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Schools & FE · School inspection (CIF)

Badocks Wood Primary School

Inspected 18 Nov 2016 · URN 109139

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Summary

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  • Inspection date verified

    18 Nov 2016

  • Inspectors verified

    David Shears, Jen Southall, Marion Borland, Paul Smith

  • Early years verified

    Requires improvement

  • Leadership and management verified

    Inadequate

  • Outcomes verified

    Inadequate

  • Overall effectiveness verified

    Inadequate

  • Personal development, behaviour and welfare verified

    Inadequate

  • Previous overall verified

    Good

  • Teaching, learning and assessment verified

    Inadequate

  • Postcode verified

    BS10 5PU

  • Name on report verified

    Badocks Wood Primary School & Children’s Centre

  • URN verified

    109139

Page 1 of 13
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

  • OverallInadequate
  • Early yearsRequires improvement
  • Leadership and managementInadequate
  • OutcomesInadequate
  • Personal development, behaviour and welfareInadequate
  • Teaching, learning and assessmentInadequate

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

−52Criticalmore positive than 14% of reports of this type graded Inadequate
OutstandingGoodRIInadequate

Reads more critically than most reports of this type graded Inadequate.

Markers show where typical reports of each grade sit.

Praiseimprovedhigh-qualitymake good progresseffectivelyhighly effectivepositiveconsistentlyimproving
Criticisminadequatenot alwaysweaknot good enoughnot yetlacknot sufficientlypersistent absence

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsWhat needs to improveLeadershipSafeguardingAbout the inspection positive critical
  • Findings1766w−72
  • Leadership738w−55
  • Safeguarding141w−48
  • What needs to improve650w+32

Strengths

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Concerns

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Next steps

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What the report dwells on

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Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages
13
Words of findings
3,223
about usual (typical 3317)
Reading level
Hard
Flesch 44, typical 46
Average sentence
16 words
Next steps
8
typical 8
Hedged sentences
13%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 44%Leadership 18%Safeguarding 4%What needs to improve 16%About the inspection 18%

Full report text

Badocks Wood Primary School & Children’s Centre Doncaster Road, Southmead, Bristol BS10 5PU

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leadership is weak. Over time, leaders and managers, including governors, have failed to halt the decline in the effectiveness of the school.  Leaders do not have robust plans for improvement. The school development plan is not fit for purpose. It does not provide the strategic direction needed to rapidly improve the school.  Leadership of safeguarding is inadequate. Systems for monitoring and checking the safety of pupils are weak and lack rigour.  Leaders have not ensured that systems are in place to check carefully the learning and progress of pupils.  Teaching over time is inadequate. Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. Consequently, progress is inadequate in reading, writing and mathematics. This is especially so for disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged.  Leaders, including subject leaders, do not regularly check and evaluate the progress of all groups of pupils to ensure that they are making

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

as much progress as they can.  The curriculum, while it covers all subjects, is not implemented effectively. There are inconsistencies in the planning and teaching of subjects. Consequently, pupils do not make good progress across a wide range of subjects.  Pupils do not have the opportunity to participate in many extra activities.  Behaviour is inadequate. Leaders do not analyse well enough patterns in pupils’ behaviour. Consequently, exclusion rates have risen and are above national averages.  Absence rates, especially persistent absence, are too high and not improving quickly enough.  Too many parents are unhappy with the education and care their children are receiving.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 There is a year-on-year improvement in outcomes in the early years provision. 17–18 November 2016

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Rapidly improve the quality of leadership and management by: – ensuring that robust systems and procedures are securely in place to safeguard pupils – setting clear priorities for improvement which are frequently checked and evaluated for impact by leaders, including governors – strengthening governance so that governors carry out their roles and responsibilities to swiftly improve the quality of education pupils receive – implementing a robust, structured programme of training and support to equip subject leaders with the skills needed to be highly effective – improving the attendance of pupils and reducing persistent absence – improving pupils’ behaviour to ensure that learning is not routinely disrupted and the number of exclusions reduces.  Rapidly improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that teachers: – have access to high-quality training to develop their practice – accurately assess what pupils can and cannot do to inform planning so that

