St Botolph's Church of England Primary School

St Botolph's C of E Primary School Inspection report

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110822 Unique Reference Number City of Peterborough Local Authority 325233 Inspection number 10–11 December 2008 Inspection dates Martin Newell Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Voluntary controlled School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 382 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Bob Smith Chair Mrs Jenny Daniels Headteacher 29 September 2005 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Oundle Road School address Orton Longueville Peterborough Cambridgeshire PE2 7EA 01733231313 Telephone number 01733 230620 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 10–11 December 2008 Inspection dates 325233 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. 2 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

St Botolph's is a larger than average size school. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below the national average. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly in line with that found nationally. The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is above average. These pupils have, for example, moderate and severe learning difficulties. Although most pupils are from White British backgrounds, other minority ethnic groups are represented in the school and a small proportion of these pupils are at an early stage of learning English. Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provision is provided for children in the Reception classes. The governing body manages a before and after school club that runs every day for the pupils of the school and approximately eight children under the age of five also attend. These clubs were opened in September 2008. The school has gained

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Description of the school

Health Promoting and ECO school awards as well as the Basic Skills Quality Mark and Investors in People awards. The current headteacher has been in post for 12 months.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory and improving school. Although improvement since the last inspection has been satisfactory, and there is still much work to be done, the pace of improvement over the last year has been significant and it is evident that there is good capacity for further development. The headteacher has raised expectations to a high level and has brought, staff, pupils and governors with her. The vision is to provide a good quality of education for all pupils. The recent record of improvement suggests that the school is well placed to achieve this vision. Many parents speak well of the school and a comment made by one summed up that of others, 'The place has a lot of renewed energy.' Standards had been in decline since the last inspection and test and assessment data showed that pupils were making inadequate progress, particularly in Years 3 to 6. However, the headteacher introduced a more rigorous approach to assessment and target setting, to tackling

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Grade: 3

underachievement and to improving teaching. Consequently, this decline has been reversed. The 2008 test and assessment results show standards were average at the end of Year 2 and above average at the end of Year 6. This represents satisfactory progress from pupils' starting points. Although there are pockets of good progress, this is not consistent enough because of variability in teaching, though overall, teaching is satisfactory. In some classes teaching is good, at times better because tasks set challenge, motivate and enthuse the pupils in equal measure and the more able are really pushed on. However, these factors are not yet evident in all classes. Pupils' contribute much to the school. They are confident, polite and well behaved individuals who enjoy school. They have respect for the feelings and beliefs of others and make a telling contribution to the school community and beyond. They have a good awareness of how to

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Grade: 3

follow a healthy lifestyle and how to manage risks in their lives. They leave school appropriately prepared, in terms of learning key skills for the future. The curriculum on offer is satisfactory and improving, and already has good enrichment opportunities. In order to accelerate progress and improve standards, the school is beginning to develop pupils' investigative and enquiry skills through a more cross-curricular, exciting and innovative approach but this is not yet fully embedded. All staff play their part in ensuring that good pastoral care and academic guidance are given a high priority. As a result, pupils feel safe and have a good awareness of their personal academic targets and what is needed to reach the next level. Leadership and management are satisfactory but that of the headteacher is very good. She has played a pivotal role in accurately identifying the school's weaknesses and then tackling them

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Grade: 3

rigorously and successfully. Sustaining the improvements as well as introducing new initiatives is still work in progress. Senior and subject leaders have made a good start in developing their roles. However, their monitoring of teaching, learning and standards is not yet rigorous enough to help ensure good progress is the norm.

