Badsey First School

Badsey First School School Lane, Badsey, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 7ES

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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 Requires improvement

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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

 Pupils’ outcomes at the end of key stage 1 have been below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics for the last two years. Current pupils’ progress is inadequate from Year 1 to Year 5.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. They do not accurately assess what pupils can do. Therefore, work is not matched to pupils’ needs. This is especially so for the most able, including the most able disadvantaged, and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Pupils who are at the early stages of learning English are not supported well enough.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop their writing skills in a variety of different styles or at length. Consequently, progress in writing is particularly weak.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to apply their mathematical skills in problem- solving and reasoning. This limits their progress in mathematics.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The curriculum is too narrow and does not meet pupils’ needs.  Leaders at all levels do not use the school’s assessment systems to track pupils’ progress accurately. As a result, pupils who are falling behind are not identified and continue to underachieve.  Leaders’ assessments of the quality of teaching and learning are inaccurate. Consequently, teachers do not receive effective support and weak teaching persists across the school.  The senior teacher in early years is not sufficiently skilled in monitoring and evaluating provision within her area of responsibility. As a result, children do not make good progress.  The attendance of some groups of pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged, is well below national rates and is not improving.  Improvement planning lacks precision. Governors do not hold leaders to account for the school’s poor performance.  Leaders do not check the impact of the use of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. Therefore, ineffective support continues.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils are polite and well-mannered. They behave well around school and at breaktimes.  Good relationships exist between staff and pupils. Pupils are safe and happy.

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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 rates of progress, and thereby raise attainment, for all groups of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.  Improve the quality of leadership and management by: – accurately evaluating the current school performance and ensuring that school improvement planning identifies the school’s key development priorities – detailing the precise outcomes leaders expect to see as a result of school improvement actions and the timescales within which improvements must be achieved – using assessment systems accurately to check on the progress of all groups of pupils – identifying weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment through robust monitoring procedures and providing effective support to eradicate inadequate teaching – using performance appraisal processes to hold leaders and teachers to account – providing effective support to develop the leadership of the early years to ensure that the early years provision enables children to make at least good progress

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– ensuring that the leader of provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is supported effectively to monitor and develop provision for these pupils – ensuring that teachers receive training to support pupils who are at the early stages of learning English – ensuring that governors challenge leaders and hold them to account for school improvement – evaluating the impact of the use of the pupil premium funding, including in the early years, to check that it is improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils – providing a curriculum that develops pupils’ skills across a range of subjects and prepares them for life in modern Britain – closely monitoring the attendance of different groups of pupils, developing strategies to improve attendance, and checking that the strategies are effective – ensuring that the school’s website meets statutory requirements.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by making sure teachers:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– raise their expectations and the level of challenge for all groups of pupils, especially the most able and most-able disadvantaged – accurately assess what pupils can already do and, therefore, plan work which enables them to make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics – provide pupils with more opportunities to write at length, and in a range of different styles, to enable them to develop their writing skills – plan more opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in problem- solving and reasoning – plan work to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills across a range of subjects – insist pupils present their work to the best of their ability.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

It is strongly recommended that the school does not appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not taken effective action to address the school’s poor performance over the last two years. Leaders do not accurately evaluate school performance. Therefore, school improvement planning does not focus on the key priorities to tackle the weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment. Monitoring and evaluation of the planning is limited. There are no clear success criteria in the improvement plans to enable leaders to judge if the actions they have taken have been successful. Leaders at all levels have been too slow to respond to the school’s decline and, therefore, no improvements are evident in current pupils’ outcomes.  Leaders do not use the school’s assessment systems accurately to check pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics. They do not adequately check if teachers’ assessments of what pupils can do are accurate. The information provided by the systems does not match the progress in pupils’ books and demonstrates

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

inaccuracies in teachers’ assessments. Leaders have not identified the inconsistencies and do not have an accurate understanding of current pupils’ progress. Leaders have not identified pupils who are making less progress than they should and these pupils continue to underachieve. This is especially so for the most able, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Leaders do not monitor the quality of teaching and learning effectively. They do not use all available information to assess accurately the strengths and weaknesses of teaching across the school. As a result, leaders have not provided the right support and training to help teachers to improve. Leaders do not use systems to manage teachers’ performance well enough to bring about the necessary improvements in teaching. Consequently, weak teaching persists across the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Some subject leaders have identified the lack of progress in their subjects, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics. They have introduced new initiatives to improve the quality of teaching and learning in these subjects, such as the use of ‘calculation pathways’ to help teachers plan mathematics. However, leaders recognise that the impact of these initiatives are yet to be seen.  The leader of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has not received enough support to carry out the role effectively. The leader does not monitor or review the provision for pupils who have special educational and/or disabilities well enough to ensure that it is meeting their needs. The impact of the use of the additional funding received is unclear. Pupils’ progress is not tracked and the individual targets for the pupils do not reflect their needs adequately enough. As a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

result, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not making the progress they should.  The school has an increasing number of pupils who join the school with little or no spoken English. These pupils are not well supported due to a lack of staff training. Therefore, some pupils are unable to participate in any of the learning and are making slow progress.  Disadvantaged pupils currently in school are not making the progress they are capable of. Leaders do not monitor how well the additional funding received to support them is improving outcomes. The information that the school collects on the use of the pupil premium, including on the school’s website, does not evaluate the effectiveness of the support provided. Additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used in a variety of ways, including to support speech and language development in the early years, providing music lessons and employing the services of an education welfare

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

officer.  The curriculum does not meet pupils’ needs. Leaders do not plan the curriculum carefully enough to ensure that the skills taught develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding progressively from year to year. There is little understanding of the depth of learning required in each year group. Pupils are not challenged and are often required to carry out simple tasks such as colouring maps or cutting out labels for charts.  There is no monitoring of how much time is dedicated to the teaching of subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics. This results in some subjects being taught for a whole term, and some not at all. Progress in subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics is not tracked, but work in pupils’ books shows inadequate progress is made across the school in wider curriculum subjects.  A range of extra-curricular activities provide pupils with wider curriculum opportunities.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

There is an orchestra and Year 4 pupils learn to play a musical instrument. Art, cooking, eco and sports clubs further supplement wider opportunities for pupils. Pupils say they enjoy the clubs, with many pupils participating in at least one activity. All key stage 2 pupils are involved in a sporting opportunity at some point over the year. The breakfast and after-school clubs are well attended and provide safe and stimulating activities for the pupils.  Pupils’ social and moral development is strong. Pupils have opportunities to learn about right from wrong. Assemblies celebrate achievements and pupils hold fundraising activities. A school council is elected and ‘peer mediators’ support pupils. However, pupils’ knowledge and understanding of other faiths and beliefs and other cultures is underdeveloped. Religious education opportunities do not enable pupils to reflect on spirituality well enough. As a result, pupils are not well prepared for life in modern

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

Britain.  The local authority is working closely with the school and has provided appropriate advice and guidance. For example, advisers have provided support and training to help teachers improve the teaching of writing. A review in October 2016 accurately identified further actions for the school to undertake. However, leaders and governors have been slow to react to the recommendations and improvements in school performance are not evident.  Leaders use the additional sports funding well to provide professional development for staff. This includes training teaching assistants in physical education (PE) to enable them to encourage pupils to be more active at breaktimes. All pupils in key stage 2 participate in a sports event or club. Participation rates in sports activities have risen over the last two years. The ‘school games crew’ run events such as ‘Sport Relief’.  All staff are supportive of the leadership. The overwhelming majority of parents also

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

support the school and say their children are happy in school. However, these positive views do not match inspectors’ judgements about the quality of pupils’ learning.

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Governance of the school

 Governors do not hold leaders to account for the poor progress of pupils. They accept the information provided by leaders too readily and do not challenge leaders effectively, especially where information provided shows inconsistencies.  Governors’ lack of understanding of the school’s performance and the expected outcomes of school improvement planning means that they do not challenge leaders on the effectiveness of systems to improve the quality of teaching and learning.  While governors know how the additional funding received for disadvantaged pupils is used, they do not know if it is improving outcomes for these pupils. This is because leaders do not track the progress of disadvantaged pupils well enough to see if the support provided is helping them to catch up.  The school’s website does not meet statutory requirements. This has not been checked by governors.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  There is a strong culture of safeguarding within the school. As a result of this strong culture, pupils say they feel safe. All staff are committed to keeping pupils safe. Pupils are taught about how to keep themselves safe in a wide range of situations, including online. Pupils talk confidently about how to keep themselves safe and who they can go to if they have a concern. The school has appropriate systems in place to check the suitability of all staff who work with the pupils. Leaders involved in appointing staff have received ‘safer recruitment’ training. Staff understand the safeguarding policies and procedures and updates to safeguarding training are provided. Concerns raised about pupils are followed up. The school works with external agencies to support vulnerable pupils and these cases are well documented and securely held. Appropriate risk assessments are carried out on all trips, residential visits and the school premises.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low in all subjects and they do not plan work that meets pupils’ needs. Teachers do not use the school’s assessment system accurately to identify what pupils can do and what their next steps in learning should be.  Teachers take little account of the expectations for each year group set out in the national curriculum. All pupils are expected to complete the same work, regardless of their ability. Consequently, pupils currently in the school are making inadequate progress, especially in writing.  Support provided for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not effective. Teachers do not understand the specific needs of the pupils and, therefore, do not plan effectively for them. Frequently work is too challenging and pupils are unable to understand what is expected of them. As a result, these pupils are making limited progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Expectations of the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, are especially low. These pupils are often expected to repeat work which they have shown they can achieve on many previous occasions. They are not challenged to achieve the higher levels of performance in reading, writing or mathematics.  Teachers do not plan enough opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills in a range of different styles. The vast majority of writing in pupils’ books in a range of subjects focuses on writing descriptions. The development of skills across the school is limited, with older pupils being taught work intended for much younger pupils, even if they already understand it. On some occasions, resources limit pupils’ opportunities to write at length. Progress in writing across the school is particularly weak.  There are limited opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in problem-