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

learning is sufficiently challenging for all pupils, especially the most able – question pupils effectively in order to assess, probe and deepen their learning – provide pupils with high-quality feedback to enable them to fully understand how they can improve their learning.  Urgently improve pupils’ outcomes by ensuring that: – teachers raise their expectations of what pupils are able to achieve – the most able, especially the most able disadvantaged pupils, benefit from teaching that inspires, excites and challenges them to think more deeply about their learning – disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective support to meet their individual needs – girls’ achievement and progress in mathematics are at least in line with the national average – pupils develop positive attitudes to their learning 17–18 November 2016 – teaching assistants’ subject knowledge is improved in mathematics and English to

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

increase the effectiveness of their work. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. 17–18 November 2016

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders, including governors, have an overgenerous view of the school’s effectiveness, including the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Leaders and governors have not taken the rapid action required to tackle the underperformance of pupils.  School leaders have not checked the learning and progress of pupils carefully enough and, as a consequence, have not taken the necessary steps to ensure that pupils make good progress. This is especially so for the most able pupils, the disadvantaged and the most able disadvantaged pupils. These pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable, especially in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school’s current plan for improvement is weak. It does not identify precisely enough the priorities leaders need to take in order to rapidly improve pupils’ progress. Timescales for monitoring and evaluating the impact of actions lack urgency to tackle

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

this legacy of underperformance. For example, the school has no actions clearly in place to identify how it is going to improve the outcomes for the most able disadvantaged pupils.  Leaders are not effectively managing the performance of teachers. They fail to rigorously hold teachers to account for the quality of their work or the achievement and progress their pupils are making.  Subject leaders, while demonstrating a commitment to raise standards, do not have sufficient training or time to carry out their roles effectively. Consequently, they are having little impact on raising standards in their subjects and in ensuring that pupils are making the best possible progress.  The curriculum is inadequate. Pupils are not provided with adequate opportunities to learn across a range of subjects in sufficient depth. For example, pupils have little understanding of what it is like to live in modern Britain or about other cultures, faiths

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

and religions. Topics are not always used well enough to support other areas of learning, such as mathematical and scientific skills. As a result, pupils do not make good progress across subjects.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not making good enough progress given their starting points. Checks by leaders are not sufficiently well established to monitor the progress of these pupils. While the school has set ambitious targets, activities planned are not meeting the needs of pupils. Consequently, these pupils have made less progress with differences in progress and achievement widening between this group and other pupils.  Leaders do not sufficiently monitor the use of the pupil premium to ensure that money is spent wisely. As a result, disadvantaged pupils, especially the most able disadvantaged, are not securing the good progress of which they are capable. 17–18 November 2016

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The school does not use additional sports funding effectively to improve physical education. Pupils do not have access to a wide range of sporting activities. Opportunities for pupils to participate in clubs are extremely limited. For example, they describe how there is currently only a boxing club available which is open to a specific group of pupils. Therefore, the school does not promote well enough equality of opportunity.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is being promoted regularly through school assemblies. For example, assemblies are currently exploring great innovators and ‘agents of change’, looking at people from a range of cultures who are achieving highly. However, this aspect is not yet fully developed across the curriculum.  Parents have mixed views about the school. A significant proportion of those spoken to or who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, raised concerns about

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

the quality of education and care their children are receiving.  The school should not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

p.5

Governance

 Governors have not ensured that leaders provide pupils with a high-quality education. They have not held leaders to account for the decline in standards since the previous inspection. There have been a number of changes within the governing body including the recent appointment of a new chair. They know that progress is not good enough but have not yet reversed this declining trend quickly enough. Governors demonstrate a commitment and ambition to tackle the issues but the impact of their actions is not yet evident. The lack of strategic direction over time has contributed to the school’s decline in performance. Any improvements that have been made, for example in phonics and reading, are fragile. This is exacerbated by the financial situation of the school. The school is currently in deficit.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. The culture of safeguarding is weak. Leaders do not have a clear overview of how effectively the 2016 statutory government guidance, ‘Keeping children safe in education’, is being implemented. They do not have systems in place to rigorously monitor and evaluate safeguarding. There is not a strategic overview in place to ensure that the risk to pupils is minimised. For example, while all staff are carefully vetted prior to commencing employment, not all adults working in the school have received adequate safeguarding training. Also, pupils’ absence, especially persistent absence, is not monitored carefully enough. Consequently, the percentage of pupils who are persistently absent is significantly above the national average and increasing. There is no systematic monitoring and tracking of these pupils when they are not at school to check that they are safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Over time, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has not been good enough to ensure that pupils consistently make strong progress in reading, writing or mathematics. 17–18 November 2016  There is too much variability in teaching across the school. Pupils, who are in the same year group but with different teachers, do not receive the same quality of teaching or learning experiences. Consequently, there is an inequality of opportunity for some pupils.  Teachers do not expect enough of their pupils. This is because they have not received clear guidance on how to check accurately the learning and progress of pupils. Consequently, activities planned do not precisely meet the needs of each pupil enabling them to achieve well. This is especially so for the most able pupils and those most able disadvantaged who are not making good progress.  Teachers do not have a deep understanding of how pupils learn. Teachers do not plan

