Beehive Lane Community Primary School

Beehive Lane Community Primary School Beehive Lane, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 9SR

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is an outstanding school

 The headteacher provides outstanding leadership. His exceptionally clear vision ensures an unrelenting focus on improving the quality of teaching and raising standards in this continually improving school.  Leadership at all levels is well developed. Leaders focus well on improving pupils’ basic skills across the curriculum as well as in English and mathematics lessons.  Governors have a very good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They hold the school’s leaders to account extremely effectively.  Outcomes for pupils are outstanding. Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 is very high and pupils make outstanding progress.  Pupils make excellent progress because of the highly effective teaching in the school.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve very well and make extremely good progress. Leaders’ unrelenting focus on and high expectations for this group ensures that pupils are extremely successful.

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This is an outstanding school

 Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. Pupils are polite, well-mannered and confident. They cooperate very well with each other in lessons and play very successfully together during breaktimes.  Pupils feel safe at school and are taught successfully how to keep themselves safe. They feel free from bullying and have absolute faith in the ability of staff to help them if there was ever a problem.  Pupils show excellent attitudes to learning. They are very keen to learn and understand the value of a good education. They work hard and show great pride in their work.  The early years class provides children with an outstanding start to their school lives. They make very good progress during the Reception Year and are very well prepared for the demands of Year 1.  The school promotes equality and tolerance extremely well. Pupils are non-judgemental in their attitudes to other people and show a welcoming and inclusive approach.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of pupils who make very rapid progress by sharing the best practice in the school to improve the quality of teaching still further.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 The headteacher’s quiet and unassuming leadership style has created a calm and harmonious school. He has an extraordinarily clear vision of how he wants the school to be and he communicates this to everyone in the school community. The headteacher has a passionate drive to provide the very best quality education for all pupils and as a result pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make very good progress. The headteacher is also committed to ensuring that staff are provided with opportunities to develop their professional practice. As a result, the quality of teaching is continually improving.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher work together particularly well. Their different skills and strengths complement each other effectively. The deputy headteacher provides a very strong teaching role model. His skills as a coach are used appropriately to support colleagues and to continually improve the quality of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

teaching in the school.  Leadership throughout the school is highly developed. Teachers lead their individual subjects and areas of responsibility very effectively and ensure that pupils achieve well. They monitor standards in their subjects thoroughly by undertaking a range of tasks such as observing lessons and looking at the work that pupils produce. One of the particular strengths of leadership is that all leaders share responsibility for ensuring that pupils’ basic skills (of reading, writing and numeracy) are taught through their individual subjects as well as in English and mathematics lessons. This has helped to produce outstanding outcomes for pupils.  The school’s mission statement, ‘releasing the potential within all’, guides every aspect of its work. Staff do not simply pay lip service to the statement but live it and breathe it on a day-to-day basis. Staff constantly seek to find the key to unlocking the potential for every pupil in the school. This determination that all pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

will achieve continually drives standards higher.  The school’s curriculum is broad, balanced and interesting. High-quality texts (such as Journey to Jo’burg in Year 5 and The boy in the striped pyjamas in Year 6) have been chosen very deliberately in order to extend and enhance pupils’ experiences and to encourage them to think more deeply. The curriculum enables the school to focus very well on developing the depth of pupils’ learning, for example, by developing pupils’ ability to explain, rationalise and persevere.  The curriculum supports pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development very effectively. The school’s values are shared by all and referred to frequently; CARE (commitment, aspiration, respect and enjoyment) permeates every aspect of the school’s work. As a result, the school is a polite and orderly environment where pupils do their best and develop a love for learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 The school promotes tolerance and the appreciation of diversity extremely well. Pupils said about their school that ‘we’re all just a big family’ and described how important it is to make everyone feel welcome in their school. Pupils express clear beliefs that it is wrong to judge people on their beliefs or the colour of their skin.  Pupils are skilfully prepared for life in modern British society. The headteacher believes strongly in the power of debate and the ability to hold a balanced argument, commenting that, ‘knowledge and understanding are the best weapon’ against many of the issues in society today. As a result, pupils discuss contentious issues openly and listen respectfully to the views of others.  Use of the pupil premium grant is highly effective. The school employs qualified teachers, on a part-time basis, to do very targeted work with specific pupils. Groups are changed frequently, according to need, and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

the impact on pupils’ outcomes is monitored closely. The school has a particularly strong focus on ensuring that the most able, disadvantaged pupils achieve highly. This has a very significant impact on raising standards for this group of pupils.  The school’s self-evaluation summary is succinct and easy to follow. It is analytical and gives equal weight to strengths and weaknesses. School improvement is effective because leaders know the school very well, set high standards and identify clearly what they still want to improve.  The school’s development plan provides a very clear road map to guide the school’s onward journey of improvement. The system for writing the plan is rigorous and robust and takes into consideration the needs and views of all stakeholders. The very high aspirations of the school’s leaders and the school’s mission statement – ‘releasing the potential within all’ – are evident throughout the plan.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 Parents are overwhelming positive about the school and almost all would recommend it to others.  The primary physical education and sport premium is used very effectively. A far greater range of sports is now offered to pupils, including fencing and orienteering. Pupils’ participation in clubs has increased dramatically; three years ago only 40% of pupils attended clubs and that figure has now risen to 70%. The grant has also been used to improve the quality of physical education teaching in the school through the use of expert coaches to provide professional development for the school’s teaching staff.  The governance of the school The governing body provides strong strategic leadership. Minutes of governing body meetings show clearly that governors routinely ask challenging questions in order to hold the school’s leaders to account effectively. Governors know the school’s strengths and areas for development very well. They have a very good

