Braybrooke Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 22–23 March 2012 Inspection number 380323 Braybrooke Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 121797 Local authority Northamptonshire Inspection number 380323 Inspection dates 22–23 March 2012 Lead inspector Joseph Peacock

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare provision, managed by the governing body, was inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 44 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Peter Dixon Headteacher Ken Sharman Date of previous school inspection 5 November 2008 School address Church Close Braybrooke LE16 8LD Telephone number 01858 464799 Fax number 01858 464799 Email address bursar@braybrooke.northants-ecl.gov.uk

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Registered childcare provision EY420612 Braybrook Pre-School Number of children on roll in the registered childcare provision Date of last inspection of registered childcare provision 6 July 2011 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 Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. 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

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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.

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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.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspector spent four hours visiting eight lessons and observing all class teachers. This included observations in two pre-school sessions and talking to staff, parents and children. The inspector took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. He held meetings with the acting headteacher, representatives of the governing body and staff, and talked to pupils. The school’s planning, assessment data and pupils’ completed work were also inspected along with the quality of the school’s documentation, minutes of meetings of the governing body, improvement planning and policies relating to safeguarding and children’s welfare. The inspector scrutinised 15 questionnaires returned by parents and carers, and those returned by staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

The school is very much smaller than the average-sized primary school. It almost exclusively has pupils who are of Gypsy/Roma heritage, Irish or of Irish Traveller backgrounds. Some travel considerable distances to attend. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is high. The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is also high. Many pupils join or leave the school at various times during the year and some pupils are absent for prolonged periods when their families travel to find work. An acting headteacher started two days prior to the inspection to cover the recent absence of the headteacher. A newly qualified teacher for the Key Stage 2 class started in November 2011.

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Information about the school

Pre-school sessions for up to 16 children are available from Tuesday to Thursday each week for five hours each day. An inspection of this setting is included in the report. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good school. It has a long and happy association with the local Gypsy/Traveller community. Staff work hard to compensate for the irregular and often low attendance of pupils. Although attendance is improving, the impact of absence on pupils’ attainment and progress is the main reason for the school not achieving more highly.

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Key findings

 Most pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, make good progress from where they start in Reception and through Key Stages 1 and 2 because of effective teaching. Those who attend regularly make the best progress. Some achieve the standards expected for their age in reading and in mathematics but attainment in writing is not as high, especially in Key Stage 2, where opportunities to write at length are more limited.

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Key findings

 Teaching is good. In Reception, learning and play outdoors are not as well planned as they are indoors with opportunities being missed for children to further practise and consolidate key skills. The high ratio of adults to pupils in each class ensures all pupils have the support that they need to finish work. Teachers’ marking for older pupils, however, is not providing clear guidance on how they can improve their work.

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Key findings

 Behaviour is good in lessons and around school. Pupils are keen to learn. Incidents of challenging behaviour are dealt with effectively by staff. Every parent and carer and most pupils agree that behaviour is usually good and that the school keeps pupils safe.

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Key findings

 The headteacher works with all teachers to manage their performance well. Staff work effectively as a team. Over time, their collective expertise has ensured teaching has been successfully aligned with the culture, traditions and lifestyle of pupils. All are determined to promote the value of education within the Gypsy/Traveller community and make it a positive experience for all. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment in writing throughout the school by:  ensuring that pupils have more opportunities to write at length in literacy sessions  providing pupils in Key Stage 2 with guidance on how to improve the quality of their writing when marking their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve attendance by:  introducing more innovative schemes that encourage and reward good attendance  enlisting the help of parents and carers to improve attendance and explaining clearly the impact on pupils’ progress which results from regular attendance.   Improve provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage by:  ensuring that outdoor activities are planned in more detail and that skills are linked more closely to those being promoted indoors to make the most of learning and improve attainment  increasing information and communication technology resources and their use in the pre-school to promote and enhance children’s learning and play.

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Achievement of pupils

Most Reception children begin with very low knowledge and skills, particularly in communication and number. There is a strong emphasis on developing these skills indoors but the outdoor area is mostly used for play. Preparing an Easter party in a tent with pre-school children was highly effective in stimulating speaking and listening skills. The strong emphasis on creative activities, including messy play, ensures children enjoy their learning. Daily sessions to learn letters and sounds are effective. Most make good progress and are able to spell out phonetically simple words by the time they reach Year 1. Effective leadership and management, coupled with good and often outstanding teaching, ensure that children make good progress. Despite this, attainment is below expected levels in all six areas of learning at the end of the Reception Year with early writing skills being particularly weak.

