Bloxham Church of England Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Matthew Ingall Headteacher Bloxham Church of England Primary School Tadmarton Road Bloxham Banbury Oxfordshire OX15 4HP

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 8 March 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in February 2012.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You rightly set high expectations of staff and pupils and you demonstrate a clear commitment to further improving the quality of provision within your school. You have used delegation successfully to maintain focus within your leadership team and ensure that staff carry out their work effectively. You have established a warm, open and supportive culture in the school that enables staff and pupils to develop confidence and succeed in their work.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

The school is a calm and orderly environment. Pupils and staff demonstrate mutual respect for each other, creating a welcoming and inclusive community. Pupils are polite and they demonstrate consistently good attitudes towards their learning. The positive attitudes of both staff and pupils were clear during an assembly, when all staff and pupils sang enthusiastically with a pupil band. Lessons proceed without disruption because of highly productive relationships and pupils’ consistently good behaviour. At breaktimes, pupils of all ages and backgrounds play well together. Pupils say they enjoy coming to school, they are happy and they feel well looked after by staff.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

At the time of the last inspection, leaders were asked to ensure that the quality of teaching in the school was consistently high. Leaders were also asked to ensure that the quality of teaching was monitored well and that pupils knew what to do and how to improve their work. Effective monitoring procedures have enabled leaders to gain a clear understanding of the quality of teaching. As a result, leaders take swift action to improve this where necessary. Pupils’ achievement is measured accurately and staff provide effective support where pupils need to catch up. However, occasionally tasks are not matched sharply enough to pupils’ starting points.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

You have accurately identified that in the past some disadvantaged pupils did not make sufficiently rapid progress. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the challenges faced by your disadvantaged pupils. Using this understanding, staff take effective action to support these pupils. As a result, gaps between the achievement of these pupils and that of their classmates are diminishing steadily.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ rates of attendance in the previous academic year were not high enough. The rate of attendance was well below the national average and was particularly low for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. You have acted swiftly and with determination to ensure that more pupils attend regularly. Pupils’ rates of attendance have improved, although some disadvantaged pupils and some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities still do not attend regularly enough.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records are accurate and of high quality. Staff training is up to date. Staff understand how to identify and report concerns about pupils’ welfare. When concerns arise, leaders work effectively with external agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe.

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Short inspection of Bloxham Church of England Primary School

The school is a safe and nurturing environment. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, with a clear emphasis on online safety within the curriculum. Internet access is filtered appropriately. Leaders have a detailed knowledge of the specific needs within your school community and so they take early effective action to ensure the safety of all pupils.

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Inspection findings

 I looked at how effectively leaders are improving the quality of teaching. Leaders evaluate the quality of teaching accurately. This provides you with an up-to-date and correct understanding of where teaching requires further improvement. You use this knowledge incisively to ensure that staff training is well matched to the development requirements of your staff. You accurately identify strengths within your teaching staff and so deploy staff effectively to improve outcomes for pupils.  Staff rightly set high expectations for all pupils. Pupils understand what they are expected to achieve in lessons and they understand how to improve their work. However, teachers do not always plan tasks that precisely match the needs of pupils. Generally, pupils who need additional help with their work are identified rapidly and supported well to catch up. As a result, most pupils achieve well.  I investigated how effectively leaders are improving pupils’ rates of attendance.

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Inspection findings

Helpfully, leaders have rightly made this area for improvement their top priority. Attendance of all pupils is monitored rigorously, allowing leaders to identify and support those pupils who do not attend regularly enough. Leaders have an accurate understanding of why some pupils do not attend school regularly. As a result, actions to improve attendance are clear, well-planned and effective.  You have worked well to forge links with parents and carers of those pupils who do not attend regularly enough, developing parents’ understanding of the importance of regular attendance. You use pupil premium funding effectively to encourage disadvantaged pupils to attend school. When pupils are absent, leaders act swiftly to ensure that they are safe and staff assist them appropriately so they can attend school. The rates of pupils’ attendance are now close to the national average. However, there is still work to be done to ensure that even

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Inspection findings

more disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities attend school regularly.  I investigated how effectively leaders are improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. You have an accurate and comprehensive understanding of your school community. This enables you readily to identify barriers to individual pupils’ learning. Staff work effectively to overcome these. Leaders monitor the progress of disadvantaged pupils accurately. Pupil premium funding is used appropriately to support those who need to catch up and to prepare disadvantaged pupils for learning at the start of the school day. Because of your effective work to improve pupils’ attendance, more disadvantaged pupils now attend school regularly. Pupils who are disadvantaged are catching up with their peers, not least because of improved attendance.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 attendance rates for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities continue to improve rapidly  where necessary, teachers plan tasks that promote pupils’ progress from their starting points more effectively.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Oxford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Oxfordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I checked safeguarding arrangements, including the records of recruitment checks, policies and procedures. I reviewed a range of published information including on the school’s website and reviewed the school’s self- evaluation. I visited classes in all key stages with the headteacher and deputy headteacher where we observed learning and looked at pupils’ work. In meetings with senior leaders we discussed the quality of teaching, attendance, the use of the pupil premium, progress information for current pupils and the monitoring and training of staff. I observed pupils during breaktimes. I spoke with a group of teachers, a group of pupils and small groups of parents. I met with members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and spoke to a representative of the Diocese of Oxford. I reviewed records of pupils’ attendance, pupils’ behaviour, leadership team meetings, governors’ meetings and information

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Information about the inspection

about the attainment of current pupils. I considered 69 responses to the Ofsted Parent View online questionnaire, 53 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey and 27 responses to the staff survey.

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