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

understanding of how good outcomes for pupils are and what the quality of teaching in the school is like. The governing body has a specific committee for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. This enables governors to monitor the progress that disadvantaged pupils make very carefully and to ensure that the pupil premium grant is spent effectively.  The arrangements for safeguarding are highly effective. The school website sets the tone for the school’s approach to safeguarding. The website has a section devoted to safeguarding with an opening statement that ‘keeping children safe is our highest priority’. The school’s single central record meets statutory requirements and processes for the safer recruitment of staff are robust. Child protection procedures are very thorough and concerns are recorded appropriately.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

 The continual improvement of the quality of teaching and learning is a key feature of the school. Staff share a desire to develop their practice in order to improve outcomes for pupils. They receive high-quality continuing professional development opportunities and respond appropriately to them. Coaching is used very effectively to improve teaching on an individual basis.  Teachers and teaching assistants know their pupils extremely well. They plan lessons to meet pupils’ specific needs and adapt their approaches within lessons according to pupils’ responses. When staff intervene, whether it be planned group work or incidental support for a pupil, this has a clear impact on the progress pupils make.  Pupils are given the opportunity to select the level of challenge that is appropriate to their needs and the extent to which they have understood what they have been taught. Teachers provide suitable challenges for

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

the most-able pupils to ensure that they enjoy their work and make excellent progress.  Teachers have very high expectations of pupils in terms of their behaviour, effort and how well they achieve. Pupils respond positively to this and make rapid progress as a result. For example, in a Year 2 mathematics lesson, pupils talked about ‘inverse operations’ and ‘related division facts’ with surprising maturity for their age.  Teachers have very good knowledge and understanding of the subjects they teach. This enables them to use highly effective questioning skills to assess pupils’ understanding and to encourage pupils to think more deeply. It also means that teachers’ explanations are particularly clear, enabling pupils to understand direct teaching input more easily.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are supported and challenged skilfully. Teaching assistants provide high-quality support to enable pupils to access the curriculum appropriately and to make

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

very good progress.  Teachers use a range of approaches to suit the varying needs of learners. Pupils respond very well to this and appreciate the different ways that they are taught. Pupils are also encouraged to become independent learners and they rise to the high expectations placed on them.  Marking and feedback have been developed most successfully. Pupils use the comments that teachers make about their work to improve and clarify misunderstandings. Teachers identify ‘next steps’ for pupils, who routinely respond to their teachers’ comments.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils show superb attitudes to learning. They know about the way we learn and can talk about their learning with maturity. For example, during a meeting with the lead inspector, pupils talked convincingly using terms such as ‘concrete learning, abstract learning and visualisation’.  Pupils have very positive attitudes to life. They are appropriately ambitious and realise that working hard at school is an important step towards achieving their aims.  Pupils are expected to take responsibility for their own learning and they do so very well. They take great pride in their work and pupils’ exercise books are notably neat and tidy. Pupils are very proud when they gain their ‘pen licence’ and work hard to keep it. They understand that using a pen is a privilege and that they will lose their licence temporarily if they do not maintain the expected standard of presentation.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils are given many opportunities to take responsibility. For example, Year 6 pupils run a ‘tuck shop’ during breaktimes in order to raise money for charity. The school council members and the team captains have a real and important role to play in the life of the school.  Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe very well. The school places a strong emphasis on the importance of e-safety and pupils are reminded frequently about how to keep themselves safe online. Pupils are taught about a range of other ways to keep themselves safe including road and fire safety.  Pupils have a good understanding of what bullying is and the difference between bullying and other types of behaviour. They say that bullying is rare at Beehive Lane but they know that they should tell an adult if it were to occur. Pupils have complete confidence that any member of staff would help them if they ever experienced a problem with bullying. Pupils know that it is wrong to be a bystander and state clearly that

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Personal development and welfare

they would ask for help for others as well as for themselves.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding because expectations are high and boundaries are clear.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary both in their classrooms and in the wider school environment. As a result, pupils make rapid progress because lessons flow very smoothly and are rarely interrupted by even low-level disruption.  Pupils are friendly and welcoming to visitors, and are keen to talk about their school and their work. Pupils are very polite, well-mannered and highly respectful; they are a credit to their school.  Pupils show excellent attitudes to equality. They value the diversity in society and are thoroughly non- judgemental in their attitudes to other people.  Pupils cooperate with each other to a high degree. The work well together in their classrooms and play successfully in the playground.  Attendance is above the national average. The school has robust and effective systems in place to tackle

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Behaviour

pupils’ absence and this has a direct impact on reducing it.