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Achievement of pupils

Good and occasional outstanding teaching ensures pupils continue to make good progress through Key Stage 1. The close support of learning support assistants helps pupils to write captions or spell words correctly. Pupils’ concentration is good and all are keen to complete tasks well. By the end of Year 2, attainment in reading is above average. This is largely due to the effective teaching of the sounds that letters make (phonics) and the support of teachers and volunteers who listen to pupils read Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

sometimes twice a day. Attainment in mathematics is broadly average but in writing it is below average.

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Achievement of pupils

There was a marked upward trend in attainment by Year 6 from 2008 to 2010 but overall standards remained well below average in English and mathematics. All six Year 6 pupils were absent for the national tests in 2011. The Travellers’ customs and way of life mean that attendance for older pupils is often low as they miss school to help their parents and carers. This has a detrimental impact on the standards some pupils achieve. In reading and mathematics, attainment is broadly average for some but well below average for others and those with special educational needs. In writing, attainment is generally lower than in reading. This is because of absence and too few opportunities to write at length in literacy sessions. Some pupils read their written work with confidence and remember skills from earlier phonic sessions to help with spelling. Pupils enjoyed solving a murder mystery in mathematics by finding letters from the numbered alphabet when they worked out answers to

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Achievement of pupils

number problems. Pupils generally listen attentively and work hard to make up for lost time with the close support of teachers and their helpers. Competent reading skills, gained in Key Stage 1, enable pupils to make good use of computers for research and all are keenly interested in reading about topics in history.

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Achievement of pupils

Although attainment is well below average for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, achievement is good because staff expertise ensures their individual and specific needs are met. In the returned questionnaires, every parent and carer strongly agreed with every question. ‘He likes this school and I like this school’ was a typical comment. The vast majority of pupils agree that they learn a lot in lessons and school helps them to do as well as they can. Inspection evidence supports the accurate views of parents and pupils.

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Quality of teaching

All staff, through their long association with the Gypsy/Traveller community, have developed excellent relationships with pupils and their parents and carers, who all said that teaching was good. Inspection evidence supports these highly positive views and judges teaching to be good. In the few examples of outstanding teaching observed, exciting experiences were planned, well supported by adults and the rapport between pupils and staff enabled many pupils to make significant gains. All could hardly wait for the balloon to burst as it was pumped up with anger to bursting point in a lesson about controlling bad temper, for example. The impact of the planned curriculum is good. Reading and numeracy skills are taught effectively with pupils able to read confidently and demonstrate a good knowledge of their times tables. Interesting tasks, such as comparing climate conditions through research about rainforests and deserts, encourage pupils to practise their literacy skills when

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Quality of teaching

using computers and reference books. However, there were too few examples of pupils writing at length to practise their skills. Teachers’ marking praises pupils frequently, but not enough guidance is provided about how to make written work better. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Quality of teaching

Teachers have excellent strategies for managing pupils’ behaviour and their high expectations of conduct have a significant effect on pupils’ moral and social development. Singing is uplifting in assembly and the curriculum ensures pupils have a good appreciation of their own and other cultures. Staff know precisely how much progress individual pupils make and set clear targets for future learning. This ensures pupils’ learning needs are met even if they miss school for long periods. Experienced learning support assistants demonstrate the same high level of expertise as staff. Their skilled questioning techniques and sensitive support for learners ensure that pupils make good progress in lessons and over time.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

‘We have our fall-outs but after 10 minutes we are friends again’ was a widely held view amongst pupils. ‘I have 13 cousins in school so we all get on, but not all the time’ was another explanation about the concerns of some pupils expressed in the pupil questionnaires about behaviour. Parents and carers have confidence in staff and all strongly agree that staff manage behaviour well.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

In lessons, pupils are usually well behaved, listen carefully and work hard on their tasks. A Year 4 pupil said, ‘People are kind and look after you here’. Pupils are normally polite to staff and towards one another. They are adamant that there is no bullying, but do report some name-calling. All agree that staff deal quickly and effectively with this. The inspector found that incidents of bullying, harassment or homophobic behaviour are rare and always dealt with promptly and well. Attendance is low. This is partly due to pupils being left on the school registers when they have moved away but also because of the frequent absence of older pupils. A recent scheme to encourage better punctuality has been very successful. Pupils enjoy spending their reward tokens at the end of each week in the token shop. Staff continually try different ways to promote better attendance and are beginning to see it rise.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Although some pupils criticise others’ behaviour, they say that they feel safe in school. Every parent and carer agrees that the school keeps their children safe. Children in Reception are well cared for and provided with a safe outdoor area in which to learn and play.

