Barningham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Barningham Church of England VC Primary School Church Road, Barningham, Bury St Edmunds, IP31 1DD

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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

 Teaching does not always take account of the learning needs of less-able pupils. Consequently, these pupils do not make as much progress as they could in reading, writing and mathematics.  Results at the end of Key Stage 1 vary from year to year and not all pupils make enough progress, especially in writing.  Although there has been some improvement in teaching, senior leaders and managers have not tackled all the teaching that requires improvement.  The recent restructuring of responsibilities for the senior leadership team has not had enough time to bring about change. Leaders have not yet had a clear effect on improving standards in the areas they are responsible for.

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The school has the following strengths

 More-able pupils achieve well throughout the school.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and the attendance rate is consistently high.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and they feel safe. They work well together and have good attitudes to learning.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good.  Leaders are accurate in their judgments about the quality of teaching and learning. They have identified the right actions to take in order to improve teaching.  Leaders, including the governing body, have successfully addressed some areas of underperformance and started to move the school forward.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed seven lessons, of which four were joint observations with the headteacher. The inspector also made a number of short visits to lessons and the playground.  The inspector heard pupils read, talked to them in lessons and evaluated samples of their work with the headteacher.  The inspector looked at a range of documents, including the school’s planning for improvement, school policies, information about pupils’ attainment and progress, teachers’ plans, records on behaviour, safety and attendance, records of teachers’ performance, and minutes of meetings held by the governing body.  Meetings were held with pupils, representatives of the governing body and senior leaders. The inspector also spoke with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector took account of 33 responses to Parent View, the online questionnaire, and consulted informally with parents before school.

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Information about this inspection

 Responses to the inspection questionnaire completed by 14 staff were analysed.

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Inspection team

Catherine Kiff, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority) is well below the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  Since the previous inspection, the number of pupils has risen and from September 2013, the school has accommodated Year 5 pupils. This is part of the school’s transition from a first school to a primary school.  Pupils in Years 1 and 2 and in Years 3 and 4 are taught in mixed-age classes.  Due to staff changes, responsibilities for the senior leaders of the school have been reorganised

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that pupils make good progress across all year groups by ensuring that:  teachers plan work that takes account of the learning needs of all pupils, particularly the less able, so that they can make consistently good progress  less-able pupils are given the equipment they need to succeed in their work  teaching is targeted at the gaps in pupils’ learning in reading, writing and mathematics so that by the end of Key Stage 1, they are equipped with the skills needed to succeed in Key Stage 2.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership and management by:  making sure that leaders frequently check teachers’ work where teaching requires improvement to see that necessary improvements are taking place  moving consistently good teaching to outstanding by providing opportunities for teachers to observe outstanding practice and identifying how to move their own teaching forward  making sure that teachers recently appointed to the roles of senior leaders are held to account for the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress in their areas of responsibility.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Some pupils who move up from the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills below expectations for their age make less progress than they should at Key Stage 1. As a result, they are not sufficiently equipped for Key Stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s results at the end of Key Stage 1 have varied in recent years, ranging from average to above average but they have been generally lower in writing than in reading and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s own pupil progress data show that progress is good at Key Stage 2. Attainment at the end of Year 4 in reading, writing and mathematics is above national expectations and these pupils are on track to reach above average standards by the end of Year 6.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Most children start school with skills broadly in line with those typical for their age. Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and enter Year 1 with attainment that is in line with or exceeds expected levels for their age.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2012, the results in the Year 1 screening for phonics (linking sounds and letters to make words) were below average. As a result of improved teaching of phonics, the 2013 outcomes are average. The results have improved at a faster rate than those nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make variable progress. Internal school data indicates that they make better progress in Key Stage 2, as a result of consistently good teaching, than they do in Key Stage 1.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The provision for more-able pupils is carefully thought through to include opportunities for challenges within the school and partnerships with other schools, for example, the reading challenge group. Along with additional opportunities, teachers pay particular attention to planning work for the more able in lessons. This enables these pupils to make good progress throughout the school.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The pupil premium funding is used well to support individual pupils. Most pupils supported by this funding are working at or exceeding the level expected for their age and making good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching does not consistently meet the needs of all learners. As a result, not all pupils make the progress they should. This is most evident in the introductions and conclusions to lessons, when teachers pitch the learning to average attainers and more-able pupils. During this time, learning opportunities are missed, particularly for the less-able pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

