Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

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

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Alan Eathorne Headteacher Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School School Lane Husbands Bosworth Lutterworth Leicestershire LE17 6JU

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 July 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the predecessor school was judged to be good in October 2013.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth 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 Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

Husbands Bosworth Primary is a small, welcoming school which is very much part of the local community. Pupils talk positively about the experiences that are offered to enrich their curriculum. They are proud of their school, confident and courteous to visitors. They eagerly share their understanding of the school’s ‘Three R’s: Ready, Responsible and Respectful’ and the importance of these to their school community. The majority of parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, believe that their children are happy and safe at the school.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

Since the last inspection, the school has become part of the Learn Academies Trust. You and your leadership team have accurately identified the school’s areas of strength and those that require improvement. For example, following a review, leaders found outcomes in mathematics throughout the school, particularly for the most able, could be improved. As a result, leaders prioritised the quality of mathematics teaching across the school, utilising the expertise of a specialist from the trust to provide staff development. Provisional assessment information for 2019 demonstrates improvement in key stage 1, and the school’s internal tracking of pupils’ performance shows positive progress for pupils in all classes. Nevertheless, school leaders are not complacent, and they recognise key strategies need time to embed to ensure that improvements are sustained. The trust provides strategic guidance and support to address the school’s main

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

priorities. Members of the local governing body understand their roles, and they challenge and support leaders to achieve school priorities, such as improving outcomes in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

Work in pupils’ books shows that teachers do not consistently set tasks that are well matched to pupils’ abilities, particularly for the most able, including in wider curriculum areas such as science. Teachers’ assessments of what pupils can do are sometimes not used well enough to inform next steps in learning. As a result, teachers do not challenge pupils as well as they could, and so not all pupils make the progress of which they are capable, including in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

The early years area is a vibrant learning space where pupils generally work purposefully and behave calmly. However, children do not make as strong progress in their writing as they do in other subjects. Work in books demonstrates that teaching does not always carefully build on the knowledge and skills children have, particularly for the most able. Children sometimes do not engage enthusiastically with writing to demonstrate their skills independently.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Pupils feel safe and talk positively about their meetings with visitors, for example the police and fire service. Staff receive effective training and are knowledgeable of their safeguarding responsibilities. Governors too, are fully aware of their role in ensuring that leaders carry out their statutory duties. Staff know how to raise their concerns with the designated safeguarding leads, who deal with any issues raised efficiently.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

During the inspection, some parents raised concern about bullying. Evidence from governors’ minutes and work undertaken by the school to support pupils demonstrates that the leaders and governors take these concerns very seriously, dealing with them in a timely manner. Pupils I spoke with were very confident that issues involving bullying are resolved quickly by teachers.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

 Leaders have successfully addressed many of the areas for improvements identified at the last inspection. For example, pupils talked positively about their writing across the curriculum and how teachers make writing activities interesting by linking them to exciting topics. As a result of leaders’ actions, outcomes in reading and writing have been above, or in line with, the national averages in recent years.  The previous inspection report identified the need for leaders to ensure that the most able pupils are provided with work that is appropriately challenging. You and other leaders have focused on this. The new approach to teaching mathematics, for example, was evident. In the early years, children confidently use mathematical language, such as ‘vertices’, to explain their reasoning. In key stage 2, pupils successfully applied their understanding of perpendicular lines to solve complex problems. Pupils have greater opportunities to apply their

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

understanding through reasoning problems. Pupils talk about ‘Digging Deeper Questions’, and challenge in books is often evident.  Vibrant displays and work in books demonstrate the wide range of learning opportunities pupils have across different subject areas. Pupils’ work highlights how they use key vocabulary from the topics they are studying to enhance the quality of their written work. Teachers’ expectations of writing are particularly high in Year 5 and Year 6 class.  Provisional assessment information for key stages 1 and 2 shows that outcomes for the most able pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 are improving. However, leaders recognise that it is not consistent, and that more children should be leaving the early years, for example, having exceeded expectations, especially in writing.  Pupils behave positively, demonstrating respect for each other and their school. Books, particularly in key stage 2, demonstrate pupils’ good attitudes to learning

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

 teachers consistently use their assessments of pupils’ learning more accurately to set tasks that challenge and extend pupils’ knowledge in different subjects, particularly for the most able.  teachers make sure that children in the early years develop more positive attitudes to writing and make the progress of which they are capable.

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Short inspection of Husbands Bosworth Church of England Primary School

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the director of education for the diocese of Leicester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leicestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I investigated how well leaders had addressed the areas for improvement since the last inspection. I met with you and other leaders, including the mathematics and early years lead. You and I toured the school together, observing learning in mathematics and English. I focused on how well the most able pupils are challenged in lessons, and I considered the quality of teaching of mathematics across the school. Alongside you and your deputy head, we scrutinised a sample of pupils’ work from across the school in a range of subjects. I examined a range of the school’s documentation, including the self-evaluation and documents relating to safeguarding. I met with parents at the beginning of the school day. I also considered 33 responses to Parent View, including the 34 written responses from parents, and the nine responses to the staff survey.

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