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

learning activities built on what pupils already know, can do and understand. This results in work frequently being set that is either too easy or too difficult. Work in books confirms that this has a negative impact on the progress pupils make. For example, in mathematics, pupils in Year 3 were repeating the same tasks they had done in Year 2.  Teachers’ questioning is weak. It does not check pupils’ understanding or probe their thinking to deepen their knowledge and understanding. This is hampering pupils’ achievement and progress.  Workbooks viewed from last year, including the previous Year 6 cohort, indicate that pupils, especially the most able pupils and the most able disadvantaged, are not sufficiently challenged in writing and mathematics. Therefore, they do not make sufficient progress in their learning.  Teaching assistants provide some effective support for those pupils identified as having

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, their subject knowledge in English and mathematics is variable. This means that pupils are not consistently receiving the effective support they need to make good progress in their learning.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate. Leaders do not ensure that all concerns identified by staff are appropriately investigated and recorded.  Playtimes are not always positive experiences for pupils. Although some large play equipment is available for use at lunchtimes and playtimes, little other equipment is available. Consequently, these times are not enjoyable for a high proportion of pupils and are not well used to develop pupils’ social and communication skills.  Attendance is monitored by leaders and there are positive signs that overall attendance is improving. However, the percentage of pupils with persistent absence is increasing. While the school is working hard with families to tackle this, attendance remains significantly below national figures. Leaders are not always aware of the location of pupils when they are not in school, nor if they are safe.

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Personal development and welfare

17–18 November 2016  The school teaches pupils to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils describe how they are taught how to use the internet safely, such as not responding to people online whom they do not know.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is inadequate. Leaders are not taking decisive action to ensure that there is a positive learning environment for pupils.  Leaders record behaviour incidents and incidents of physical restraints in pupils’ files. However, leaders do not analyse incidents in school well enough to spot patterns and possible triggers for challenging behaviour. As a result, leaders do not ensure that there is a systematic approach to managing behaviour which is of high quality. Consequently, the number of exclusions has significantly risen since the previous inspection.  Pupils describe that, while teachers do tackle some incidents of poor behaviour, this does not always happen. This was confirmed during the inspection. There were a number of incidents of unsuitable behaviour that were not spotted or tackled by staff. For example, pupils were left unsupervised outside eating their lunch where pupils

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Behaviour

were behaving inappropriately. Similarly, some Year 4 pupils were disruptive during a writing lesson. This was not tackled by the adult and had a negative impact on learning.  Pupils who spoke to inspectors had mixed views about their school. They trust the adults and mostly have good relationships with them. However, they commented that ‘behaviour isn’t always perfect’ and describe how ‘bad behaviour distracts us from learning’. They describe how there are incidents of bullying in school and while staff try to help them, the bullying does not always stop.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Overall, outcomes are not good enough and pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable. This is especially so for the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils and disadvantaged pupils.  Not enough pupils are reaching the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Although there were small improvements in 2016, for example in reading and spelling, overall progress is too slow. For example, girls are not making good enough progress in mathematics and their progress is below that of other pupils nationally. This results in pupils not being well prepared for the next stage in their education.  Pupils are encouraged to read widely at school and at home, and there is evidence that there are improvements in reading with the number of pupils reaching the expected standards above those nationally. However, pupils have limited reading materials. They

