Broughton Community Schools (Infants)

School report Broughton Community Infant School Narbeth Drive, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP20 1NX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 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

 The headteacher, supported by senior leaders and governors, has high aspirations for the school. Together they have brought about significant improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement since the previous inspection.  Pupils of all abilities and from different backgrounds make good progress because they are taught effectively. As a result, standards are rising at the end of Year 2 and pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  Teachers have high expectations and provide activities that capture pupils’ imagination. They use questions well to deepen pupils’ understanding.  Children get off to a good start in the early years, which is much improved since the previous inspection. As a result, standards are rising rapidly at the end of the Reception year.  Pupils are very proud of their school and behaviour on the playground and in assemblies is impeccable. They demonstrate a real enthusiasm for learning.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The arrangements to keep pupils safe and secure are outstanding. As a result, pupils feel extremely safe and well looked after.  The school is a very harmonious community because all aspects of pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development are promoted exceptionally well.  The curriculum provides exciting opportunities for pupils to learn about the world around them as well as developing their literacy and numeracy skills effectively.  The school has a fruitful partnership with parents who hold it in high regard and almost all would recommend it to others.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The progress of the most able pupils is not as strong in writing as it is in reading and mathematics. As a result, fewer reach the higher levels of attainment at the end of Year 2.  Some teachers, including those new to teaching, and teaching assistants are still developing their skills in setting work that challenges pupils to make rapid progress throughout the school.  As a number of teachers are new to teaching, too many responsibilities for different aspects of the school’s work remain with senior leaders.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes throughout the school. A number of these visits were made with the headteacher and assistant headteacher.  The inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ book and listened to some pupils reading.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, three members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and a group of pupils.  Inspectors considered the 24 responses to the online survey, Parent View. They also reviewed the much larger response of parents to the school’s own recent survey. They spoke to some parents informally as they brought their children to school.  The views of 22 members of staff expressed in their responses to a questionnaire were taken into account.  The inspection team reviewed a range of school documentation including policies and procedures in relation to the safeguarding of children, information about the progress of pupils and the school’s plans for

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Inspection team

Graham Lee, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This community infant school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. It has full-time early years provision in its two Reception classes.  Most pupils are of White British origin although a significant minority are from a wide range of ethnic groups. Those of Pakistani heritage, about one in ten, are the only other sizeable group.  About one in five pupils speak English as an additional language but very few are at the early stages of learning the language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average and falling.  About one in ten pupils are supported by the pupil premium. This is additional government funding provided, in this school, to support pupils who are entitled to free school meals. This proportion is well below average.  The school shares its site with a children’s centre, which also houses a privately run pre-school. Both of

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Information about this school

these services are subject to separate inspection arrangements and were not visited during this inspection.  There have been many changes to the teaching staff in recent years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding to enable pupils to make rapid progress by:  ensuring that the most able pupils are challenged in writing so that more reach the higher levels of attainment  developing the skills of teachers, including those new to teaching, and teaching assistants to set work that always challenges pupils of different abilities to make even faster progress throughout the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the leadership skills of teachers so that they can take on more responsibilities for leading improvements in different aspects of the school’s work to reduce the load on senior leaders.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has the highest aspirations for pupils in the school and expects a lot from the staff. She is very well supported by the senior leadership team and governing body. As a result, significant improvements have been made since the previous inspection in the early years, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. Pupils’ attendance and behaviour are also much improved because a culture has been created where exemplary behaviour is the norm.  Senior leaders have focused successfully on improving the quality of teaching. Rigorous systems for checking different aspects of teaching allied to strong support and training for both teachers and teaching assistants has led to improvements. However, teachers, particularly as most are new to teaching, and teaching assistants are still developing the skills in setting work that is challenging for all groups of pupils which will enable them to make rapid progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The good quality of teaching is underpinned by robust systems to manage the performance of teachers and teaching assistants. Teachers are well aware that pay rewards are linked closely to the progress of their pupils and the discharge of any wider responsibilities they may hold in the school.  As most teachers are relatively new to teaching most do not hold responsibilities for different aspects of the school’s work. Where teachers do hold such responsibilities, for example in mathematics, they are making an important contribution to improvements in their area. However, too many middle management responsibilities still reside with the senior leadership team.  The leadership of special educational needs is of high quality. The coordinator is very experienced and ensures that pupils with specific difficulties get the right help to support them. She liaises very closely with specialists outside the school and ensures that these pupils make good progress from their starting points.