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

solving and reasoning activities. Where they are taught, the level of challenge is low. Problems presented to pupils are very simplistic and do not challenge pupils’ mathematical thinking. Therefore, progress in mathematics is limited.  Teachers do not plan work which supports pupils who are at the early stages of learning English. These pupils are often unable to participate in the learning because no account is taken of the language barriers. Some pupils copy words out without knowing the meaning of the words. Consequently, these pupils make limited progress.  Subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics are covered in very little depth. Teachers plan work which does not build on pupils’ previous learning. There is no clear picture of how knowledge, skills and understanding are being developed in each subject across the school. Teachers do not challenge poorly presented work. As a result, pupils are making very limited progress across the curriculum.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Phonics is taught effectively across key stage 1 and there are well-established routines in place. Work is matched to the needs of the pupils. Pupils can apply their phonic skills well in their reading and writing. Pupils make at least expected progress in phonics.  Some teaching assistants contribute well to pupils’ learning. They challenge pupils to think for themselves and ask effective questions to support their learning. However, this is not consistent across the school.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils have a good knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. They are taught about e-safety and can explain what they must and must not do when using the internet. Pupils know how their use of computers is monitored in school.  Pupils’ understanding of bullying is very clear. They say bullying is rare in school, but if it does happen, it is dealt with immediately. Pupils say there is always someone to talk to if they have a problem. ‘Peer mediators’ are appointed and they help to support pupils who have problems at breaktimes or pupils who, occasionally, do not have anyone to play with.  There are a range of opportunities for pupils to take responsibility. A school council is elected annually and its members are proud of their achievements. For example, the school council recently organised a cake sale to raise money for the new library. Older

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Personal development and welfare

pupils have the responsibility of ensuring that younger pupils receive their milk and fruit each day.  Pupils participate in residential visits in Year 3 and Year 5. This helps to develop their independence and confidence when away from home.  All parents who responded to the online questionnaire said their children are safe in school and the vast majority said their children are well looked after and happy in school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  In lessons, pupils follow instructions and listen well. Pupils work together cooperatively in groups. However, they do not routinely apply themselves as well as they should. Some books show a lack of pride and pupils’ presentation is poor and, on some occasions, there is a decline in presentation over time.  Attendance policies and procedures are in place. The school works with external agencies, for example an educational welfare officer, to improve attendance. Leaders have introduced strategies to improve attendance. However, leaders do not track the attendance of different groups carefully enough and do not know how successful the strategies to improve attendance are. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils remains well below national rates and is not improving.  Pupils are polite and courteous. They show respect towards one another and to adults.

