Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary

Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School School Hill, Brinkworth, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 5AX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 Requires improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils generally learn well in all subjects and achieve at or above national standards.  Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use this to plan interesting lessons for the pupils. They provide clear explanations and question pupils carefully to help them learn.  Pupils feel safe and secure because of robust procedures for ensuring good standards of care.  Pupils are well behaved, polite, responsible and hardworking. The school has a caring ethos.  Senior leaders, managers and governors have made effective and consistent changes to improve the quality of teaching and the levels of pupils’ progress. They are keen to develop these further.  The school’s ethos helps pupils to develop a strong moral compass. The pupils develop a good understanding of different cultures and religions.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The quality of teaching is not strong enough to promote overall outstanding progress by the pupils.  The quality of teaching and the consequent progress of children in the early years provision, in the Reception class, requires improvement.  Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs are inconsistent. While the majority of these pupils achieve well, the performance of some pupils does not always match that of other pupils in the school.  The school’s plans to improve feedback between pupils and staff are new and have not yet been implemented fully, and so are not having enough impact. Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 11 lessons, several jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors spoke informally with parents at the end of the day, and took account of the 41 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View. They also took account of the school’s own surveys of parental opinion and the responses to the staff questionnaire.  The views of pupils were sought during lessons, in two meetings, and during breaktime. Inspectors looked closely at pupils’ work, including in reading, writing and mathematics. They heard pupils read and observed assemblies.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and other members of staff. Inspectors met members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors considered a range of documentation. This included information about pupils’ current progress, checks on the quality of teaching, minutes of the governing body meetings and school improvement plans.

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Information about this inspection

They also analysed documents and data relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Tom Morrison, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Ann Sydney Additional Inspector Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized school.  The school operates on two sites more than two miles apart.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average and the proportions of minority ethnic pupils and those with English as an additional language is well below the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional government funding to support those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority) is very small and individual pupils have not been identified in the report.  The headteacher joined the school in September 2013 and there have been recent changes to the school’s leadership, including that for English and mathematics. There are currently two teachers on long-term sick leave. These two teachers normally work in three classes, including the Reception class.

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Information about this school

 Children in the early years attend the Reception class full time.  A substantial number of pupils are brought by bus to this rural school.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that children in the Reception class make consistently strong progress across all areas of learning so that they have a firm foundation for later learning.  Ensure that the progress made by every pupil is consistently high across all subjects by:  continuing to improve feedback to and from pupils about their work so that learning is accelerated  checking that all interventions to support the learning of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs are effective and well delivered so that these pupils catch up with other pupils  ensuring that all pupils are actively involved at all stages of lessons. Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 4 of 10

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders, managers and governors have high aspirations for the school. This is exemplified by the school’s vision, ‘Believe to achieve’, and the recent work by governors and staff on a long-term strategy for the school. The school’s mission statement is to provide an environment in which ‘everyone is valued’. Its actions ensure that there is equality of opportunity and that discrimination is discouraged.  The school ensures that pupils receive a wide-ranging curriculum. This leads to the detailed long- and medium-term planning which teachers use to create their weekly plans. There is a strong focus on the development of skills in English and mathematics, with the result that pupils make good progress in these areas. There is a wide range of trips and other activities such as theatre visits, sports competitions, investigation weeks, music and dramatic performances.  The curriculum and the good teaching ensure that a love of learning is encouraged among the pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

Opportunities to help the pupils develop their understanding of other cultures, to understand the values of our society, and to grow morally and spiritually are placed throughout the taught curriculum and in other activities that the school provides in order to ensure that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Self-evaluation is accurate and has led to detailed improvement plans. These are carefully checked and adjusted, where necessary. The school is aware, for instance, of inconsistencies in the support given to the very small number of disadvantaged pupils. There are detailed plans to strengthen teaching in the early years, the need for these having been brought about by extended staff absence.  Subject and other middle leaders are effective in maintaining and improving the quality of teaching. The headteacher has improved the systems for checking pupils’ progress since she arrived at the school. However,

