Burbage Primary School

Blackman’s Lane, Burbage, Marlborough, SN8 3TP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders, managers and governors are strongly committed to providing education of high quality for all pupils.  The headteacher is determined and successful in bringing about lasting improvements. She is supported strongly by the Chief Executive of the Academy Trust.  Governors have improved their effectiveness markedly. They ask challenging questions and hold leaders to account for the school’s performance.  Rigorous and constructive checks on the quality of teaching and learning by senior leaders, managers and governors have led to significant improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They display an eagerness for learning. Pupils develop into confident young people who are well prepared for the next stage of education.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe is good. Pupils say they feel safe in school and their view is endorsed by parents and staff.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Good teaching, including in the early years, enables pupils to learn successfully. Pupils’ achievement is strengthening and the school is improving.  Teachers’ marking is helping pupils to improve their work and reach higher levels of attainment, particularly in literacy in Key Stage 2.  Pupils across the school make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics and achieve well.  The children in the early years get a good start to their education. They learn harmoniously together and relationships with adults are strong.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There are a few occasions in lessons when learning slows. This happens when pupils are not given challenging activities or when they are given too much help with their work.  The role of middle leaders is not yet fully developed in the support they give to improving teaching and learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed nine lessons, eight of which were observed jointly with the headteacher or senior leaders.  The inspector held meetings with staff, members of the governing body, and with the Chief Executive of the Academy Trust.  The inspector talked with groups of pupils and individual pupils during lessons and play times to find out their views about the school. He also listened to pupils read.  The inspector took account of the 49 responses to the Ofsted online parent questionnaire (Parent View). Parents’ views were also gathered from informal discussions at the start of the school day.  The views of staff were gathered through discussions and four returns to the Ofsted staff questionnaire.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at documents including: improvement plans; safeguarding documents; records relating to attendance; systems for tracking pupils’ progress; and the

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Information about this inspection

school’s data on pupils’ attainment and progress .

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Inspection team

Peter Clifton, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Burbage Primary is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school opened as an academy on 1 April 2013. It is part of Excalibur Academies Trust and includes two other local academies: Easton Royal Academy (age range of pupils 4–11) and St John’s, Marlborough (age range of pupils 11–18).  The headteacher took up her substantive, full-time position at Burbage in November 2014. Previous to this, in September 2013, she was Executive Principal of the two primary schools in the trust, with shared responsibilities for those two schools. She is known as ‘Principal’ at Burbage.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is below average, including very few in Year 6 in 2014. The pupil premium is additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils – those known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is average.  Children in the Reception class attend full time.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to outstanding by:  making sure that pupils always have challenging work appropriate to their abilities  ensuring that pupils are not given too much help with their work when they do not need it.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further develop the role of middle leaders so that they can support improvements in teaching and learning more effectively.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides a strong drive for improvement based on promoting equality of opportunity to ensure that different groups of pupils learn as well as they can. Leaders maintain a culture in which teaching is good and pupils behave responsibly.  The headteacher is strongly supported by governors and the directors of the academy trust in improving the school. Staff work well together to improve pupils’ academic achievement and ensure that pupils become responsible members of the school community who are well prepared for their next stage of education.  The headteacher makes rigorous and regular checks on how well teaching is helping pupils to learn and on the attainment and progress of different groups of pupils. Feedback provided to teachers is constructive and helpful in improving their practice. Consequently, teaching is good and pupils’ progress has improved since the school opened.  The academy trust has a positive impact on the school. Schools in the trust work together effectively, for