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Behaviour

Movement around school is calm and orderly. Pupils play positively together at breaktimes, with older pupils taking care of younger pupils. A community spirit is fostered across the school.  The school’s rewards and sanctions are understood by all pupils. ‘Zone boards’ are consistently used by staff to encourage positive behaviour. The vast majority of pupils remain in the ‘green zone’, with very few showing poor behaviour which would result in them moving down to the ‘amber’ or ‘red zones’. Pupils work hard to achieve ‘gold awards’ for good behaviour, which are presented in assemblies.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils’ outcomes at the end of key stage 1 in reading and mathematics were below national figures in 2015 and 2016.  Additionally, in 2015 and 2016 the proportion of pupils achieving the expected level in writing, as required by the two different assessment systems, was significantly below national figures and no pupils achieved the higher level of performance in writing in 2016.  Teachers do not accurately assess what pupils can do. In addition to this, the school’s assessment system does not accurately track pupils’ progress across the school. The information provided on inspection showed significant inconsistencies and did not match the evidence in pupils’ work currently. From their starting points, pupils’ work in their books demonstrate inadequate progress in reading, writing and mathematics from Year 1 to Year 5. This is because teachers do not accurately assess what pupils can do and, therefore, do not plan work to meet their needs.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Teachers’ low expectations of what pupils can achieve also results in pupils making inadequate progress. This is especially so for the most able, including the most able disadvantaged, and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  There are no assessment systems to check how well pupils are progressing in subjects other than English and mathematics. Expectations of pupils across the wider curriculum are particularly low. Work does not build on pupils’ prior learning and the progression of skills and knowledge is limited in a range of subjects.  The proportion of pupils achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 has risen over the last three years, and was in line with national averages in 2016. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving the required standard was also broadly in line with other pupils nationally.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 The majority of children who join the Reception Year have skills, knowledge and abilities that are typical for their age. Teachers assess carefully what children can already do and plan some stimulating learning activities to meet their needs. However, expectations of what some children can achieve are too low. This is especially so for the most able, and for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Some learning activities do not challenge these children well enough and, therefore, they do not make the progress of which they are capable. Overall, children in the Reception Year make broadly typical progress from their different starting points. In 2016, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development was in line with national averages. However, outcomes are not yet good for the majority of the children and not all children are well equipped for their start in Year 1.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 The headteacher does not ensure that the senior teacher in early years is fully aware of the expectations of the role, provide support to the leader to undertake the role, or monitor if the responsibilities of the role are fully carried out.  The senior teacher in early years does not evaluate the overall effectiveness of the provision, track the progress of different groups of children or monitor the quality of teaching and learning. The leader does not know how the additional funding received to support disadvantaged pupils is used in the early years. Therefore, the leader is unable to identify key development priorities to ensure that all groups of children make at least good progress across early years. There is currently no school improvement planning in place for early years. Teachers have not received any professional development or training for some considerable time.  However, the leader does work closely with all staff in the early years to ensure that

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Early years provision Requires improvement

there is consistency in planning and delivery of the curriculum. Practical support is provided to all staff, who work closely as a team. Teaching assistants contribute effectively to the children’s learning.  Phonics is taught regularly and accurately. Teachers give children the opportunity to apply their phonic knowledge in writing. However, there is a lack of challenge for the most able children. For example, children were writing simple three-letter words as part of their phonic session when they could already write much more complex words, as shown in their books. The activities were not matched to their learning needs.  There is a strong focus on developing children’s personal, social and emotional skills in the early years. This is particularly successful and children are confident, independent and happy learners. Children are keen to share what they have been learning about. For example, during the inspection, a group of children talked excitedly about their

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Early years provision Requires improvement

dinosaur maps and explained clearly where their dinosaurs were going to.  Children join the school from a variety of settings. The school works closely with the settings to ensure that detailed information is received prior to the children starting school. Children are invited in for a series of ‘taster days’ in the summer term. Parents are involved with the induction process and receive detailed information about the school. The school works particularly hard to develop relationships with families who are new to the school.  Additional funding received to support disadvantaged children is used to provide specialist support from outside agencies such as the speech and language therapist. However, the impact of the use of the funding is not routinely checked. Consequently, it is unclear how effectively the funding is used across the early years.  Safeguarding in the early years is effective. Relevant policies and procedures to keep

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Early years provision Requires improvement

children safe are in place and understood by all staff. There is a high ratio of staff to children. All staff place a high priority on keeping the children safe.

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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 office@badseyfirst.worcs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20–21 March 2013

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the use of the pupil premium, the curriculum and information about special educational needs on its website.  Badsey First School is an average-sized primary school.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage and most speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is below average.  The proportion of pupils identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities is slightly above average.  There are nine classes in the school, including three mixed-age classes.  The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. Some of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  Inspectors met with pupils, heard a selection of pupils read and observed pupils at breaktimes and lunchtimes.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and senior leaders with subject responsibilities. The lead inspector met with members of the governing body and spoke to a representative of the local authority.  A range of pupils’ books from all year groups and a range of subjects were looked at.  A number of documents were considered including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans. Inspectors also considered information about pupils’ progress, behaviour, attendance and safety.  Inspectors took account of 28 responses on the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors spoke to a number of parents before school. There was one response

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Information about this inspection

to the online pupil questionnaire which was considered.  Inspectors reviewed 17 responses to an inspection questionnaire returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Ann Pritchard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Janet Satchwell 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

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

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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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