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Grade: 3

Provision and teaching in the EYFS is satisfactory and improving at a good pace. Over time children have not always made enough progress but now a different picture is emerging. Children start school with attainment levels similar to those found nationally. Children are making satisfactory progress overall but good progress in their communication skills. They are on track to reach nationally expected standards by the end of the Reception year. Children settle quickly 4 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008 to school routines because of good levels of care and welfare, which also result in their good personal development, behaviour and enjoyment. Teaching is currently never less than satisfactory and occasionally outstanding. In both classes teaching is striking an appropriate balance between adult directed and child chosen activities. The good teaching of letters and

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Grade: 3

sounds is enabling children to make accelerated progress in their early reading skills. At its best, teaching helps learning spring to life and sets tasks that challenge the more able children. This practice is not yet consistent enough. Assessment and tracking of children's progress are satisfactory and improving. Appropriate use is made of the outdoor play area although a lack of a canopy restricts its use in inclement weather. Leadership and management are satisfactory but monitoring of teaching and provision is not yet rigorous enough.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the incidence of good and better teaching by ensuring that lessons consistently challenge, motivate and enthuse pupils, particularly the more able. ■ Ensure that senior leaders and subject leaders rigorously monitor teaching, learning and standards to help good progress become the norm. ■ Develop pupils' basic, investigative and enquiry skills through creative, challenging tasks across different subjects and other curriculum projects. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Progress and achievement are satisfactory. Standards when children start at the school are broadly in line with national expectations. Improvements in provision and teaching in EYFS now see children making satisfactory progress and good progress in aspects of their language skills, ensuring that standards are securely in line with national expectations, and getting better, by the end of EYFS. Standards by the end of Year 2 and, particularly by the end of Year 6, declined since the last inspection. In 2007, the progress made by pupils placed the school in the bottom 10% of schools nationally. However, 2008 teachers' assessments at the end of Year 2 showed standards to be average and unvalidated test data for Year 6 pupils indicated standards were above average. Both these sets of results and rigorous scrutiny of present work of pupils this term show that progress for all different groups of pupils is now satisfactory overall given their starting points.

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Grade: 3

The decline in standards and progress has been tackled by significant improvements in leadership, teaching, assessment, tracking of progress, support programmes and targets, but good progress is not yet consistent enough across the school.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and attendance is good. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils behave well in class, at break times and at the after school clubs and have positive attitudes to their work. They develop respect and a good appreciation of their own culture and that of others. Their understanding of the importance of staying healthy and safe is good and they are aware of the possible dangers of the internet. Pupils respond 5 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008 maturely to positions of responsibility. School council members discuss and make decisions, about improvements to the school. For example, they chose playtime equipment and put their views forward about school meals. 'Super pupils on trust' (SPOT) help at dinner times, assemblies and in the library and older pupils act as playground mentors to support younger pupils. They

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Grade: 2

are active in the wider community and fundraise for charities, attend church events and sing at several local happenings. They correspond with pupils at schools in Tanzania and Australia and this helps to reinforce their sense of belonging to a global community. Pupils' basic skills are satisfactory. They work cooperatively and well together and rise to the challenges given to them, such as those to promote business and enterprise skills. As a result, they are soundly prepared for their secondary education.

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Grade: 3

Although teaching is satisfactory, it has improved significantly over the last 12 months. The incidence of good teaching is increasing but is not yet high enough to ensure that all pupils make consistently good progress. Across the school, relationships are good, teachers make good use of interactive whiteboards and teaching assistants are generally utilised well to support pupils who find learning more difficult. Teaching is at its best when lessons bristle with pace and challenge, work is well matched to the differing abilities of the pupils, particularly the more able and problem solving and investigative tasks hook and maintain the interest and enthusiasm of the pupils. It is in these lessons that pupils are highly motivated and readily rise to challenges set. These factors are not yet present in enough lessons and at times lessons lack a spark and vibrancy to fuel pupils' eagerness to learn. There are some good examples of marking which

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Grade: 3

makes clear to pupils what they need to do to improve but this good practice lacks consistency.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum ensures that basic skills in literacy and numeracy are developed in a satisfactory manner and follow national guidance. Laptops and other information and communication technology aids are used well to support learning. The school has recognised the necessity to make the curriculum more creative and has introduced plans to develop pupils' investigative and enquiry skills across different subjects and through other more innovative curriculum projects. These strategies have not been in place long enough to impact on raising standards but shoots of success are coming through, particularly in writing in different subjects. The provision for pupils with learning difficulties is satisfactory and is improving as well-planned support programmes become more embedded. Challenging provision for the more able pupils is not consistent enough. The curriculum is enriched well by a wide range of visitors and visits,

