Burton Church of England Primary School

Burton Church of England Primary School Campbell Road, Burton, Christchurch BH23 7JY

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 There have been major improvements in the school since the previous inspection, especially in teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Staff and governors fully support the headteacher in his rigorous and determined drive for continued improvement.  By the end of Year 6 pupils attain standards well above average in reading, and above average in writing and mathematics. Reading is a particular strength.  All groups of pupils, including the most able, disadvantaged pupils, pupils with disability and those with special educational needs make better than expected progress.  Children in early years make rapid progress and are prepared well for Year 1.  Teachers use assessment effectively to ensure that pupils get the right level of work.  Teaching has improved in quality. Senior leaders, and increasingly subject leaders, check the quality of teaching and learning effectively.  Pupils behave well and are very positive about

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This is a good school

wanting to learn. They feel very safe in school and well cared for.  As well as liking lessons, pupils enjoy the good range of clubs, visits and other activities provided outside the classroom.  Attendance has improved significantly since the previous inspection.  Parents recognise the improvements and are very appreciative of what the school provides for their children.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally in lessons the most-able pupils do not get work with sufficient challenge to help them achieve to their full potential.  Progress in writing is not always as rapid as in reading and mathematics, partly because pupils do not do enough writing at length and in depth when studying subjects outside of literacy lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching, so that more of the good teaching becomes outstanding, by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

ensuring that the most-able pupils in particular do appropriately challenging tasks earlier in lessons continuing the school’s efforts to ensure teachers have high expectations and make the quality of learning more consistently good.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rate of progress in writing by giving pupils more opportunities to write at length and in depth when studying subjects other than literacy.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders have maintained the strengths in the school’s leadership and behaviour identified at the previous inspection and successfully addressed those issues requiring improvement. Pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching have significantly improved and are now good.  The headteacher has made a decisive contribution to the improvements, as recognised by staff and parents. His commitment is shared by governors and other staff, and is evidence of the school’s strong capacity for continued improvement.  School leaders have resolved previous weaknesses in teaching, partly by providing more opportunities for good professional development for staff. They have also ensured more accountability for results. School leaders link pay and responsibilities closely to pupils’ achievement.  There is now more rigorous checking of the quality of teaching and learning. Staff have worked hard to develop new methods to assess progress regularly. They quickly identify those pupils needing

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

additional support, and put the support in place. This has helped to improve the progress of those pupils previously underachieving. This better use of assessment has had a major impact on improving the progress of particular groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and those in receipt of pupil premium funding. The school uses this funding to provide more staff support and acquire better resources.  School leaders have carefully planned for the improvements already made and those to come. Leaders evaluate the performance of the school very accurately and have focused on the relevant areas for improvement. Subject and key stage leaders have more accountability for their areas of responsibility. For example, subject leaders make their own improvement plans and report regularly to governors.  The local authority has supported the school well in helping to improve teaching and progress. The

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

local authority is very encouraged by the school’s upward trajectory and now feels the need to offer only very ‘light touch’ support.  School leaders have developed the curriculum in order to stimulate pupils’ interests and offer them a range of varied opportunities. Parents are encouraged to come into school to celebrate their children’s work on various projects and they are shown how they can also support their children’s learning at home.  Pupils enjoy the residential trips and other visits. Individuals such as artists and successful sportspeople visit the school. School leaders have successfully used the school’s sports funding to employ specialist sports coaches and train staff in order to increase their expertise. As a result, there is a high rate of pupil participation in clubs and a range of competitive sporting opportunities. Work in pupils’ books also illustrates the emphasis given to encouraging healthy eating and healthy lifestyles generally.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The school promotes equal opportunities well. All pupils now have a good opportunity to do well. There is a lot of emphasis on showing tolerance and understanding of those from different faiths, lifestyles and backgrounds. Staff are very aware of their responsibility for combating any hint of extremism or radicalisation. The school gives prominence to both its Christian and British values in assemblies, displays and lessons.  Staff promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well. Music and performance have a high profile. Pupils like taking on responsibility, for example as sports leaders.  School staff unanimously acknowledge the improvements made since the previous inspection. Parents are also very vocal in voicing their support for the school’s achievements.  Although senior leaders have been very successful in carrying through improvements, they are not complacent and recognise that more can still be done. They recognise that there are occasional

