Bury CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Bury CofE Primary School Owls End, Bury, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE26 2NJ

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Outcome

Bury CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning in this welcoming school. Lessons are planned and taught effectively. Pupils of all ages respond well to teachers’ high expectations of them. They follow instructions carefully and work hard. Little learning time is lost. Pupils confidently share their ideas and support one another.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well mannered and respectful of others. Behaviour in lessons and around school is good. Bullying and acts of unkindness do not happen often. Pupils say that when someone plays too roughly, teachers sort concerns quickly. Pupils feel safe in school. Leaders ensure that pupils receive helpful support when needed to improve their behaviour, social and/or emotional development.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the additional activities and clubs. Staff, governors and pupils talked enthusiastically to us about the planned visit to the Space Centre, as part of a school project. Pupils reach a high standard in physical education (PE) and the school has achieved a sports award for this work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders know what still needs to improve. In subjects other than English and mathematics, they are implementing new plans to support pupils’ learning.

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

The headteacher supports subject leaders well. The leaders for reading, mathematics and PE have the skills and knowledge to develop their subjects further. They have identified what pupils need to know and what they need to learn next. They support teachers and teaching assistants effectively, which ensures that these subjects are taught well across the school. Pupils who leave at the end of Year 6 are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

Reading has a high focus. Pupils enjoy listening to teachers reading to them. Well-trained staff enable younger pupils to learn phonic skills well. Once pupils have gained basic 29–30 October 2019

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reading skills, they have many opportunities to read a range of challenging books. Staff help develop pupils’ vocabulary and understanding by questioning them about what they are reading. Leaders and teachers know how to help pupils who fall behind in their reading. Effective teaching and support focus precisely on what pupils need to improve, which enables pupils to read more accurately.

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Mathematics is taught effectively from Reception to Year 6. Pupils learn and remember important mathematical skills and vocabulary. They apply their knowledge to calculate difficult mathematical problems. Pupils explain their learning confidently. Teachers address misconceptions during lessons, so that no learning time is wasted. Teachers adapt activities within the lessons. This ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged are given appropriate support during lessons. The most able pupils talk positively about the opportunities they have to work on demanding activities.

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Teachers deliver high-quality PE across the school. Teachers work with a local sports partnership when required to help increase adults’ subject knowledge and skills. We saw how Year 6 pupils were taught how to hold a rugby ball correctly and throw accurately. Later, the pupils told me how practising their throwing and catching skills enables them to become strong team players. During the inspection, the pupils went on to win a local schools’ tag rugby tournament. Teachers began delivering the new ‘progression of skills’ this year. Their use of the assessment system within this new approach has not had time to show what pupils have recently learned and what pupils now need to do next to deepen knowledge and understanding.

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Children make a good start to school life in the Reception class. They are well prepared for learning in Year 1. Children enjoy sharing their reading books with adults. They use their knowledge of phonics to help them read new words. Mathematics activities are well planned to support children’s learning. Children settle quickly into their activities and behave well. They share equipment and take turns. Children especially enjoy practising their reading and writing skills when making identification cards in the role-play police and fire stations.

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Leaders, governors and the trust have a clear view of where they want the school to be. There is a strong sense of teamwork between leaders, governors and staff. Together, they provide a high-quality curriculum for all pupils, whatever the pupils’ backgrounds or abilities. Curriculum plans for some subjects are planned in greater detail than others. Pupils are well prepared for life and learning beyond primary school. Leaders make good use of work with the trust to improve the quality of education provided. Staff speak highly of the support they receive and believe that leaders manage their workload effectively.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong safeguarding culture within the school. All relevant procedures and policies are in place. Rigorous checks are carried out on adults before they can start working at the school. Appropriate risk assessments are followed carefully, to ensure the 29–30 October 2019

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Staff received up-to-date safeguarding training the day before the inspection. They are aware of their responsibilities to safeguard pupils. Leaders, including the inclusion leader, support vulnerable families and pupils well.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Until recently the school’s curriculum has not been as coherently planned and sequenced in some subjects as in others. It is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken to plan the curriculum this year and train staff in how to deliver it that they are in the process of making the additional changes needed for all subjects.  The progression plans for PE and other foundation subjects have only recently been produced. The PE documentation clearly shows an appropriate sequence of skills and knowledge that pupils should learn from Reception to Year 6. This approach is in the early stages of implementation. Though a baseline assessment has taken place, it is too early to use teacher assessment against these skills to identify pupils’ progress over time. Leaders need to ensure that subject plans are fully implemented in the way they intend.

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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 predecessor school, Bury CofE Primary School to be good on 8–9 May 2013.

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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. 29–30 October 2019

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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. 29–30 October 2019

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 March 2016

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Information about this school

 Bury CofE Primary School joined the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust (DEMAT) in July 2013.  The school has a Church of England designation. The last section 48 inspection of religious education was on 8 February 2018. It was judged to be outstanding.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.

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Information about this inspection

 As part of this inspection, I held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, the inclusion leader, subject leaders and the chief executive officer of the DEMAT. I also met with groups of teachers and pupils, and a group of governors with a representative from DEMAT.  I looked closely at reading, mathematics and physical education. I spoke with subject leaders, visited lessons, evaluated work in pupils’ books and met with teachers and pupils to determine the quality of education.  I scrutinised a wide range of documents, including those related to curriculum planning 29–30 October 2019

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and development, behaviour, exclusions, the school’s evaluation of its own performance, the school’s development plan and documents produced by the trust.  I took account of the 12 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.  I took account of the 38 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and 27 comments on the free-text service.  I spoke to pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning. I also observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during breaktime and lunchtime. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding I reviewed school policies, procedures and records, including recruitment checks of adults working at the school. I met with the headteacher, as a designated safeguarding leader and spoke with pupils and staff.

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Inspection team

Julie Harrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 29–30 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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