Burnham Copse Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Burnham Copse Primary School New Church Road, Tadley, Hampshire RG26 4HN

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Outcome

Burnham Copse Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get a good deal at this school. They are settled and happy because adults take great care of them. The atmosphere around school is calm, caring and harmonious. Pupils with specific needs are supported sensitively by their peers and by adults. All pupils have the opportunity to focus on their learning. This helps them to develop knowledge and attributes that equip them well for the future.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders’ high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and work are evident throughout the school. Pupils are respectful and keen to learn. When standards sometimes slip, pupils say that adults act quickly and effectively. As a result, pupils learn how to make more positive choices about their behaviour in the future. Bullying is rare. Almost all parents and carers say that it is dealt with promptly and appropriately when it happens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s values of ‘believe, care, persevere, succeed’ are an integral part of daily life. Pupils and parents value the planned opportunities to celebrate achievements together during ‘sharing’ assemblies. These assemblies help pupils learn how to listen respectfully to each other and to become more confident about speaking in front of an audience. Adults are rightly proud of how well pupils do this.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders think carefully about the knowledge they want pupils to learn across a broad and relevant range of subjects. They take pupils’ different needs and starting points into account. No-one is excluded from accessing the whole curriculum at an appropriate level for them. As a result, pupils enjoy and benefit from their education at Burnham Copse.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

In most subjects, teachers’ planning builds deliberately on what pupils have already learned. Teachers check that pupils are ‘keeping up’, adjusting their plans or providing extra help when they need to. Staff are knowledgeable about the different subjects that they teach. Subject and phase leaders use their expertise well to support and guide their colleagues. This helps to ensure that pupils benefit from consistently good teaching. 12–13 September 2019

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Early reading is taught well. From their first day at school, Reception children are encouraged to learn letters and sounds as they play. Children enjoy sharing books with each other and with adults. Opportunities for reading are everywhere. Over time, increasingly structured work helps children to secure their early reading skills. By the end of key stage 1, almost all pupils read fluently. Those who do not are supported well. Adults identify and address the barriers to these pupils’ progress, helping them to catch up. As pupils move through the school, effective teaching enables them to become proficient in interpreting high-quality literature. This stimulates pupils’ interest and supports their learning in other subjects.

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Since the last inspection, mathematics has been a focus of school improvement work. Leaders have looked closely at what pupils have struggled with in the past and identified the reasons why. A focus on getting the basics right is improving pupils’ mathematical fluency and accuracy. Creative approaches to teaching help to engage reluctant learners and build pupils’ confidence. Currently, the impact of leaders’ work is most evident in key stage 1. Here, pupils explain their learning confidently, showing how they are building securely on what they have learned before. In comparison, key stage 2 pupils’ progress is less convincing, often slowing during Years 3 and 4. Leaders have sensible training and support planned to help speed up the pace of improvement.

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Art is not currently as well developed as other subjects in the school. Pupils enjoy a variety of learning experiences which introduce them to different artists, genres and techniques. However, learning is not sequenced to build pupils’ knowledge and skills over time. The new subject leader has appropriate and ambitious plans for improving the quality of the art curriculum.

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Pupils benefit from useful opportunities for their wider personal development. They value being able to contribute to their school, for example through taking on leadership roles and supporting younger or more vulnerable pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Looking after pupils and staff is high on leaders’ priority list. This is reflected in how hard adults work to protect all of the pupils in their care. Leaders use relevant training to ensure that staff do not become complacent about their safeguarding role. By remaining alert to small changes in pupils’ behaviour, staff are quick to pass on any concerns that may arise. Leaders tackle these swiftly and appropriately.

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Safeguarding

Leaders invest wisely in staffing and activities that support pupils’ welfare. Parents value being included in this work, helping all concerned to learn how to manage their emotions and worries. 12–13 September 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Improvements and strengths in mathematics are not as evident across key stage 2 as they are in key stage 1. Leaders should ensure that, through their planned development work, teachers’ expectations of what pupils already know are high enough in Years 3 and 4 and developed deliberately by their learning in class so that pupils’ progress is consistently strong throughout their time at the school.  Planning in art is not as well developed as it is for other subjects. Leaders should ensure that learning in art builds pupils’ knowledge and skills as successfully as it currently does in most other subjects.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Burnham Copse Primary School to be good on 9–10 March 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 12–13 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111337 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9–10 March 2016

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Information about this school

 Burnham Copse is an average-sized primary school with space for 45 pupils in each year group. There are currently two classes in the Reception Year, three classes in key stage 1 and six classes in key stage 2.  Starlings Care Club operates before and after school each day. It offers wraparound care for pupils who attend the school. It is managed by school leaders and run by non- teaching members of staff.  Saplings pre-school is based on the school site. It is registered separately and run independently of Burnham Copse Primary School.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector met the headteacher and other members of staff, including the special educational needs coordinator and the early years leader. She also met with three governors and spoke to a representative of the local authority on the telephone.  To check on the quality of education, the inspector focused mainly on reading, mathematics and art. This involved talking to senior leaders, subject leaders and class teachers about how these subjects are taught. She then visited some lessons to see 12–13 September 2019

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this in action, talking to pupils about what they had learned and looking at their work.  The inspector reviewed the school’s safeguarding arrangements. She looked at relevant documents, staff recruitment checks and training. She also considered how well adults in the school act on emerging concerns about pupils’ welfare.  The inspector spoke to pupils, staff and parents to gather their views about the school. She considered survey responses from 64 pupils, 15 members of staff and 24 parents, and a letter received from a grandparent.

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Inspection team

Kathryn Moles, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 12–13 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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