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

inconsistencies in aspects of teaching and rates of progress, for example in writing. These aspects have a high profile in the plans for continued improvement, with clear criteria for success and a good awareness of how the school can continue in its ambition to attain excellence.  The governance of the school – Governors are more knowledgeable about the school and more rigorous in holding it to account than they were at the time of the previous inspection. They now understand how well different groups of pupils are progressing in the school in comparison to those elsewhere. They also understand the strengths and areas for development in teaching. – Governors evaluate the impact of pupil premium and sports funding. They challenge the school’s leadership about its policies and actions. – Governors have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and have had appropriate training. They play an important role in ensuring that performance management is used to ensure

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

accountability for progress. – Governors are well placed to continue supporting the leadership and other staff in moving the school further forwards, as well as consolidating existing successes.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Policies and procedures are up to date and thorough in ensuring that all aspects of child protection and safeguarding are catered for. The school leaders also ensure that parents and pupils have a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe. For example, the school provides a lot of information about using computer technology safely.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. There have been some changes in teaching personnel. School leaders have provided a good range of opportunities for staff to develop their skills and confidence. In particular, teachers now make much better use of regular assessments to identify the learning needs of different groups of pupils. They then give individual pupils extra support where appropriate, whether within lessons or working separately with staff.  Teachers make learning enjoyable for the great majority of pupils. The pupils described lessons and learning to inspectors as ‘fun’.  Teaching has been particularly effective in reducing any differing rates of progress between groups of pupils. Disadvantaged pupils, pupils with disability and those with special educational needs have increased their rates of progress to catch up with the progress of other pupils in the school and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

sometimes even exceed it.  Learning support assistants have had good opportunities to develop their skills and so support particular groups and individual pupils effectively. Inspectors saw the resulting benefits in several lessons and in the work in pupils’ books. Learning support assistants provide good care and support for pupils.  Teachers mark pupils’ work well. Marking is thorough and closely linked to learning objectives, in line with school policy. Pupils told inspectors that the school’s developing marking system has been very helpful in increasing their understanding of the quality of their work and how they can improve it. Pupils have time to respond to the feedback they receive and are learning how to reflect usefully on their achievements.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) has improved, as evident in lessons and in the results achieved in the Year 1 phonics check.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teachers teach reading very effectively, so that attainment in reading is well above the national average.  The teaching of mathematics has improved.  The teaching of writing has improved. The good results are evident in pupils’ written work, especially higher up the school. However, teachers sometimes miss opportunities to increase the rate of progress in writing further, since pupils do relatively little writing at length and in depth when studying topics outside of literacy lessons.  Most of the time teachers have high expectations of their pupils and capitalise on their eagerness to learn. Occasionally, the level of expectation of what pupils, usually the most able, should achieve falls. This is evident in some of the work in Years 3 and 4.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils relish responsibility. For example, some older pupils have been trained as sports leaders and play leaders.  Pupils enjoy the wide range of activities on offer, for example the residential trips for older pupils to an activity centre. They also have good opportunities to take part in sports teams and clubs.  Pupils feel very safe and well cared for in school. Parents confirm this.  Good links with other schools enable Burton Primary to prepare its pupils well for the next stage of their education.  The school successfully develops pupils’ capabilities to become reflective learners. There is very good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils in the different year groups enjoy their musical and other productions. Pupils learn about the Christian values underpinning the school and the virtues

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Personal development and welfare

of tolerance and respect. They consider how they can apply these values both in the school and more widely in modern society.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They enjoy learning and usually behave very well in lessons and around the school.  There have been no permanent exclusions in recent years. Where there are occasional incidents of misbehaviour, they are recorded and dealt with appropriately.  The school provides a very supportive environment. Pupils themselves acknowledge that behaviour is not outstanding, but they are very insistent that bullying of any sort is not an issue for them. The great majority of parents agree.  Pupils know that if they have any concerns about behaviour or their welfare generally, they can talk confidently to adults in the school.  There has been an improving trend in attendance, which is above average. The school has worked to improve the attendance of a small number of vulnerable pupils, and the previous gap in their attendance compared to other pupils has significantly narrowed. School staff work hard with parents as