In some lessons, less-able pupils are not sufficiently supported with the appropriate resources to help their learning. This prevents them from making good progress during the lesson. For example, in a mathematics lesson, some pupils struggled to understand a concept as they did not have any practical equipment to help develop their understanding of number. In an English lesson, the less-able group of learners did not have a clear understanding of the task they had been given and needed further help to organise their writing to achieve what was expected of them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching requires improvement, teachers tend to become too engrossed in engaging the more-able pupils in challenges. As a result, the less-able pupils are unable to succeed in their learning or understand the questioning by the teacher.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Assessment information about what pupils can already do and need to learn next and marking in Years 1 and 2 are not used enough to plan appropriate learning activities to meet pupils’ needs. As a result, some pupils enter Year 3 with gaps in their learning in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 When teaching is good in Key Stage 2 and the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers and teaching assistants demonstrate good skills in their use of questioning to develop all pupils’ understanding and extend their learning. They make good use of assessment in lessons to target questions at different groups of learners and individuals. This results in all groups making good progress. For example, in an English lesson on play scripts, one group of pupils was able to carry on with their learning, so it was not interrupted, while the teacher addressed some misconceptions with another group to support and challenge their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Good relationships between staff and pupils enable the majority of pupils to feel confident and develop good learning attitudes. As a result, pupils are developing good strategies to improve their own work and that of others through working together and support in Key Stage 2. In Key Stage 1 pupils are confident to have a go at their work and talk about what they are doing.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the outdoor area is well used to engage the interests of all children. The teacher skilfully works alongside children to develop their learning. This was observed when children were eagerly building towers of bricks to correspond with numbers on the playground surface and counting pebbles and shells caught with fishing nets.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking in Key Stage 2 is developing well and pupils are able to talk about what they need to do to improve their work. As a result, work in books demonstrates that pupils’ have improved their work and made good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Learning journals for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage clearly identify what they are able to do. There is opportunity for parents to comment on what their children achieve at home and contribute to their children’s learning. Now that children have had the opportunity to settle into school, their learning journals are beginning to identify next steps in their development and what activities would best support their progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Handwriting and presentation have improved since the last inspection. The focused teaching of handwriting and higher expectations for the way pupils present their work across all subjects has encouraged them to take a greater pride in their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have positive attitudes and are keen to learn. They co-operate and work well together, in pairs, groups and individually. The newly introduced arrangements for children transferring from a variety of pre-school provisions have had a positive impact on how quickly and confidently children in the Early Years Foundation Stage settle into school routines.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils and parents say that behaviour is typically good. Pupils are aware of the school’s expectations for behaviour in terms of rewards and sanctions. As a result of this, they respect the school rules which help them to behave well and develop good learning attitudes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Around the school, pupils’ behaviour is often exemplary. They are keen to take on responsibilities, for example, older pupils run a lunchtime art club for younger pupils, organise equipment for assemblies and lead the school in a prayer of thanks at lunchtime.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Older pupils take care of younger pupils at lunchtimes and playtimes. Pupils of all ages say that they enjoy being together and they think their school is a happy place to be.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say they feel safe at school. They appreciate the way that the teachers respond quickly to any concerns, which makes them feel confident to try new experiences.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are well informed about how to keep themselves safe. Road safety and bicycle training and information about how to keep safe when using the internet helps them to develop their awareness of how to manage risks safely.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is consistently high and punctuality is good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 A small minority of pupils expressed concerns about the security of the school. The inspector investigated this and found that the site is secure and records relating to behaviour and safety are in line with requirements. Governors and leaders carry out their responsibilities for behaviour and safety appropriately.