Baring Primary School

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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This is a good school

 Clear direction and strong leadership of the headteacher, effectively supported by her senior leadership team, have sustained many aspects of the school’s work since the last inspection. This ensures high standards are reached by a growing proportion of pupils by the end of Year 6.  Teaching is consistently good and some is outstanding. Pupils achieve well from their individual starting points and this results in their attainment in writing and mathematics often being above average. Their progress in reading is often good but not as rapid as in writing and mathematics.  Children enjoy a good start to their lives in school in the Nursery and Reception classes. The range of activities helps them to learn quickly and develop confidently because of the good teaching.  Pupils are extremely polite and well-mannered and their good behaviour supports their learning well.  All aspects of safety and care are given the highest

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This is a good school

priority. The school ensures pupils’ safety and promotes good behaviour alongside spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Leaders and governors have made good use of appraisal systems and training in order to maintain the good level of teaching and seek to improve it further.  The governing body has improved the ways it holds the school to account. Governors are now very effective partners in supporting and challenging the school.  The exciting curriculum ensures that pupils experience a wide range of subjects, which are supported by an equally exciting range of visits and visitors.  Relationships through the school are excellent and parents are delighted with what the school provides for them and their children.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not enough outstanding teaching to support consistently higher levels of attainment and progress, especially in reading.  Teachers have not been given enough opportunities to observe outstanding teaching and learning taking place in other schools.  Pupils are not always given enough opportunities to respond to the good-quality marking in their books.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 17 lessons to observe teaching and learning. Three of these were observed jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors observed pupils in the playground, in an assembly and moving around the school.  During these observations, inspectors also talked to pupils about their work and looked at their workbooks. They observed how effectively additional adults promoted the pupils’ learning whenever they were present.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of school documents. These included records related to behaviour and safety, achievement, behaviour, performance management, the governing body minutes, the school’s self- evaluation and the school development plan.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, groups of pupils, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority  Inspectors considered the views of parents by speaking with around 25 at the start of the day and

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Information about this inspection

through 62 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also took into account results of the school’s own questionnaire.  There were 26 responses from staff to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Gavin Jones, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school, in which provision for the early years takes place in a Nursery and a Reception class. Children enter at age three. Of the 35 children on roll in the Nursery, 15 are full time and 20 are part time, with half attending in the morning and half in the afternoon.  The pupils are organised into a further seven classes. All classes are single-age classes, with Year 4 formed of two classes because of the additional numbers of pupils in that year group.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Pupils from minority ethnic groups make up over three quarters of the whole school roll and almost half have a first language other than English. The largest groups come from Black African and Caribbean heritage. White British pupils account for a fifth of the school.  At 24%, the proportion of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs is above the

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Information about this school

national average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for additional support through government funding (the pupil premium) is above average. It is provided for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those in local authority care.  The school has negotiated with the school meals service that a free oat breakfast should be available to children at the start of the day. This was negotiated with the support of the governing body.  Major building problems over recent months has resulted in evacuating classrooms on health grounds and using temporary classrooms in the playground. The leadership team has worked tirelessly to ensure that this has not led to disruption to learning.  There have been some changes in middle leaders since the last inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching so that there is more that is outstanding by:  ensuring that teachers give pupils regular opportunities to respond to marking, so that suggested improvements can be seen to be acted upon  checking that opportunities for pupils to read are accompanied by guidance on developing reading skills alongside phonic skills  giving teachers opportunities to improve their practice through the observation of outstanding teaching and learning in other schools.

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The leadership and management are good

 As at the previous inspection, the headteacher provides a clear direction and strong leadership for the school. She is very ably supported by her leadership team. Governors are knowledgeable and are effective partners in leading the school. They all put children and their families at the heart of their work. Their work together gives the school strong capacity to continue improving.  Although middle leaders have only been in their posts a comparatively short time, they already have a clear picture of the strengths and areas for development in their subjects. They have begun to put in place ideas and interventions for improvement, but there has not been enough time for these to take full effect and so enhance pupils’ achievement. Some aspects of the marking and feedback policy are not consistently implemented. The school is aware that there is room for improvement in reading.  Decisive and determined leadership has ensured that, in spite of flooding and much building work,

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The leadership and management are good

provision for pupils has not been compromised.  Rigorous procedures which check the performance of all staff are used effectively to improve and develop individual strengths. This, alongside the monitoring of day-to-day teaching, contribute effectively to improving the overall performance of the school.  Much work takes place in providing pupils, particularly the most vulnerable, with memorable experiences, such as visits to the Houses of Parliament and listening to famous authors, so that pupils aspire to be the best they can be. The pupil premium funding is used very effectively to support the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The impact of the expenditure can be seen in the good results of national tests and in pupils’ overall personal development.  The headteacher’s vision focuses on equality and opportunity for all children and the absence of any discrimination. This is central to the philosophy and work of the school. The school ‘goes the extra mile’,