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

 Children generally enter the Reception Year with skills and abilities typical of their age, although some are below this level. Children make excellent progress during their time in the early years and the proportion that reaches a good level of development is above the national average.  Children start learning phonics (the relationships between letters and sounds) in the Reception class and continue to develop their knowledge and skills most successfully as they move into Key Stage 1. The proportion of pupils who reach the expected level of the Year 1 phonics screening check is consistently above the national average.  Pupils make outstanding progress during Key Stage 1. Attainment at Year 2 has been rising for the last three years and was well above the national average in 2015.  Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 has been well above the national average for the last four years, reflecting the outstanding outcomes at Beehive Lane. Progress has been well above the national average for

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

the last two years.  Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are outstanding. In 2015, all disadvantaged pupils reached the expected level at the end of Key Stage 2 and half of them reached the higher levels. The progress made by disadvantaged pupils was well above the national average and higher than other pupils in the school.  The most-able pupils attain well and make good progress. The proportion of pupils who reached the higher levels in 2015 was well above the national average. Pupils are routinely offered and appreciate challenges in lessons. The most-able pupils are effectively supported to develop deep conceptual understanding of the subjects they learn about.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability make excellent progress from their individual starting points. The special educational needs coordinator checks pupils’ progress closely and effectively to ensure that the right approaches are used to help pupils achieve highly.

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

 Current pupils are making at least good progress throughout the school and in a wide range of subjects. The work in pupils’ exercise books shows that many pupils are making rapid progress. The quality and quantity of pupils’ work is outstanding.  Pupils are prepared extremely well for the next stage of their education. Their academic outcomes mean that they are able to cope well with the demands of secondary education. A good range of transition activities, including specific activities for pupils with special educational needs, mean that pupils know what to expect when they transfer to their new schools.

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Early years provision is outstanding

 Children make excellent progress during their time in the early years as a result of the outstanding teaching they receive. For example, one child who had no knowledge of phonics at the beginning of the year, and was unable to write any words at all, is now able to write simple sentences with correct spelling and punctuation.  The quality of the early years environment is outstanding. A wide range of activities is offered across all seven areas of learning. The outdoor area is used extensively and matches the indoor area in terms of the quality of activities on offer.  The early years curriculum is very well developed and the provision is led and managed most effectively. Staff focus very well on individual children and their particular needs and interests. Staff are adept at changing the curriculum to meet the precise needs of each child.  Children show very good attitudes to learning. They persevere with activities and enjoy new challenges. For

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Early years provision is outstanding

example, one child persevered with a weighing activities for an extended period of time until she was eventually able to balance conkers on one side of the scale, with an equivalent weight in stones on the other side.  Assessment is thorough and accurate. The school liaises closely with other local schools and pre-schools to ensure that assessments in different settings are the same. Children’s learning journals provide thorough records of their progress during their Reception Year and their parents contribute to them regularly.  Transition arrangements are very strong. Children and their parents are given plenty of opportunities to visit the school before they start and staff also visit children at home. Children are highly prepared for the move from the Reception Year to Year 1 and their parents are provided with useful information on the differences between the two key stages.  Additional funding is used most effectively to ensure that disadvantaged children make the same excellent

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School details

Unique reference number 114996 Local authority Essex Inspection number 10001201

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 203 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jackie Donaghy Headteacher Paul Sully Telephone number 01245 269464 Website www.beehivelane.essex.sch.uk Email address admin@beehivelane.essex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 9–10 December 2010

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Information about this school

 Beehive Lane smaller than the average-sized primary school. There is one class per year group from Reception Year to Year 6.  The headteacher had joined the school as deputy headteacher. He became headteacher in 2013 following the retirement of the previous post holder. The current deputy headteacher joined the school in 2014.  Children join the Reception class in the September following their fourth birthday and attend full-time.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is similar to the national average. The pupil premium provides additional government funding for pupils who are eligible for free school meals and those in the care of the local authority.  A large majority of pupils are White British. Few pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who receive support for their special educational needs is lower than the national average. However, the proportion who have a statement of special educational need or an education,

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Information about this school

health and care (EHC) plan is much higher than the national average.  The school meets the current floor standards. These are the minimum standards, set by the government, for pupils’ progress and attainment.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors gathered a range of evidence to judge the quality of teaching and learning over time. Inspectors observed parts of 21 lessons, some jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Inspectors looked closely at the work in pupils’ exercise books, listened to them read and talked to them about their work.  Inspectors scrutinised the school’s assessment information, records of leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning in the school, and a range of other documents.  The view of parents were taken into account, including 43 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and conversations with parents on the playground at the beginning of the school day.  Meetings were held with pupils, staff and the Chair of the Governing Body. The lead inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority and with the school’s improvement adviser on the telephone.

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Inspection team

Wendy Varney, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lesley Stevens Ofsted Inspector Stephen Cloke 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

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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