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The leadership and management are good

other data, such as figures for the proportion of children that are absent long-term and the tracking data for pupils with special educational needs, are not as easily accessible.  The leadership of the school has effective methods for checking the quality of teaching and uses a range of evidence, including observation of teachers and checking the progress that the pupils make in their work. There is a strong system for managing teachers’ performance which is monitored carefully by the headteacher, other school leaders and governors. Targets for teachers make appropriate reference to pupils’ outcomes, school priorities and national Teacher Standards.  The school has made very positive efforts to maintain strong links with parents, although this can be hindered by the transport arrangements. The school has appropriate plans to improve this aspect of its work, and to continue its progress in ensuring that the split site does not separate or isolate parts of the school community.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has created strong links with partner organisations, including the church, early years providers and secondary schools. The local authority has provided helpful and positive support and challenge to this school during last year and this.  Pupils have benefited from better-trained staff and improved facilities due to the additional funding provided through the primary physical education and sport premium. The school has provided additional sports sessions and activities, and has increased the amount of swimming tuition. These actions have resulted in more pupils participating in sports activities.  Pupil premium funding has been used for a wide range of interventions, including providing small group and individual support to improve eligible pupils’ reading, writing or mathematics, or to improve their speech and language skills or social skills. The expenditure is monitored by the governing body each year, but it is not

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The leadership and management are good

clear which interventions are the most effective because there are some gaps in the collection of relevant data.  Statutory safeguarding arrangements are met fully by the school and child protection systems are rigorous. The school’s policies and procedures are well known and understood by all staff; this is due to the good training that they have received.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors have a good knowledge of the school. They have high expectations for the pupils and hold the headteacher to account well for progress on actions. Individual governors check on the pupils’ progress in specific subject areas. They visit the school regularly to meet middle leaders and keep up-to-date on the pupils’ achievement. They rigorously investigate the data analysis on pupils’ progress that is provided for them by the headteacher. They are aware of the ways that the school checks on the quality of teaching and how this is linked to the pay of teachers.  The governing body reviews its performance annually and is aiming to improve further by seeking Governor Mark accreditation. It has a strong committee structure, and is seeking to reduce and simplify the wide range of policies to focus on the most important ones. Governors have a wide range of skills and attend

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The leadership and management are good

training regularly. They have a good understanding of the finances of the school and how additional Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 5 of 10

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The leadership and management are good

funding, such as the pupil premium, is spent.  The governors ensure that the school meets its statutory responsibilities. They ensure that safeguarding procedures are effective and that pupils are kept safe at all times.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive and classes are very rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. The school has established clear routines that embed good behaviour; pupils are courteous and friendly, and cooperate well with each other and adults. They look after new pupils well, are keen to take on responsibility, and act maturely. They have been commended for their behaviour when on trips out of school, and act responsibly when they are not supervised by teachers.  Teaching assistants and teachers work well with pupils who have more complex behaviour needs and this does not affect the learning of their classmates. School records show very little bullying and pupils confirm this. Racist incidents are very rare and dealt with effectively. Due to the good behaviour, there have been virtually no exclusions in the past three years.  The large majority of parents who responded to the online survey feel that pupils behave well.

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Behaviour

 The school reinforces its ethos through assemblies and circle time. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how to treat others. School assemblies are sometimes led by outside speakers, such as the recent visit from a Paralympian. These visits help to reinforce the school’s approach to promoting diversity and tackling discrimination. Following the visit, the pupils raised a very substantial amount of money for charity.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils, staff and parents are virtually unanimous in their agreement that children are safe at this school. Accidents are rare and staff are all trained to deal with any first aid needs. The sites are secure and the school has plans to improve further on this.  The school provides a range of experiences that help students to behave safely, including residential trips, planned activities to help them be safe when walking or cycling, and e-safety. Risk assessments are carried out carefully, staff and governor safeguarding training is up to date, and policies are current and updated regularly.  Pupils’ attendance is slightly above the national average. The number of pupils who missed a substantial number of days rose last year, but the school has taken strong and effective action to address this and the number has fallen for this year.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good across the school and, as a result, pupils make good progress. The leadership of the school has worked hard to address and rectify any weaknesses in provision, including that caused by teacher illness, so that pupils are not held back. Teachers’ assessments of pupils’ work are checked carefully by leaders and have been moderated by the local authority to ensure that they are accurate.  Mathematics is well taught and pupils attain well both at Key Stage 1 and 2. Progress in both key stages is good due to good teaching. Inspectors saw pupils challenged and motivated by interesting problem-solving activities.  The school has improved the teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make) and the way it records and checks on the progress that pupils make in their phonics. As a result of this, reading is now taught well and pupils have good skills to develop their reading. Pupils read widely and are making good progress as a result,