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The leadership and management are good

 A strong, and much improved aspect of the school’s work, is the way that the headteacher is using information about the progress of individuals and groups of pupils to identify trends and to highlight any pupils in danger of falling behind. This ensures that leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and that plans for improvement are focused on the right priorities.  The curriculum promotes pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills well but also provides many exciting opportunities to develop their skills in other areas of the curriculum. Each class has its own garden and specific weeks dedicated to the arts, science and authors, for example, considerably enrich their experiences. Well-chosen topics enable pupils to link different aspects of the learning together and apply their literacy and numeracy skills meaningfully in other subjects.  The everyday life of the school and the curriculum promote all aspects of pupils’ social, moral, spiritual

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The leadership and management are good

and cultural development extremely well. The development of each of these strands is planned carefully. The school is an extremely harmonious community because of the great respect between pupils and adults and between those from different backgrounds. The school council operates on a democratic model and this together with the promotion of tolerance and respect, prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.  The school promotes equality of opportunity well as all pupils can experience everything that the school has to offer and all groups of pupils achieve well. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.  The primary sports funding has been used effectively to develop pupils’ experience and enjoyment of a wider range of activities and to improve the skills of teachers. It has also enabled pupils to take part in competitive sports festivals.  Leaders and governors ensure that the additional pupil premium funding is used effectively and flexibly to

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The leadership and management are good

support the different needs of entitled pupils. As a result, this year these pupils have made faster progress than others and attainment gaps are closing rapidly.  The Buckinghamshire Learning Trust has provided effective support to the school since the previous inspection which has assisted its journey of improvement. They are rightly stepping back from this support as the school demonstrates its strong capacity to improve itself.  The school’s policies and procedures to ensure the safeguarding of pupils are robust and meet statutory requirements. The school ensures that, for example, everybody in school is suitably checked to work with children and that all aspects of the school’s work and the visits undertaken are subject to an assessment of risk.  The governance of the school:  The governance of the school is much improved since the previous inspection. Governors have moved from a supportive role to one where they are challenging the leaders to make the school even better.

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The leadership and management are good

They are committed and bring a wide range of experience to the governing body. A considerable amount of training has supported governors in their roles. Governors now have a good understanding of the information about the school’s performance and how this compares with other schools nationally. They know about the quality of teaching and how the management of performance, including that of the headteacher, is used to reward good teaching and tackle underperformance. Governors ensure that all statutory requirements are met, including those relating to safeguarding. Regular visits to the school ensure that governors are well known to staff and, hence, support their decision making with first-hand knowledge of the school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding and has improved considerably since the previous inspection.  Pupils are proud of their school. Those from different backgrounds get on very well together and the school is an extremely harmonious community. Pupils are very polite and friendly to visitors.  Behaviour around the school, in assemblies and on the playground is excellent. Pupils respond extremely well to the instructions of staff and play happily together on the playground, where the monitors take their responsibilities very seriously.  In the classroom, pupils are enthusiastic learners. This begins in the Reception classes and continues throughout the school. Pupils listen attentively to their teachers and tackle the tasks they are given with real enthusiasm. They are keen to do their very best. As a result, they are making good and improving progress.  Pupils maintain concentration well when working on their own. They also work well together in pairs and

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Behaviour

groups when asked to do so. They share their ideas and listen respectfully to the views of others.  The school’s policies are applied consistently well by members of staff and pupils respond very positively to the systems for rewarding good behaviour, valuing, for example, the house points they receive.  The school’s records show that over time there are very few incidents of even minor disruption to learning caused by poor behaviour. Pupils confirm this. Parents, too, are unanimous in their view that pupils are well behaved.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. All staff place the highest emphasis on ensuring that pupils are safe in the school, on the playground and when out on visits.  Pupils say that they feel very safe in school and their parents confirm this unanimously. The school also takes the views of pupils seriously. For example, a governor recently accompanied a group of pupils on a walk around the school to find out if there were any areas where they felt unsafe.  Pupils have a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, for example, when using the internet. Visitors to the school enhance pupils’ understanding of topics such as first aid, dog awareness and water and road safety.  Pupils have a very good understanding of what bullying is and the different forms it can take. They are clear that it is very rare in the school. They also confirm that they have great confidence in the adults

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Safety

around them should they have any concerns. This is the view also of almost all parents.  The school’s uncompromising stance on tackling poor attendance has led to huge improvements since the previous inspection. Attendance is now around the national average and continues to rise. The number of pupils who miss too much school time has also been dramatically reduced.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is much improved since the previous inspection and is now consistently good. It enables pupils to achieve well in reading, writing, mathematics and a range of other subjects. This is case even though most of the staff are new, or relatively new, to teaching. They receive effective support from school leaders to help them improve their skills in what. Nevertheless, they are still developing their skills in setting work that challenges pupils of all abilities to make rapid progress, especially in writing.  Teachers have high expectations of their pupils’ work and behaviour and set out clearly the purpose of the lessons they teach. This ensures that pupils are clear about what they are expected to learn. Generally, teachers ensure that no time is wasted in lessons.  Teachers set tasks that really motivate their pupils and capture their imagination. For example, the forthcoming play, ‘Mermaids and Pirates’, in Year 2, provided opportunities for pupils to understand the

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The quality of teaching is good

role of directions in playscripts as well as exploring the historical and geographical aspects of pirates.  Teachers use questioning well to deepen pupils’ knowledge and to check their understanding. They constantly review progress in lessons and mostly change their plans if pupils need more support or are able to move on more quickly in their learning.  The quality of teachers’ marking and the use of targets is a strength of the teaching. The school’s systems are used consistently well thoughout the school. As a result, pupils have a very clear idea of what they need to do to improve their work.  Phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) is taught particularly effectively as reflected in the improving outcomes of the phonics screening check in Year 1 and the high standards at the end of Year 2. As they move through the school, pupils develop a love of reading and become skilled at finding

