Bollinbrook CofE (A) Primary School

Bollinbrook CofE Primary School Abbey Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 3AT

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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

 From their generally good starting points on entering the Reception class, too few children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.  Some more-able pupils do not make the progress they should.  Attainment has been consistently average in Key Stage 1 over time.  Teaching is not consistently good or better throughout the school.  Some lessons lack sufficient challenge for all pupils and teachers’ expectations are not always high enough.  Checks made on teaching have lacked rigour over time and have hindered rapid improvement in teaching quality and effectiveness.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good and is rooted in the strong Christian values of the school. Pupils’ behaviour has improved since the previous inspection and they feel very safe in school.  There are clear signs of an improving trend in standards in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2 due to some effective action taken.  Senior leaders and governors have focused strongly on raising pupils’ attainment.  Governors have a clear overview of the school’s work and provide effective support and challenge.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 19 lessons and parts of lessons, which included some small group sessions outside the classroom.  Discussions took place with members of staff, members of the governing body and pupils.  Also taken into account were 35 responses from parents via Ofsted’s on-line questionnaire Parent View.  Inspectors observed the schools work and examined a wide range of documentation that included: national assessment data and the school’s own assessments; minutes from governing body meetings; curriculum information; evaluations of the schools’ work by senior leaders and external consultants; samples of pupils’ work and safeguarding documents.

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Inspection team

Kevin Johnson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Julie Webster Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school, in which the large majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is very small. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority. The proportion of pupils supported through school action is below average.  A well-below average proportion of pupils is supported by school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Before and after-school care is available on site. This is not managed by the governing body and is inspected separately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or outstanding in order to raise attainment further and accelerate progress throughout the school, especially in Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, by:  raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve in lessons  making sure that there is sufficient challenge in the work for all pupils, especially the more able  checking on pupils’ progress more frequently during lessons to make sure they are achieving well.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership and management of teaching by ensuring that the monitoring of teaching is always robust, evaluations focus on pupils’ learning, and identified weaknesses are followed up quickly to bring about speedy improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 On entering the Reception class, children’s stages of development are generally typical for their age and some are more advanced. Overall, they make expected progress and reach expected levels of development in all areas of learning by the time they go into Year 1.  Progress through the school is uneven. It is better in Years 4 to 6 than in other parts of the school. Even so, value added for pupils in 2012 was not significantly different from the national average, suggesting recent rather than longer-term improvement.  Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 has been average over time. Pupils make expected, rather than good progress in writing and mathematics. Given their starting points, too few pupils attain Level 3, although recent unvalidated assessments indicate some slight improvement.  Pupils’ attainment at Key Stage 2 is average. Again, the school’s unvalidated assessments show improvement in the most recent tests with most pupils making at least expected progress. Over

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

time, however, there has been too little challenge for the more-able pupils so they have not always achieved the standards they should. The school has identified the need to increase the proportions of pupils who reach Level 3 at Key Stage 1 and Level 5 or beyond at Key Stage 2, in both writing and mathematics.  There has been some success in improving pupils’ reading skills since the previous inspection. Above average proportions of pupils reach at least expected levels at the end of Year 6, although at the higher level, performance remains average. Pupils read fluently and have good understanding of what they read. They choose from a suitably wide range of reading material in school and at home and are quite knowledgeable, for their age, about the books of past and present authors.  The school has improved significantly the proportion of pupils who reach expected standards in phonics (knowledge of letters and the sounds that they make) at the end of Year 1. The input

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

into that area shows positive effect in that more pupils in Year 2 reach the expected standard in reading, although still too few reach beyond that. Pupils enjoy books and know how to tackle unfamiliar words. They can talk about what they have read and predict what might happen next.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to others over time. Their progress picks up in Years 3 to 6 where there is some well-targeted teaching and work matched to their needs.  Very few pupils are supported by pupil premium funding. The school provides for their needs through additional teaching time and resources. Some pupils progress well. Nevertheless, national data show that in 2012, value added for those pupils was not as high as it was for others in the school. While the group’s attainment in mathematics was broadly similar to others, data show their attainment in English, notably writing rather than reading, to be approximately a

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

year behind. Overall, any gaps are closing.  More-able pupils made expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 in the last academic year but this level of performance is recent. Over time, they have not consistently made the progress they should.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Good or better teaching is not consistent throughout the school. Over time, it has not brought about good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 although there are signs of stronger teaching in Key Stage 2.  In too many lessons, teachers miss opportunities to challenge pupils sufficiently through questioning, or follow-up activities to take pupils a step further. In a phonics lesson, for example, there were no higher expectations or harder work for more-able pupils in their sentence writing. Sometimes, work is not well matched for pupils and it confuses them. The teaching of phonics requires improvement because pupils are not grouped well enough to cater for the range of their needs across classes. The whole of the Reception class is taught together, for example. This limits the opportunity for high quality teaching in smaller groups.  Sometimes, the pace of learning is too slow because the teacher does not make best use of