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The leadership and management are good

as one parent commented, in putting this into practice.  The curriculum is one of the school’s strengths. It puts the interests and needs of the children at its heart. Leaders are passionate about providing memorable experiences for them. Much care is taken in considering their needs to ensure that they leave the school ready for the next stage of their education and life beyond Baring.  Policies for the management and development of behaviour are successful.  The school’s work with families is particularly strong and very well supported by the Learning Mentor. She has gained the complete trust of a range of children and families whom she helps and supports covering a wide range of needs.  Pupils’ progress meetings and close monitoring of pupils’ work are having a very positive effect on their progress, especially for pupils in Key Stage 2, for pupils with disabilities or special educational needs and

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The leadership and management are good

those who are disadvantaged. The school is currently looking at new ways of checking pupils’ progress in light of national requirements.  Leaders have given staff good opportunities to share good practice with one another. However, opportunities to see outstanding teaching in other schools have not yet been made available.  Money for the development of sport is used very well. Coaches provide pupils with new sports and skills, while teachers are able to learn new teaching techniques. Pupils are given additional club opportunities and chances to take part in competitions. Overall, the funding helps pupils to keep healthy and understand how sport can be part of a healthy lifestyle.  Attendance has improved and is now above the national average, due to good links with families.  The local authority representative has regular contact with the school and, whenever asked, provides an appropriate level of support. As the school is recognised by the authority as a good school, this level of

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The leadership and management are good

support is ‘light touch’.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements and were found to be effective by the inspectors.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is an effective partner in leading the school. It has a good understanding of school data and regularly challenges the school based on good understanding of this data. It undertakes reviews on its own impact and, as a result, has its own action plans for further improvement of its role. Governors feel energised by their recent work and fully support the headteacher in her vision and ambition for the school.  Governors contribute effectively to the school’s self-evaluation by monitoring subject action plans and by holding regular meetings with key leaders. They support the headteacher in her wish to prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain. They fully understand and are involved in the process of managing

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The leadership and management are good

the performance of the headteacher. They know what actions the school takes to manage the performance of others and ensure that pay and promotion are used appropriately to reward effectiveness and pupils’ progress.  Governors ensure that current statutory safeguarding regulations are fully met.  Governors ensure that finances are spent effectively. They know how sport funding and the pupil premium funding are spent and are aware of their impact on pupils’ progress.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. This is the case across the school, both in lessons and at playtimes. Pupils want to please and respond to the high expectations of staff. Pupils themselves say that behaviour is good.There are, however, a group of parents who do not endorse this view but these opinions were not confirmed by the findings of the inspection.  Their attitudes to work and school in general are positive. This helps their progress in lessons.  The positive relationships, which pupils develop with each other and with adults, are as a result of the drive that leaders have to empower pupils through the restorative justice approach to take ownership of their behaviour. This is supported well by parents.  Pupils respect each other’s varied backgrounds, and the thoughtful personal and social education programme run by the school enhances this. Lessons such as ‘Roots of Empathy’ contribute significantly to

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Behaviour

this development.  Pupils talk about their school with pride. They describe it as part of their family, and parents see it as being at the heart of the community. Pupils explain how Young Leaders and Peer Mediators help them to sort out any issues with friends.  There have been no exclusions at the school for four years.  A very small proportion of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire Parent View say that behaviour is not good enough and that the school is slow to react to bullying. Pupils refute this and say that bullying is extremely rare. Records show this to be the case.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils themselves say that they feel completely safe.  There are strong systems in place to safeguard pupils . The school’s entrances are well controlled and all risks, fire safety, and health and safety checks are carried out regularly and carefully.  Discussions with a wide range of parents before school highlighted the complete trust they place in the school, not only to protect their children, but also to help them protect themselves.  Pupils can explain how they must keep their identities safe when using the internet. They understand the dangers of the busy roads around their school.  The strong leadership of the work involving pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs ensures excellent provision for pupils who might be vulnerable. Liaison with outside agencies and other professionals and experts ensures that the needs of these pupils are quickly identified and managed so

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Safety

that they achieve as well as others, and in some cases, better.  The work of the Learning Mentor enables a wide range of children and their families to resolve issues and take part in the complete life of the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is consistently good with some examples of outstanding learning taking place. The quality of teaching is judged as good by the school in its rigorous checking on teachers’ performance. The outcomes are used to help provide individual staff with additional training to secure further improvement. Not enough teachers, however, have opportunities to visit other schools, as part of this process, to see outstanding teaching taking place and so improve their own practice.  The school’s systems of checking pupils’ progress are accurate and staff use this information well to plan activities which meet pupils’ needs. This makes a strong contribution in helping all pupils to achieve well from their various starting points.  Pupils’ learning is very often well structured, so that they are given opportunities to practise skills, discuss their learning, and draft and edit their writing. This is especially helpful to pupils who speak little English.