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The quality of teaching is good

information in books.  Teachers provide pupils with increasing opportunities to write for different purposes and at greater length, for example, when writing stories, or about experiments in science or accounts relating to the Second World War. However, the most able pupils are not yet being challenged sufficiently to enable them to make rapid progress to reach the higher levels of attainment.  Mathematics is taught well throughout the school enabling pupils to develop a good understanding of number and calculation and a range of other subjects. They also learn to apply their skills to real-life problems, often in innovative ways, for example in considering the patterns of Matisse in their work on shape and space and recording data from their experiments in science.  The role of teaching assistants has been developed considerably since the previous inspection and they play an important role in pupils’ learning. Like the teachers, however, some are still developing their roles

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The quality of teaching is good

in challenging pupils of all abilities to make rapid progress.  Pupils with often quite significant disabilities and special educational needs are supported well in class, in one-to-one sessions or in the small groups taught by the highly effective higher level teaching assistant on specific programmes. As a result, they make good progress.

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is good

 The achievement of pupils is good. From starting points that are often below those typical of four year olds, pupils of all abilities and from different backgrounds make good progress to reach standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are well above average by the end of Year 2. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  In 2013, around the time of the previous inspection, standards dipped to below average. Improved teaching led to a recovery in 2014, when standards were significantly above average overall and were particularly strong in reading. Pupils in the current Year 2 are attaining at similar levels.  The school’s detailed records show that pupils’ progress is improving and that more are now beginning to make rapid progress from their starting points. In 2014, girls had been doing much better than boys, especially in writing. However, in the current year these gaps are closing across the school.

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is good

 Pupils from different ethnic backgrounds and those who speak English as an additional language achieve as well as, and sometimes better than, others. In particular, those of Pakistani heritage, who were identified as underachieving at the previous inspection, are now doing as well as others.  The most able pupils do well in reading and mathematics. In 2014, the proportion reaching the higher level 3 in these subjects was above average and more are working at this level this year. However, while pupils make good progress in writing, not enough of the most able pupils make accelerated progress. As a result, relatively few reach the higher levels, compared with reading and mathematics.  In 2014, at the end of Year 2, the attainment of pupils supported by the pupil premium was some way behind other pupils in the school and nationally in reading, mathematics and, especially, writing. Additionally, they had not made as much progress as others through Key Stage 1. These attainment gaps

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is good

have closed significantly in the current year and entitled pupils have made better progress than others over the past two years.  The relatively few disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported very well with programmes tailored to meet their individual, often quite significant, needs. As a result, they make good progress. During the course of specific programmes these pupils often make huge gains in their basic literacy and numeracy skills.

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is good

 The early years provision is good and much improved since the previous inspection because of strong leadership and good teaching. Issues for development identified at the previous inspection have been fully addressed and children are well prepared for Year 1.  By the end of the Reception Year the proportion reaching a good level of development in 2014 was well above average and much improved on the previous year. In the current year attainment is set to rise again. This represents good and improving progress from children’s starting points.  When they arrive in the Reception classes children quickly settle in the warm and welcoming atmosphere created by the adults. They quickly embrace the established routines and become eager and confident learners. Their behaviour is impressive. Children play very well together and are able to sustain concentration when working on their own. Around the school and in assembles they show maturity

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is good

beyond their years.  Children feel safe and secure and their parents agree that their children are well looked after. Every precaution is taken to ensure that children are safe at all times.  The teachers and other adults support the development of early literacy and numeracy skills well in focused sessions. They also provide ample opportunities for children to play and explore the world around them through exciting topics. The new teachers in the Reception classes and some of the teaching assistants are still developing their skills to ensure that activities are challenging enough to enable pupils of all abilities to make rapid progress.  The use of the outdoor area is much improved since the previous inspection. It is a very large, well- resourced space for children to play and learn. Good quality activities are planned to support the learning going on indoors. For example, the topic of minibeasts was providing many opportunities for children to

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is good

count, identify colour and patterns and develop their language through the acting out of plays. Children also enjoyed the behaviour and movement of the snails in their habitat. An inspector was reliably informed that ‘there are 31 snails’ by one of the children who had counted them.  The checking of children’s learning is also an aspect that has improved considerably since the previous inspection. Adults are constantly checking and recoding children’s achievements and these are transferred to detailed learning journals that record progress and are supported by photographs that capture the moment.  The early years is led by the assistant headteacher who has led improvements in the early years and supported the new staff in the Reception classes extremely well this year. The improvements made since the previous inspection demonstrate strong capacity to improve in this area still further. WHAT INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS MEAN

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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 110284 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 462449

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 180 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lynne Boyt Headteacher Debra Standage Date of previous school inspection 4–5 July 2013 Telephone number 01296 415642 Fax number 01296 415642 Email address office@broughtoninfant.bucks.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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