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

learning time. In a mathematics lesson, too much time was spent on the oral part of the lesson. Again, there were missed opportunities to involve pupils actively and challenge the more able. Activity time was shortened so pupils had little time to make real progress.  Where teaching is good, planning takes account of pupils’ varying abilities well so that all pupils are actively involved in purposeful learning. Pupils use technology such as laptops or calculators to organise writing or check calculations independently. Teachers’ expectations are high and pupils are given the opportunity to work collaboratively and challenge each other as well as themselves. Teachers check pupils’ progress during lessons, deal with misconceptions and move learning on, although this is not a feature of all lessons.  A good feature of teaching provision is the way in which class teachers work alongside the specialist teacher for physical education lessons. This allows good practice to be shared and all

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

teachers’ skills to be developed in that subject and adds well to pupils’ physical well-being.  Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to pupils’ learning. They are sensitive to pupils’ needs when supporting them in class. When they work with small groups of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs outside the classroom, they both support and challenge them very appropriately.  Relationships in lessons are good and teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well so that they work well together. Pupils know that their ideas are valued and are confident enough to ask questions if they are not clear about their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy school and have good attitudes to learning. They are enthusiastic about the full range of their lessons and particularly enjoy physical education. After a vigorous warm up at the beginning of a lesson, a Reception child declared that his heart was ‘in PE mode’. After-school sports clubs are well attended, and there are increasing opportunities for competitive sports with other schools.  Pupils feel safe in school. They share trusting relationships with staff and enjoy one another’s company. Pupils are adamant that there is no bullying in school or offensive name-calling, despite a few concerns among parents. Overall, however, parents agree that their children are cared for well. Pupils are aware of potential dangers outside of school including those linked to internet use, and they know how to keep themselves out of harm’s way.  Behaviour has improved since the previous inspection. Pupils are attentive in lessons, show

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

respect for their teachers and behave well. Around the school they are very mindful of others. Politeness and good manners are the norm and pupils generally live up to the school’s high expectation of behaviour. Attendance is consistently above average.  Pupils contribute well to the everyday life of the school and willingly carry out their responsibilities whether as school council members, ‘physkids’, or controlling the technology to help assemblies run smoothly, for example.  By the end of Year 6, pupils are confident and well-prepared socially and emotionally for the next stage of their education.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s leadership is beginning to secure improvements in standards and in the curriculum. Leaders have also ensured improvements in pupils’ behaviour and safety and in their attendance. This indicates that leaders and managers have the capacity to continue to move the school forward. Leadership and management still require improvement, however, because teaching and learning are not checked rigorously enough by leaders at all levels to bring rapid improvement. This work is still at an early stage.  Staff and governors share a strong ambition for the school’s success and together work determinedly to provide the good care and support needed to bring about equality of opportunity for all pupils, recognising particularly the needs of more-able pupils and those supported by the pupil premium to achieve their potential.  Leaders have worked productively with outside consultants, for example, to provide training for

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The leadership and management requires improvement

staff and gain an accurate overview of the school’s work. Support from the local authority has been relatively light touch since the previous inspection.  Systems to manage teachers’ performance are in place, and their professional development is planned accordingly. New teachers have been successfully introduced to the school’s way of doing things and all teachers are aware of how their performance is linked to salary progression.  Checks on the quality of teaching by senior leaders, however, do not focus enough on what pupils learn in lessons and the progress they make. Some views of teaching quality are too generous and weaknesses are not rigorously followed up so that the improvement of weaker teaching is less rapid than it might be.  The role of subject leaders also requires further development because they are not accountable enough for judging teaching quality and standards in their own subjects in order to guide

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The leadership and management requires improvement

improvement.  The curriculum has undergone some revision since the previous inspection. It occupies pupils well outside lesson time and provides enjoyable learning as well as promoting their good personal development. Literacy, numeracy, and information and communication technology are given sufficient emphasis. The school is beginning to plan better challenges for more-able pupils in writing and mathematics in order to increase their rate of progress in these subjects.  The governance of the school:  Governors are strongly committed to school improvement. They have good understanding of the school’s current work and know how good it can become. Together with school leaders they keep a close watch on pupils’ standards and progress in the school and have supported and monitored initiatives such as the new method used to improve pupils’ writing. Minutes from meetings show that the governing body challenges the school, as well as considering its

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The leadership and management requires improvement

own roles and responsibilities to make sure they work effectively.  The headteacher’s performance is managed appropriately and governors are aware of the performance of teachers and how salaries are structured accordingly. The governing body acknowledges that it needs to challenge leaders more frequently about teaching in order to secure the best quality. Finances are managed well. Governors know how pupil premium funding is used and know that gaps for a small number of pupils should be closed even further. Sports funding is spent effectively to promote pupils’ enthusiasm and physical well- being. Safeguarding arrangements are well in hand and fully meet all requirements.

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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 111360 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 426125

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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 aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julian Goy Headteacher Michael Waters Date of previous school inspection 17 January 2012 Telephone number 01625 384071 Fax number Not applicable Email address admin@bollinbrook.cheshire.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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