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

do not have access to books from a range of authors and subjects to broaden their literary knowledge. This is especially so for the most able readers. Consequently, they are not able to discuss favoured authors or preferred styles. 17–18 November 2016  Pupils’ progress in writing is a particular weakness. Current workbooks and a range viewed from last year indicate that pupils do not write at length with sufficient quality to ensure that they consistently meet the expected standard for their age. Similarly, pupils do not demonstrate high-quality writing skills across other subjects.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics is not good enough for all groups, but especially girls. The number of pupils reaching the expected standard in 2016 was below the national average. This is because the teaching of mathematics is not of a consistently good quality. Teachers do not check what pupils can and cannot do, or plan activities which

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

excite and motivate pupils to make good progress in this subject.  Work in books and across a range of subjects confirms that teachers’ expectations are variable and are often too low. Systems are not in place to carefully track the progress of groups. Consequently, progress for current pupils is inconsistent.  Disadvantaged pupils are not making good enough progress in reading, writing or mathematics. While there are some early signs of improvement in the most recent progress information, for example in reading, progress remains inadequate for this group. The differences between these pupils and other pupils nationally are not diminishing rapidly enough.  The most able pupils and the most able disadvantaged pupils are not being encouraged to produce work of a consistently high standard. Often, the work is too easy and does not challenge their thinking. There is not sufficient opportunity for pupils to work at

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

greater depth. Teachers do not have a clear knowledge of what these pupils can achieve. The most recent information shows that outcomes for these pupils were significantly below other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make the progress they are capable of. Activities planned do not always meet their individual needs; often they do not understand well enough what they need to do. Consequently, this hampers their progress and they are not making the progress expected of them from their starting points.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language do not receive sufficient support or guidance with their learning. As a result, they do not achieve well enough.  The proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is improving year on year as a result of a greater focus on the quality

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

of provision and the teaching of phonics. However, the results remain below the national average and these phonics skills are not yet successfully transferring into pupils reading well enough.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Children enter the Nursery or Reception classes with skills which are below what is expected for their age, especially in their social skills and writing. As a result of some improved teaching, standards in the early years are improving. However, the early years provision requires improvement because teaching remains too variable resulting in outcomes that do not demonstrate consistently strong progress. 17–18 November 2016  Since 2014, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of Reception has improved year on year and is now closer to the national average. This is making children better prepared as they enter Year 1. However, not all groups of children are making as much progress as they can from their starting points.  Tracking systems used in the provision of what children can and cannot do are not yet sufficiently robust to monitor carefully that children are making good gains in their

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Early years provision Requires improvement

learning from their starting points. Consequently, activities planned for children do not always precisely meet their needs. For example, opportunities for the most able children to develop their early writing skills do not meet their needs.  Disadvantaged children do not make sufficient progress. Consequently, there remains a difference between the achievement of these children and other children nationally.  Children quickly learn between right and wrong. This is because staff have clear expectations of behaviour and there are well-established routines which result in a calm and purposeful learning environment.  Teachers have been working more closely with the children’s centre now attached to the school and other Nursery providers. As a result, in 2016, a higher proportion of children started school with skills and understanding that are more typical for their age, especially in mathematics. 17–18 November 2016

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address school@badockswoodschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14–15 November 2012

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The percentage of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is significantly above the national average.  Approximately one third of pupils are from minority ethnic groups where a high proportion speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an educational, health and care plan is below the national average.  Children in the early years are taught in three classes, one Nursery class part time and two Reception classes where children attend full time.  In 2014 and 2015, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6. 17–18 November 2016  Since the previous inspection, Badocks Wood Children’s Centre has joined with the school. However, the centre is inspected separately and did not form part of this

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Information about this school

inspection.  The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the curriculum, complaints, pupil premium and sports premium on its website. 17–18 November 2016

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed lessons or part lessons, most of which were joint observations with leaders.  Meetings were held with leaders, staff and governors. An inspector spoke to an officer from the local authority.  A wide range of documentation was scrutinised during the inspection, including the school’s evaluation of its own performance and data relating to pupils’ attainment and progress. Inspectors also checked the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding arrangements and attendance information.  The inspection team scrutinised the quality of pupils’ work over time.  Inspectors talked with groups of pupils to seek their views about the school. The views of other pupils were gathered during lessons, playtimes and lunchtimes. Inspectors listened to pupils read.  The inspectors took account of the 27 responses from staff questionnaires. They also considered the six responses to Parent View. Inspectors spoke to parents informally at

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Inspection team

Jen Southall, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Marion Borland Ofsted Inspector 17–18 November 2016 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

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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, 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.gov.uk/ofsted

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