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Leadership and management

The good leadership has led to better attendance, rising standards in reading and mathematics and most pupils making good progress because of the consistently good quality of teaching. The staff work effectively as a team. Routines and procedures are well established and the day-to-day running of the school is smooth and effective. This means that when one of the team is missing, the school continues to run like clockwork. All staff and the governing body contribute to a clear plan of action with relevant priorities aimed at improving attainment for all. The quality of teaching is evaluated by all staff regularly. Members of the governing body are knowledgeable and draw on their wide range of expertise to support staff and Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

regularly check that the school is performing as efficiently as possible. The school team, with parental support, is ensuring that the school has a strong capacity to go on improving.

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Leadership and management

Staff continuously evaluate the impact of the curriculum, assessing pupils performance and setting new challenging targets. Promoting basic literacy and numeracy skills has a high profile and writing tasks are beginning to feature more often in most subjects of the curriculum. The curriculum is enhanced by a good range of visitors, such as an artist, puppeteer and Baptist minister, as well as clubs during lunchtimes. Pupils learn to speak French and music has a high profile with a specialist visiting teacher for violin tuition.

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Leadership and management

The staff team promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Good links are established with a school in Ethiopia and pupils demonstrate a good knowledge of world religions and cultures different from their own. Equality of opportunity is assured because of the high ratio of staff to pupils. It ensures that all pupils have the support they need to make good progress. There is no discrimination and relationships are positive throughout the school community.

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Leadership and management

Safeguarding requirements are met and staff work hard to ensure pupils’ safety. The school enjoys a good partnership with parents and carers and close links with neighbouring schools are well established. Parents and carers and pupils fully appreciate the warm, friendly relationships that they have with staff and show pride in ‘their’ school.

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childcare provision

The pre-school operates from a room within Braybrooke Primary School and children have access to a large covered area and outdoor play area. It takes children from two years old to school age and currently has 10 children on roll. Some attend all day and others for only the morning or afternoon. A manager and helper work with the children.

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childcare provision

Children are settled, content and keen to take part in activities planned for them and also initiate their own play. All enjoy pre-school and their behaviour is invariably good. The very favourable ratio of adults to children ensures that all children make good progress in key skills such as speaking, listening and knowledge of numbers. Most accurately count the spots on ladybirds and enjoy counting out loud as they shovel water from the water tray with a spade. Modern technology equipment, to broaden children’s learning experiences, such as computers, cameras and equipment to listen to stories, are in short supply. A scrutiny of planning shows that outdoor play and learning are not planned in the same detail as for indoors; this limits children’s opportunities to practise or consolidate new skills and learning.

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childcare provision

Leadership and management are good. There is a strong commitment to training with staff keen to develop their knowledge and expertise for this age group and take full account of children’s culture and traditions. Welfare and safeguarding systems are strong because staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in all aspects of child protection and in keeping children safe. Staff take every opportunity to give parents and carers information about what their child has achieved and include details about food and health.

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childcare provision

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage of the registered childcare provision, inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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childcare provision

Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage for the registered provision

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Braybrooke Primary School, Braybrooke, LE16 8LD

Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school and for completing the inspection questionnaire. It was good to talk to you and to see your work. The Easter card you made for me and all signed was a lovely surprise. I agree with previous inspectors that you go to a good school. Analysing your work and progress, I could tell those of you who come to school more often than others. They make much more progress in their work. Well done to all of you for working so hard in lessons. It means that most of you manage to make good progress in reading and mathematics. Writing is difficult for a lot of you and although you make good progress, standards are lower.

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Inspection of Braybrooke Primary School, Braybrooke, LE16 8LD

Here are some of your strengths.  Your behaviour in lessons is good and most of you work hard.  Staff care for you, keep you safe and are especially helpful and supportive to those of you who need extra help in lessons.  Pre-school is fun for everyone. I saw how much you enjoyed the Easter party in the tent.  Children get off to a good start in Reception and enjoy all their activities, especially messy play and playing in the trailer.  Those of you in Years 1 and 2 make particularly good progress in your reading because of all the practice you have reading to staff and other adults.

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Inspection of Braybrooke Primary School, Braybrooke, LE16 8LD

To improve the school further I am asking staff to:  give you more time to write, especially in Key Stage 2, and more advice on how to make your writing better  keep trying to improve attendance because it means that you can achieve much higher standards in your work  provide more modern technology equipment in pre-school for children to use  make sure Reception and pre-school make better use of the outdoor area for learning and play.

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Inspection of Braybrooke Primary School, Braybrooke, LE16 8LD

All the adults in your school want it to improve even more and I am sure you do too. You can all help by coming to school more often and continuing to work hard.

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Inspection of Braybrooke Primary School, Braybrooke, LE16 8LD

Joseph Peacock Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . 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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