and plan a wide range of activities which enthuse and engage them.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive exceptionally good-quality support and intervention. As a result, these pupils also make the very rapid progress that is

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

typical of this school.  The school is aware of the below average results in the phonic screening check at the end of Year 1 last year. It has placed a strong emphasis on training staff in the teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make). This has supported the rapid improvement of pupils’ early phonic skills and resulted in clear and structured phonics being taught across the school.  The teaching of reading is highly successful and very effective. Pupils are encouraged to read often and across a wide range of subjects. As a result, pupils are skilful and enthusiastic readers attaining standards at the end of Year 2 that are well above the national average.  Highly effective monitoring and regular checks on progress ensure that the few pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding are now making rapid progress. They achieve well and attain standards in line with their peers in English and mathematics. This has resulted in the

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

previous gap, of nearly five terms in both English and mathematics, rapidly closing. Current school data demonstrate there are now no attainment gaps between these pupils and their peers within school.  Parents and carers who responded to the ‘Parent View’ online questionnaire strongly agree that their children make good progress and are taught well at the school.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers’ excellent subject knowledge and their clear understanding of how pupils learn contribute to highly effective teaching.  Work in lessons is very well matched to pupils’ needs and provides challenge and support for all abilities so that all pupils make rapid rates of progress.  Checks on pupils’ progress in lessons are used very effectively to refine planning and adapt teaching. Questioning is extremely well developed and used effectively to engage pupils. Probing questions are used particularly well to move pupils’ thinking and promote speaking and listening skills. For example, in a lesson on data collection, in-depth questioning by the teachers helped to clarify the pupils’ understanding of key language. This supported their excellent use of this language in their explanations.  Checks carried out by leaders, evidence in books and discussions with pupils confirm that teaching over time is outstanding.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching assistants very effectively contribute to pupils’ excellent learning and progress by providing the right balance of support when needed. This helps ensure that all pupils make the very best progress they can.  Marking of pupils’ work is regular. However, although teachers frequently provide useful feedback on what pupils have achieved, they do not always consistently give pupils enough guidance on what to do next or how to improve their work. This hampers the effectiveness of teachers’ marking on maintaining pupils’ outstanding achievement.  Parents and carers overwhelmingly feel teaching in the school is good and helps their children to make good progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Bedgrove Infant School is a friendly and inviting school where pupils from all backgrounds thrive, get on particularly well together and enjoy school. Pupils are enormously proud of their school and play an active part in contributing to the positive and caring atmosphere.  There are excellent relationships between pupils and staff. These are built out of courtesy and respect, and enable pupils to become confident, independent learners who are highly motivated and able to work very productively alone or in groups.  Attendance is in line with the national average with the proportion of persistent absentees below average.  Parents and carers overwhelmingly agree that their children behave well at school. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, and show concern for the safety and well-being of others. They say that bullying is very rare and know to whom they would go if they needed help.  Discussions with pupils and school records show that behaviour has been of a high standard,

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Senior school leaders have high expectations, are highly ambitious and have a very clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Robust systems are in place for evaluating school performance. They have continued to drive the focus on attaining outstanding outcomes in achievement, teaching and learning, and behaviour and safety since the previous inspection. This demonstrates the school’s excellent capacity for continued improvement.  There are excellent systems in place for checking and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning, and this has ensured the school’s continued drive to secure excellent outcomes for the pupils. Senior leaders use the teaching standards well to support the effective management of performance and professional development. This has resulted in the school maintaining highly effective teaching.  The school offers a broad and balanced range of subjects enriched particularly well through

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The leadership and management are outstanding

school trips and the use of outside experts to further support pupils’ high achievement. For example, the use of a musical specialist is very effectively developing the pupils’ understanding of key musical skills. This was seen in a lesson where they skilfully turned the whole class into an orchestra allowing pupils to demonstrate an excellent understanding of rhythm and perform as a group. The curriculum also provides many opportunities for pupils to apply and consolidate their English and mathematical skills in their topic work, key factors in achieving above average standards.  The school promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very effectively. As a result, the school is a very harmonious community where pupils and adults enjoy being creative. Assemblies are used especially well to celebrate the success of pupils and make them very proud of their achievements.  The school has developed excellent relationships with parents and carers through involving them

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The leadership and management are outstanding

in many school activities. The vast majority of parents and carers are fully supportive of the school. As one parent said, ‘This is an outstanding school with lots of excellent teaching. My child loves coming to school!’ Inspectors agree with this.  Leaders and governors keep pupils extremely safe and ensure that those who work with them have been properly checked and trained. They ensure all statutory requirements for safeguarding are fully met.  The local authority provides light-touch support for this outstanding school.  The governance of the school:  The work of the governing body has contributed to the excellent quality of education provided by the school. It works in close partnership with the headteacher and has an excellent understanding of the strengths and developments for the school. Members regularly seek training to keep them up to date and maintain their high levels of effectiveness. They are

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The leadership and management are outstanding

proactive, for example, in conducting annual parent surveys and drawing up challenging questions for the headteacher from analysing school information on pupils’ progress and reports from key leaders. This in-depth knowledge gives them a very good understanding of how the school is performing in relation to other schools nationally. They are actively involved in analysing and checking pupils’ progress, and they ask the necessary searching questions of leaders and managers to ensure that all pupils do as well as they can. Governors know how the pupil premium funding is allocated and what impact this has had on improving provision for this group of pupils. They are kept well informed about the quality of teaching, systems for managing the performance of teachers, and how these link closely to teachers’ salary progression and staff promotion.

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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 110282 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 412298

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 482 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jan Knight Headteacher Caroline Wreglesworth Date of previous school inspection 5 November 2008 Telephone number 01296 481353 Fax number 01296 424846 Email address office@bedgrove-inf.bucks.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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