Barham Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Barham Church of England Primary School Valley Road, Barham, Canterbury, Kent CT4 6NX

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Outcome

Barham Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a section 5 inspection now.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are extremely proud of their school and exceedingly happy to be there. They know they are cared for, respected and valued by all the staff. Pupils are very thoughtful, kind and respectful to each other and adults. Pupils said that they feel very safe in school and that they all look out for each other. Pupils, staff and parents and carers appreciate the family feel of the school. Pupils said: ‘We’re all friends’, ‘We all know everyone’ and ‘It’s like our big family.’ Staff have high expectations and aspirations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils live up to these high expectations. They have extremely positive attitudes to learning and thoroughly enjoy all that they do.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave exceptionally well. They listen attentively to their teachers and work and play happily together. Older pupils are excellent role models for younger pupils. Pupils enjoy the buddy reading sessions between Year 6 and the Reception children. Pupils say that they are not aware of any bullying, but they are confident that should any problems arise, staff would deal with them quickly and fairly.

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

The vibrant, exciting curriculum provides pupils with a wealth of opportunities to thrive academically and personally. Pupils achieve highly by the end of Year 6.

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

The headteacher provides dedicated, committed and inspirational leadership for the school. The headteacher, deputy, leaders, staff and governors work as a strong team to ensure that the school continues to improve. Teachers have the necessary skills to teach different subjects. They invest time and effort to further enhance their expertise. 8–9 October 2019

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Staff are proud to be part of the school. They have very high regard for leaders, including their attentiveness to teachers’ workload. One wrote, ‘We are trusted … there is a constant regard to staff and pupil well-being and it threads through all that we do.’

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Leaders have mapped out the skills and knowledge that they want pupils to learn and in what order. This means that teachers know what to teach and when, so that pupils learn well. However, leaders are determined for more pupils to do even better in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2.

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Leaders and teachers ensure that pupils with SEND learn well. They look carefully at their needs and make sure that pupils get useful extra help so that they can access the same learning as other pupils.

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Music, sport and the arts have a strong tradition in the school and pupils often excel in these areas. Pupils benefit enormously from the wide range of exciting and interesting activities. Excellent use of the local area, international links, clubs, trips and visitors to school all help pupils develop as well-rounded, self-motivated, caring citizens. The school values and its Christian ethos underpin all that the school does. Pupils are curious, creative, tolerant and respectful. They are willing to listen to and respect other viewpoints, even if they do not necessarily agree with them.

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Reading has a very high profile in the school, illustrated by one parent who wrote: ‘I have been given a very clear steer from the school that supporting my child’s reading is the most helpful thing I can do.’ Phonics teaching is skilled and effective. Pupils quickly begin to learn their sounds as soon as they start in the Reception Year. Pupils are read to every day, and a love of reading is fostered right from the start. Pupils are given effective extra support to catch up if they are not learning as quickly or as well as they should.

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Pupils in key stage 2 develop rapidly as confident, fluent readers. Teachers make sure that pupils are exposed to a broad range of high-quality texts. Pupils are inspired by their teachers’ enthusiasm for reading. Pupils love, for example, the story time club run at lunchtimes by the headteacher. New and rich vocabulary is promoted really well, and pupils’ reading has a very positive impact on the quality of their writing. Pupils enjoy learning mathematics because activities are challenging and relevant. They particularly like problem solving and choosing their own level of challenge to work on. New learning is sensibly organised.

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Parents are overwhelmingly positive about all the school offers and its leadership. There are excellent links between home and school to make sure that children settle quickly and happily in the Reception class.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a very strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Relationships with pupils and their families are exceptionally positive and trusting. Staff know the pupils really well and so are able to spot any concerns straight away and act upon them. Staff are effectively 8–9 October 2019

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trained and keep up to date with any new requirements. Records are carefully organised and enable information to be shared quickly with external agencies should the need arise. Pupils, staff and parents all agree that pupils are safe in school. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and healthy in and out of school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders need to forge ahead with their plans to ensure that expectations are even higher for all pupils, so that more achieve highly by the end of key stage 1.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 29 March 2011.

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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. 8–9 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111290 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 1 March 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is a Church of England school. The most recent section 48 inspection was in April 2016.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector met with the headteacher and deputy headteacher and other leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator and curriculum leaders.  She also met with the chair of the governing body and two other governors. A meeting was held with an improvement adviser from the local authority.  The inspector looked in depth at reading, mathematics and geography. For each of these three subjects, she spoke to senior leaders, curriculum leaders, teachers and pupils, visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector spoke to the designated safeguarding leader and the deputy designated safeguarding leaders, checked the single central record, looked at the responses to the parent, pupil and staff surveys and spoke to pupils.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school and asked pupils for their views on behaviour and bullying.

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Inspection team

Margaret Coussins, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 8–9 October 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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