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The leadership and management are good

example, to share specialist teaching, training and to support judgements made about pupils’ attainment. These actions have helped the school to improve, for example, in achievement in mathematics in Key Stage 2.  The school prepares pupils effectively for life in modern Britain. British values such as being tolerant and showing respect for others regardless of their faith and culture are promoted well. For example, in assembly the pupils were fascinated to learn about the making of the Torah (Jewish scriptures) and how it is read. Discrimination is not tolerated.  The curriculum ensures that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively across the school. There are regular opportunities for the pupils to read and share books, to be creative, and learn about the world in which they live. Literacy and numeracy skills are developed well in a range of subjects. Consequently, pupils’ personal development is good and they achieve well.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness. As a result, action taken is well directed to tackle any underachievement and close any gaps between the achievements of different groups.  Middle leaders are effective in a range of activities to check on and improve the quality of provision in their areas of responsibility. However, their role in supporting improvements in teaching and learning is not yet fully developed. Consequently, they are not having enough impact on improving teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility so that teaching becomes outstanding.  The school uses additional funding well. Disadvantaged pupils have extra support where necessary or attend booster sessions for reading and mathematics. This ensures they achieve at least as well as other pupils.  Parents comment that leaders are approachable. Parents are right to be happy with the quality of education currently provided for their children.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses its additional funding for school sport well. Specialist teaching and coaching has increased the range of sporting activities across the school. These include gymnastics, judo and swimming. School information shows that the additional sports funding has improved pupils’ rates of participation. Pupils comment positively about the sporting activities provided and have gained in health and physical well- being.  Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements. Child protection training is up to date and all necessary checks on staff are carried out. Risk assessments are completed whenever these are seen as necessary. As a result, pupils are kept safe in school.  The governance of the school:  Governors have strongly improved their effectiveness. They have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and how its achievement data compare to national data. They bring a wide

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The leadership and management are good

range of individual skills to their role and, as a result, are able to support school leaders and challenge them to account for the school’s performance. They know what the quality of teaching is throughout the school and how the performance management of staff contributes to ensuring good practice. They link teaching to pupils’ progress and ensure that good teaching is recognised and underperformance tackled.  Governors, working with the academy trust, ensure that staff pay is linked to performance and that awards are not automatic. They make regular and purposeful visits to the school to see it working, and attend parent meetings and training events to make themselves fully informed on all aspects of the school’s activities.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are friendly and say confidently what they think. They are proud of their school and appreciate the displays and the spacious outdoor facilities. They have positive attitudes to learning and their enthusiasm is evident across the school.  Pupils understand the rewards for good behaviour and sanctions for poor behaviour. They say that poor behaviour sometimes happens in classes and at playtimes, but that it is rare. Pupils behave in a respectful and polite way towards each other and adults.  The school’s behaviour logs show that when incidents do happen they are explored fully and dealt with appropriately.  Pupils’ attitudes and behaviour are particularly positive in Years 5 and 6. They are not put off if they find a problem difficult to do and greatly enjoy working together to find answers. For example, in mathematics, the most-able pupils in Year 6 completed some tricky algebra problems with confidence and enthusiasm.

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Behaviour

 Occasionally, when learning is not challenging enough, some pupils lose focus on the work and their learning slows.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils are confident that they can confide in an adult if they get upset or if something is worrying them at school. As a result, they feel well cared for and valued as individuals.  Pupils have a clear understanding about different types of bullying, including cyber bullying.  The pupils know about the possible dangers of internet and mobile phone misuse. They recognise that they should not give out personal information. Pupils in Year 5, for example, write out rules explaining how to be digitally safe at home.  Pupils are clear about applying safety rules on trips and visits. They enjoyed the visit to the school by the fire brigade, which helped their safety awareness.  Pupils’ attendance is a little above average, but any absence is followed up carefully. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is much lower than in most schools.