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The quality of teaching is good

particularly in Key Stage 2.  The teaching of writing is strong, with the result that achievement in writing is improving at Key Stage 1 and pupils make better than average progress in writing at Key Stage 2. Pupils’ work shows a wide range of types of writing and inspectors saw progress in pupils’ work guided by the helpful comments that teachers had made.  Teachers use skilled questioning to check pupils’ understanding, extend their thinking, and provide clear explanations and illustrations of the topics being studied. In most lessons, pupils’ own contributions and explanations help the other pupils to understand better.  Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use this to plan a variety of interesting activities that excite the pupils. High expectations of what pupils can achieve, coupled with good relationships, mean that there is a positive climate in lessons and pupils behave well. Very occasionally, the planned activities do not involve

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils of all abilities in learning and, at these times, pupils can be inattentive. Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 6 of 10

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The quality of teaching is good

 There is good support by teaching assistants for pupils with complex needs. Teaching assistants are also effective in providing support for the very small groups of pupils who are disadvantaged. However, it is evident from the school’s tracking data that there remains some inconsistency in the effectiveness of these interventions in helping the pupils to close the gap in attainment with other pupils.  The school is developing an approach to marking that encourages a dialogue with pupils about their learning. There were many good examples of this in pupils’ work, but not all teachers are skilled enough at this yet to get the best response from pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good and improving progress in Key Stage 2 and in most subjects in Key Stage 1. Attainment at the end of both Key Stages 1 and 2 is above national averages for reading, writing and mathematics and is often well above.  Attainment in writing at Key Stage 1 has improved consistently over the past few years but attainment in reading, while being generally above national expectations, has not been as high. The leadership of the school has made changes to improve the teaching of phonics, following lower outcomes in the previous year, and a higher proportion than seen nationally achieved the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check this year.  The school has improved the way it records pupils’ skills and progress in phonics, and the support it gives to pupils who did not reach the threshold, with the result that a very large proportion reached the threshold in Year 2. The school has also invested in new reading books to interest and excite the pupils, and extended the

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The achievement of pupils is good

use of the library to give pupils more opportunities to read widely.  Progress in mathematics during Key Stage 2 is strong. In Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is slightly above the national level. Pupils in Key Stage 2 experience good teaching in mathematics, with a range of formal number work and interesting applied problem-solving activities. Progress in mathematics in the Reception class had been lower this year but has improved recently. This is due to increased focus and additional planned activities.  Due to the good teaching and activities that are matched to the pupils’ abilities, the most-able pupils achieve well, making better progress than similar pupils nationally and achieving higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics.  Children in the early years make good progress in some areas of learning but achievement is not consistently good enough to ensure that they have a solid foundation for accelerated progress further up the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A very small number of pupils in the school are eligible for the pupil premium. There are too few to comment on their attainment and progress without identifying them. This is also the case for those pupils with special educational needs. While some of the pupils in these groups make good progress and reach good standards, this has not been consistently so because of varied success in providing appropriate support.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 The early years provision requires improvement because teaching is not consistently good and the progress made by the children is not strong enough in all areas of learning. Last year, the children achieved well in communication, literacy and mathematics, but not so strongly in personal, social and emotional development. While some teaching is good, and has resulted in rapid progress, long-term staff absence has meant that the school has had to employ temporary part-time members of staff, which has hindered consistency over time.  The leadership and management of the early years requires improvement. The leadership has changed during the year and strong efforts have been made to address accurately identified shortcomings from last year and this. Children are now making more rapid progress in their personal and social development; they manage their feelings well, share and show concern for their classmates. Despite weaker progress in some areas of

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The early years provision requires improvement

learning, children leave the Reception Year with skills and abilities that are just below those found nationally.  The teachers use information appropriately from other early years providers and parents, as well as observation by staff, to assess the children when they start at the school. Records of children’s work and assessments have improved over the year and provide a good basis for the planning of activities.  The most-able children make good progress, and those with special educational needs or who are making slower progress are well supported in partnership with their parents. Daily communication with parents is hampered by travel arrangements, but the school has used telephone conversations and has introduced online learning journals this year to help improve this. Other plans to improve communication with parents, such as open afternoons, have not been implemented yet this year.  Children feel safe and are looked after well. They behave well and treat each other with respect. They can play

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The early years provision requires improvement

and learn outside, and the staff provide a range of stimulating activities both inside and outside for them to Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 7 of 10

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The early years provision requires improvement

develop their skills and understanding. However, the resources and activities set up inside and outside do not always ensure that pupils can make good enough progress in all areas of learning. Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 8 of 10

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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. Inspection report: Brinkworth Earl Danby's Church of England Primary School, 22–23 April 2015 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 126390 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 448694

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 179 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Paul Davies Headteacher Mrs Laura Hilliard Date of previous school inspection 10−11 February 2010 Telephone number 01666 510406 Fax number 01666 510406 Email address admin@brinkworthearldanbys.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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