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Behaviour

well as their children to increase and celebrate good attendance.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Attainment throughout the school is strong overall, from Reception right through to Year 6, so that older pupils can move confidently to their next school.  Recent results confirm the considerable improvements in attainment since the previous inspection. Boys and girls in Year 1 have improved their attainment in the phonics check, so that standards were above the national expectation in 2015, and remain so.  The attainment of pupils by the end of Key Stage 1 has shown an upward trend and is above average overall for both boys and girls. Attainment in reading is a particular strength. The attainment of the few disadvantaged pupils has improved in comparison to other pupils in the school and pupils nationally.  Attainment at Key Stage 2 has also been part of an upward trend. In 2015 it was significantly above the national average, including for the most-able boys and girls by the end of Year 6. Disadvantaged

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Outcomes for pupils are good

pupils attain higher standards than expected from their starting points. There are too few pupils with disability and with special educational needs to make their results statistically significant, but individually these pupils have benefited from good support and make good and rapid progress.  Inspectors heard pupils read confidently, fluently and accurately for their age.  Attainment and progress in mathematics have improved significantly.  Attainment in writing is good overall, although sometimes less evident when pupils are writing in topics relating to aspects such as science or history. For example, although there is investigative work in science, pupils do not always write up the results in appropriate depth.  The school has built on recent successes. The improvement in progress has been particularly impressive. In 2015 the rate of progress of pupils by the time they left school, in relation to their

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Outcomes for pupils are good

starting points, was significantly above expectations.  The most-able pupils make good progress by the time they leave school, although occasionally they could achieve more in some lessons.  There are still a few inconsistencies, with boys not always making progress at the same rate as the girls. Progress in writing, although much improved, is not as consistently strong as in other core subjects. Progress in Years 3 and 4 is occasionally variable, and the leadership recognises this as an area for continued improvement.

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Early years provision is good

 Children in Reception are taught well, and both boys and girls make good and rapid progress. Although there is limited tracking of the progress of different groups of children, it is clear that by the end of Reception the proportion of children reaching a good level of development in reading, writing, communication skills, numeracy and a range of other skills is above national expectations for their age group.  Children make good strides in their personal development. They become confident learners, playing and learning together cooperatively in a bright and inviting learning environment. The children learn routines that encourage them to move smoothly between activities, for example when putting their whiteboards and pens away. They feel very safe in school.  The few disadvantaged children and those with special learning needs in Reception share in the good progress of the other children.  Teachers and support staff have appropriately high expectations of children. Inspectors saw this, for

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Early years provision is good

example, when children were developing their early writing skills, with the children responding intently to stimulating questioning. Inspectors also saw children eagerly and articulately debating their focus story. The teaching of phonics is particularly effective. Staff make sure that activities are matched well to each child’s individual needs.  Children’s behaviour is excellent. They enjoy learning and are supportive of each other and cooperative both when playing and working by themselves and when working with well trained staff.  There is good leadership of early years. The leader of early years recognises that the Reception children would benefit from better outdoor resources, particularly for them to improve their physical skills, but the school makes good use of those resources it does have.  The early years leader has developed a good working relationship with local pre-school settings, and

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Early years provision is good

children are prepared well for their transition into Year 1.  The school works hard to involve parents. The parents’ notice board gives useful information, parents are encouraged to come into school and the school provides help so that they can support their child’s learning at home.

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School details

Unique reference number 113789 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 10009218 This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 313 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Marc Perry Headteacher Dean Buckland Telephone number 01202 482588 Website www.burtonschool.co.uk Email address office@burtonpri.dorset.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 5–6 February 2014

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Information about this school

 This is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional government funding to support disadvantaged pupils and looked after children) is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with disability or with special educational needs is below average.  The great majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Children in early years are taught full time in two Reception classes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in 12 lessons. Two of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also visited lessons for shorter periods and heard pupils read.  Inspectors talked with pupils and with members of the senior leadership team and other staff. The lead inspector met with four members of the governing body and with a representative of the local authority.  The inspection team scrutinised various documents, including school improvement planning, minutes of governing body meetings, school policies and evidence relating to safeguarding. Inspectors also looked at the school website. They looked at pupils’ work.  Inspectors considered the 77 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View). They also looked at online questionnaires completed by staff, and received many written comments from parents.

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Inspection team

John Laver, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector James Hood Ofsted Inspector Christopher Nye Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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