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Grade: 3

including a residential visit for older pupils. Club activities, such as sports and musical activities are well supported and many pupils have individual instrumental tuition. Pupils who attend the before and after school clubs enjoy the wide range of activities on offer. The curriculum has been widened effectively so that all junior pupils learn conversational Italian. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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Grade: 2

The pastoral care of pupils, both in school and at the after school clubs is good and safeguarding procedures are robust. Staff go the extra-mile to ensure that the social and emotional needs of the pupils are quickly identified and dealt with. Pupils talk about how behaviour has improved significantly; how any bullying is dealt with swiftly and how they are listened to and respected. All these factors help them feel safe and valued. Good links with outside support agencies, alongside the school's own internal mechanisms, particularly the learning mentors, mean that appropriate guidance and help are quickly provided for pupils experiencing difficulties with learning, their personal lives or for pupils who may be at an early stage of acquiring English. Academic guidance is good. Pupils have a good awareness of their individual targets and these are reviewed on a regular basis. In addition, older pupils have a good knowledge of the National

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Grade: 2

Curriculum levels they are aspiring to and pupils set their own targets. This good practice is set to be extended to younger pupils.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher provides very strong, effective and dynamic leadership. She has been the driving force behind significant improvements in many aspects of school life, not least pupil progress and standards, behaviour and teaching. No stone has been left unturned in the quest for improvement as she continues to set the bar of expectation higher. She recognises that there is still much work to be done to embed initiatives and further planned improvements so that they have the best possible impact on how well pupils achieve. Key to this is the role played by senior and subject leaders. These roles have improved but are not yet fully developed in relation to monitoring teaching and pupils' standards and achievement. The school's self evaluation is spot on and is driven by a shared desire to rapidly improve standards and achievement and ensure an equality of opportunity for all pupils. The school establishes

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Grade: 3

satisfactory links with the community and is always looking at how it can improve pupils' awareness of their place in a global community. Governance is satisfactory and continues to improve. Governors are supportive, know the school well and have rightly identified the need to increase the role they play in actively monitoring the work of the school through more focused visits. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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needs of learners?

Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well being? 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

3 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 3 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 3 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 3 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

12 December 2008 Dear Children Inspection of St Botolph's C of E Primary School, Peterborough, PE2 7EA You will probably remember that we visited your school not too long ago and I am now writing to let you know what we found out. But before I do, I would just like to say thank you for making us feel welcome and for being so ready to share your thoughts about St Botolph's. We had a chance to talk to quite a lot of you and I have told your teachers how you were so helpful and polite. It was good to hear that many of you enjoy school, that bullying is not an issue and that there have been a number of recent improvements. Overall, we found your school to be satisfactory but getting better at a quick pace. All the staff are committed to improve teaching so that you can learn at a faster rate. We found that staff care for you well and make learning enjoyable through the clubs and other activities. The school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

is good at helping you keep fit, safe and healthy. Mrs Daniels is a very good headteacher and, together with all the staff and governors, wants to make the school an even better place to learn. I know that you want the same and you are certainly playing your part by your good behaviour, your enjoyment of school and the way in which you respect and help one another. Well done! We have talked to your teachers about how they can help make the school a more exciting place to learn. They are going to make teaching even better so that all of you, particularly those who find learning quite easy, make good progress; provide you with lots of exciting opportunities to test out your skills in different subjects and projects, and for teachers in charge of subjects to check more closely on how well you are doing in lessons. The staff and governors want the school to improve. I know you will want to play your part by

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

continuing to work hard and behave well. We wish you every success in the future. It was a pleasure to meet you. Yours sincerely Martin Newell Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: St Botolph's C of E Primary School, 10–11 December 2008

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