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The quality of teaching is good

As a result, they too make good progress.  The skills of teaching assistants are often considerable and targeted well to support individuals or small groups of pupils, who, as a result, make excellent progress. Often, this support ensures that pupils who speak English as an additional language, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs,or are disadvantaged, all achieve well.Their skills at questioning then reshaping learning for these groups of pupils ensure that they all make good progress.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) is very effective and last year the pupils in Year 1 exceeded the national average in the screening check. In spite of this, some other reading skills are not generally taught as well, so that pupils do not reach standards similar to those in mathematics and writing.  The teaching of mathematics and writing is often impressive. The school employs two specialist teachers

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The quality of teaching is good

who are able to give excellent additional support for the most-able and least-able pupils in mathematics. Work at a very challenging level and close individual support ensured that a higher than average proportion reached Level 6 in mathematics and in writing last year. The work in books for that period shows clearly that this was the case in both subjects.  Pupils gain good support for their learning through accurate and detailed marking of their books. Where this is of a high quality, it clearly shows pupils how they might improve. There is, however, some inconsistency in how pupils respond to, or are given opportunities to respond to, this helpful advice.  Homework is used regularly across the school, and many parents have been given help, at discussion groups, in order that they might play a more supportive role in helping their children with work at home.

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is good

 Pupils’ achievement in writing and mathematics, from their starting points, is good, and for some, it is outstanding. Overall progress in reading is good but is not consistently as strong. Almost all pupils, by the end of Year 6, reach the expected levels for their age, and almost half of them reach higher levels, including the highest Level 6 in both mathematics and writing, from low starting points.  Standards rose slightly in reading and writing from the previous year and reflect the school’s use of new interventions and strategies to help pupils make better progress.  Currently, the work of pupils in classes indicates that the school is helping pupils to develop high levels of skills and understanding in mathematics and writing. Their progress in reading is slightly less marked. The school invested considerable time in supporting pupils’ understanding of phonics, but the work on improving other reading skills, through guided activities, is not consistently developed. Where it is good,

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is good

for example in Year 6, pupils read a very large number of books and can talk in some detail about characters, settings and events, and can also make predictions and draw inference from what they are reading.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs made excellent progress and several reached the higher-than-national Level 5 in mathematics. At the same time, pupils who entered the school with very little English language skills made similar good progress to all other pupils and reached the same high standards.  The most-able pupils are achieving very well. The above average rates of Level 6 in writing and mathematics are testament to this. Their workbooks show that these pupils are making big gains in knowledge, understanding and skills because of good-quality teaching.  The school has good levels of data for all pupils. This is used well in progress meetings and enables teachers to see at a glance which pupils need additional support and how well that support is helping

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is good

pupils make progress.  Pupils who are disadvantaged receive good support from the funding set aside for them. By the end of last year, the gap between these pupils and their peers had closed so that in attainment, the gap had closed in writing to only one term, and in mathematics, to one and a half terms. This gap was more than a year in 2012. Against national comparisons, the gaps have closed to around a term, from over two terms in 2012, for all of the tested areas. The current funding is not only used to give them additional support to help them keep pace with other pupils in their work, but is also used to support them in taking part in school visits, playing musical instruments and joining after-school clubs. This is part of the school’s vision to produce well-rounded individuals who can take best advantage of what is on offer for them in the next stage of their education.

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good

 Effective leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage ensures that children learn well when they start at the school. They make good progress in acquiring a wide range of skills, knowledge and understanding. Their highest levels of progress are noted in their personal and social development, and their expressive arts.They are assessed very comprehensively on entry to the school and the weakest areas of their understanding are those related to language and personal development. Approximately half of children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with attainment which is below average in their language ability and understanding of the world.  Because of consistently good teaching and good-quality leadership, children make good progress in all areas of learning, including their language ability. They make particularly good progress in their personal development and in expressive arts. They make slightly less progress in understanding the world and

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good

mathematics.  Leaders check the children’s levels of ability at an early stage during the year and highlight those children who may need additional support or who may appear more able. They use this information well in deploying additional staff to support these children. Further regular checks on progress are made on all children. As a result, they make good progress and are all prepared well for entering Year 1.  A feature of the work in this part of the school is the excellent relationships forged between children and adults, and how this is used to communicate high expectations of what children might achieve. As a result, behaviour throughout the rooms and outside is excellent.  Adults promote children’s independence well and, as a result, children are capable of following their own interests and lines of discovery, using a wide range of resources. They move freely from inside rooms to the outside classroom and are usually able to find exactly what they want to service their learning needs.

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good

 The environment is rich and attractive, and is perfectly safe for children to explore. The outside environment is exciting, although some resources are in need of refurbishment.  Where pupils receive directed, focused teaching, as in lessons observed in phonics and mathematics, children were eager to learn and teachers modelled learning well, giving children a clear pattern to follow. Children worked on individual whiteboards so that their progress could be checked regularly. Because of this, additional work could be set for the most able, while those who struggled with concepts could also receive additional support.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 100673 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 449387

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 270 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lynis Lewis Headteacher Diane Brewer Date of previous school inspection 29–30 June 2010 Telephone number 020 8857 5637 Fax number 020 8857 4330 Email address admin@baring.lewisham.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 and 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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