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have not been successful in ensuring teaching is consistently good or better across all key stages, and they are not doing enough to move good teaching to outstanding. They do not carry out checks on teachers’ work frequently enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and managers have not had high enough expectations of progress for less-able pupils. As a result, not all pupils have made the progress they need to give them the skills for their next stage of learning. This is more evident in Key Stage 1 than in Key Stage 2.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The senior leadership team has been reorganised recently and planned improvements have not had enough time to take effect. The headteacher has enabled teachers with subject responsibilities to attend appropriate training to assist them in carrying out their subject responsibilities. However, systems have not been developed to make sure they are fully accountable for leading improvements in their areas of responsibility. They have a clear overview of progress data in their own classes but are less secure in how this fits with pupils’ progress across the school and nationally.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 While there is no discrimination within the school, not all pupils have the same opportunities to make progress when the work is not matched to their learning needs. This particularly relates to the less-able pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Additional provision is made for those pupils eligible for the pupil premium. Leaders are able to demonstrate that this has had a positive impact on their progress and most are working at age- related or above age-related expectations.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and governors have tackled areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection, which indicates that they have the capacity to improve the school further. This has led to improved outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check and the development of a more consistent handwriting script across the school. This is started in the Early Years Foundation Stage so that most of the older pupils are able to fluently join their letters.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teaching assistants have developed their skills and have a good working partnership with teachers. This enables teaching assistants to be kept well informed about the learning needs of pupils so they can be effective at moving their learning forward.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership of provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is well organised and appropriate partnerships are in place to support these pupils’ learning. Provision for these pupils in small groups and on a one-to-one basis is good. However, these pupils do not always have work in whole class lessons that is matched to their ability. This means that at times they do not make enough progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have discussed the primary school sports funding. They plan to spend the money on developing greater opportunities and improving the skills of teachers to meet the needs of older pupils, as the school increases to include the full primary age range.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Safeguarding systems are robust and meet requirements. These are reviewed regularly by leaders and the governing body.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school provides a wide range of clubs including a breakfast club which the pupils speak highly of, lunchtime clubs and after-school clubs. Pupils in Key Stage 2 enjoy the opportunity to learn how to play the clarinet. Pupils enjoy a range of visits and visitors to the school. Year 4 pupils talked enthusiastically about their residential trip and other pupils are excited about visiting the Science Museum in London.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively through the curriculum and strong links with the local community and church. This contributes to the good behaviour and pupils’ good attitudes to learning throughout the school. Pupils readily engage in opportunities through assemblies to take time to reflect on spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of life and how these relate to their own experience.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided some support for the school. The recently appointed challenge partner has identified appropriate areas to support senior leaders in moving forward.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has been effective in supporting the headteacher in challenging underperformance in teaching. Governors have made appropriate use of performance management to improve teaching and addressed issues where teaching has not moved forward at a sufficiently rapid rate. As a result, the school has a higher proportion of good teaching than in the previous inspection. Governors have set accurate targets for the headteacher’s performance to continue to move the school forward.  Governors’ carry out a purposeful programme of checks on the school’s work. They have a growing understanding of pupil progress data and how this compares with national expectations. They are beginning to link this with findings from their own checks on the school’s work to draw conclusions about teaching and learning.  They are aware of how leaders have allocated pupil premium funding and the impact this is

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The leadership and management requires improvement

having on progress for this group of pupils.

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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 124689 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 425297

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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 controlled Age range of pupils 5–10 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 80 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Elizabeth Hall Headteacher Frances Parr Date of previous school inspection 2 February 2012 Telephone number 01359 221297 Fax number 01359 221297 Email address admin@barningham.suffolk.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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