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Safety

 Parents recognise that their children are well looked after and happy at school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ work, the school’s information about their progress and lesson observations show that the quality of teaching is good.  Relationships across the school are good and pupils comment that they are treated fairly. Teachers’ planning of learning is typically good and pupils are usually given activities which they find interesting and challenging.   Marking of pupils’ work and feedback in lessons are used well to help pupils understand what they need to do to improve their work. Comments in the pupils’ literacy books, for example in Year 5, are particularly detailed and insightful. Pupils say they are given time in lessons to look at these, take the necessary action to make the improvement and, sometimes, write their own response.   In mathematics, the teaching of basic skills is secure across the school. Pupils apply these skills confidently, for example, to solve problems involving percentages. They have a good understanding about

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The quality of teaching is good

place value and their mental mathematics skills are improving. Teaching to help and challenge the most- able pupils to reach the higher levels, including through contacts with other schools in the academy trust, is developing well.   Reading and literacy skills, including phonics (letters and the sounds they make), are taught well. Teachers ensure that pupils understand how to use grammar, punctuation and spelling to improve their writing across the school.   Reading is promoted well through reading sessions throughout the school day. Pupils are given opportunities to discuss what they like or dislike about different books and authors. As a result, pupils gain much pleasure from reading and older pupils comment, for example, that it helps them to improve their writing. The school library is well stocked and popular.   Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are included fully in lessons and are

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The quality of teaching is good

supported well in their learning. They benefit from working with teaching assistants, which promotes their confidence and belief in themselves as effective learners. Their classmates ensure that they are included in discussion and collaborative work.   There are occasions in lessons when learning slows. This happens when teachers and other staff do not make work challenging throughout the lesson for all abilities. Sometimes, pupils are given too much help, for example with their writing in Year 1. This prevents them from completing tasks that they can do successfully more quickly and moving on to further work. As a result, they do not do as well as they could. 

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is good

 The 2014 national test results of Year 6 pupils were above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ attainment in grammar, punctuation and spelling was also above average. Their progress in mathematics from their different starting points in Year 3, as shown by their Year 6 results, was weaker than in reading and writing and some pupils did not do well.  The school’s records of pupils’ progress over the past two years and the samples of their work show that an overwhelming majority of pupils are currently making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have successfully worked to strengthen pupils’ skills in mathematics and to reach the higher National Curriculum levels.  In 2014, attainment in Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics was above average. This represents good progress given their starting points. The attainment of pupils currently in Year 2 in the school is

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is good

similar to that in previous years.  In the Year 6 national tests in 2014, the school had too few disadvantaged pupils to permit any reliable comparison of their attainment with national figures. However, across the school, these pupils make progress which is typically as good as that of other pupils. Their progress is carefully tracked and any additional support adjusted to ensure that they do not fall behind.  Overall, the most-able pupils make progress which is at least as good and sometimes better. The proportion of Year 6 pupils reaching the higher Level 5 in the 2014 tests and assessments was better than the national results in reading, writing and mathematics. The samples of pupils’ work show a good number of those currently in Year 6 already working at Level 5 or higher.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make progress which is broadly in line with that of their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics. They benefit from additional support which

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is good

adapts work suitably and meets their needs well.

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is good

 Children join Reception with skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for their age. Their literacy skills are below those typically found and are the weaker area on entry. In 2014, an average proportion of the children reached a good level of development by the end of Reception, an improvement from the previous year.  The early years leader assesses the children regularly and adjusts the planning of learning to meet their specific needs. This enables them to achieve well. She fosters good relationships with parents, which are helpful to the children’s learning.  Good teaching of phonics for different groups is helping children to read words they do not know and whole sentences. Teachers ensure that words are pronounced correctly and that the children respond fully to questions. For example, the children had fun hunting for words in the classroom and reading them together to check they had the right ones.

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is good

 There are many well-thought-out activities for children to choose and do. Children write each other’s names in their ‘register’ and talk about the characters in story boxes they make. They count shells and describe them in different ways. In the outside planting area, they discuss what is needed to make plants grow.  Children are well managed, kept safe and relationships are harmonious. As a result, children feel safe, choose activities confidently, share resources and consider the needs of others. They are polite and respectful, for example, waiting sensibly to go outside or helping each other with writing activities. By the end of Reception, they are prepared well to start Year 1.

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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 139381 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 449853

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 111 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Emma Butler Headteacher Nicola Coupe (Principal) Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01672 810452 Email address admin@burbage.wilts.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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