Braunston Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Gwenda Barker and Mrs Sue Rigby Co-headteachers Braunston Church of England Primary School Braunston Daventry Northamptonshire NN11 7HF

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 23 May 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in January 2014.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

In your roles of co-headteachers, you have quickly and accurately identified areas for improvement and have taken the actions necessary to address them. This has resulted in the standards that pupils achieve remaining above those achieved by all pupils nationally.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Over the last three years, overall attainment has remained above the national average in the early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2. The proportion of children meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check is also above the national level. However, you have correctly identified the need to increase rates of progress for some disadvantaged children, and some of the most able key stage 1 pupils, in reading. You acknowledge that, overall, progress is good but not yet outstanding. You remain determined to address this.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ behaviour and conduct are strengths. They listen attentively, follow instructions swiftly and engage productively in the tasks they are set. They support each other well in their learning and can articulate how the school’s policies and procedures support them in making progress. You have already identified that some pupils in key stage 2 need to improve their handwriting and presentation and have already begun to address this, with early signs of success. Pupils treat each other with respect and describe the school as an inclusive, fun learning environment. They talk proudly about their learning and achievements. They speak highly and are rightly proud of the work that they do through the school council, house teams and the eco and anti-bullying committees. Their willingness to contribute to the school community has been secured by the school’s commitment to providing many opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning,

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

some of which have been published and shared nationally.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Parents are consistently positive in their views of the school. They speak highly of the approachability of staff and how issues are addressed in a speedy manner. They informed me that their children enjoy school and make good progress. One parent described the school as ‘awesome’, adding that ‘It holds a very special place in my heart.’

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

The school’s comprehensive safeguarding policy is consistently applied, ensuring that children are kept safe. Where concerns exist, you provide bespoke support and intervention to improve outcomes. Your partnership work with a wide range of external agencies ensures that specialist help is provided where needed.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Governors have a secure understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and carry out their duties rigorously. They regularly monitor the implementation of the school’s policy and ensure that the single central record is compliant. They support leaders in identifying aspects of practice that can be further strengthened and routinely monitor these improvements.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Pupils describe that they are happy and know who they would go to if they had a problem. They know how to stay safe online and speak fluently about strategies to reduce online risks.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

In response to local risk, you utilise your swimming pool to make sure that every pupil is able to swim unaided by the time they leave the school.

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Short inspection of Braunston Church of England Primary School

Along with governors, you have has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality.

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Inspection findings

 Disadvantaged pupils are progressing well. You have ensured that there is a clear focus on this group, and that their progress is monitored frequently and there is a shared sense of accountability. The school’s pupil premium strategy sets out the wide range of actions put in place to ensure that this happens. However, this strategy could be strengthened to ensure that the impact of each action can be monitored, evaluated and used by governors to hold leaders to account more precisely.  You have correctly identified the need to increase the proportion of pupils in key stage 1 who make accelerated progress from their starting points in reading. This is a key action in your school improvement plan and has resulted in aspirational targets being set. Again, this group is frequently monitored during pupils’ progress review meetings and additional interventions are put in place where needed. Current pupils appear to be making increased progress, but this remains

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Inspection findings

a key priority.  You are aware of the high absence and persistent absence rates for the group of pupils who have an education, health and care plan and/or statement of special educational needs. However, this has been adversely affected by a very small number of pupils with highly complex needs. You have appropriately provided a comprehensive package of support that includes working with other external agencies. Although this issue is still to be fully addressed, you have put actions in place to tackle it.  The roles of co-headteachers are providing the school with stability and a seamless transition from one headteacher to the next. Your decision to share all headteacher responsibilities has resulted in all members of the school community being clear about the school’s leadership and management structure. It has also resulted in a leadership team that works tirelessly to secure the best provision possible for all pupils. Parents speak highly about the leadership and

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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

 the pupil premium strategy is strengthened so that the effectiveness of each aspect of spending can be precisely measured and used by governors to hold senior leaders to account  the proportion of pupils in key stage 1 who make accelerated progress from their starting points in reading is increased so that it is at least in line with the national figure  pupils’ handwriting and presentation are improved, especially in key stage 2  the drive to further increase rates of progress is continued so that they are, like attainment, greater than those found nationally.

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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 Peterborough, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Northamptonshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you to share and discuss the school’s self- evaluation and to agree my key lines of enquiry for the inspection. We also met to talk about the strategy for the use of the pupil premium, pupils’ absence and safeguarding procedures. I met with four governors, pupils from Year 6 and with parents at the start of the school day. I considered the responses of parents made to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey. We visited all classes in the school together, spending a short time in each. I had a telephone conversation with a representative from the school’s academy trust and we looked at a sample of pupils’ work together. I viewed a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plan, the single central record, governing body documentation and behaviour logs.

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