Barncroft Primary School

Inspection of Barncroft Primary School Park Lane, Havant, Hampshire PO9 3HN

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 3–4 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school. The majority of pupils feel happy and safe. Barncroft Primary is a highly inclusive school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Leaders and staff really want the best for all pupils in this school. They expect pupils to always do the best they can.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the varied opportunities available in their school. For example, the on-site swimming pool is highly valued by pupils. Pupils enjoy talking about their school and the many things they learn about. One pupil spoke for many when they shared with an inspector how the school gets them to think about ‘treating others the way you want to be treated’. Pupils respect others’ differences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bullying is rare. Pupils say that if it does happen, they are supported by the staff to help resolve it. Most pupils behave well in classrooms and around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take part in a range of planned activities outside the classrooms. The Barncroft Voices is a well-attended pupil choir. Performances by the choir bring the wider community together and are a highlight of the school calendar.

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better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum for pupils to study. They have ensured that the curriculum is planned to help pupils develop their subject skills and knowledge. Recent changes in how the curriculum is led have quickly improved the ways in which teachers plan sequences of lessons to build on pupils’ previous learning. For example, in Year 1 science, pupils learn about plants and how they grow, in a well-planned series of lessons. Nevertheless, some pupils do not remember the knowledge they have been taught well enough before teachers move to the next steps in the subject.

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better?

Leaders ensure that teaching pupils to read well is given high priority. Pupils read a wide range of books, thoughtfully guided by their teachers. Leaders have improved the way in which pupils’ understanding of the books they read is checked by teachers. These are effective. Leaders ensure that there are reading strategies in place to help pupils needing the most support to catch up. However, a few pupils do not have the reading skills and knowledge they need to access the curriculum as well as they should by the end of key stage 1.

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better?

Children, as soon as they join early years, quickly start to learn the letters and sounds they need to read and write well. Teachers ensure that pupils know the taught sounds well through engaging speaking and writing activities. For example, Year 1 pupils enjoy singing the sounds they have learned together with their class.

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better?

Pupils take part in a wide range of activities to learn how to keep healthy, both physically and mentally. For example, sports such as hockey and golf are played by all in physical education (PE) classes. The school’s knitting club is very popular with 3–4 March 2020

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pupils. Other useful strategies, such as ‘worry monsters’ in all classes, allow pupils to write down and confide their well-being concerns to their class teacher. Pupils value sharing in this way. Teachers respond quickly and appropriately to these concerns, whenever raised.

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Teachers have planned an ambitious and interesting curriculum for children in early years to study. For instance, children learn about numbers and shapes while building small houses with real bricks. However, teachers do not always successfully choose resources to stimulate and promote children’s curiosity. Consequently, some children lose focus and do not achieve as well as they could through the planned curriculum.

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Pupils with SEND are very well supported. Leaders have developed personalised and effective strategies to help pupils realise their best. The school’s ‘L2L’ classroom is a welcoming and caring space that supports pupils to access the curriculum in ways that are appropriate to their individual needs. Pupils with SEND achieve highly.

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Leaders have ensured that pupils know the school’s high expectations for good behaviour. Pupils understand the rewards and consequences linked to their behaviour in class very well. Most pupils behave well in lessons.

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Staff are highly supportive of the school leaders. They enjoy working at the school. They value the professional development opportunities they have through the training they receive.

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Governors know the school’s priorities. They share the school leaders’ high ambitions and aspirations for all pupils in the school. They challenge and support leaders accordingly. They fulfil their legal duties. They are well placed to support leaders to further improve the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff are well trained to recognise and report any concerns they have about a pupil’s safety. As a result, staff are vigilant and report things swiftly when needed. Staff know that these concerns will be addressed quickly and appropriately by leaders.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that vulnerable pupils and their families receive the support they need. They work closely and effectively with other agencies to ensure this happens in a timely manner. Home–school links are highly effective in supporting pupils’ needs. Consequently, vulnerable pupils and their families are very well supported.

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Safeguarding

Governors regularly check that the culture of safeguarding remains effective. 3–4 March 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have developed the curriculum since the last inspection. It is planned to help pupils to know more. However, some pupils do not always remember the knowledge they have been taught well enough. Leaders need to ensure that teachers are confident that pupils’ knowledge is secure, before they move pupils along in the subjects they teach them.  Leaders have identified and use a range of strategies to support the lowest- attaining readers to catch up. However, not all of these pupils can read as well as they should. Leaders need to ensure that the strategies they use for supporting the lowest-attaining readers to catch up are the most effective so that these pupils have the reading skills they need for the next stages of their education.  Most children engage well and develop the knowledge and skills they require in early years. Teachers, in the main, use resources to stimulate children’s interest

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

well. However, at times the resources do not encourage children’s curiosity enough, so some children lose focus and their learning time is not used as well as it could be. Leaders need to ensure that the resources teachers use stimulate children’s concentration, curiosity and enjoyment more, such that children in early years make the best use of time to learn and remember the intended curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 3–4 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133194 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 12–13 July 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with senior leaders, curriculum leaders, teachers and pupils.  I met with a representative group of governors.  I spoke with a representative of the local authority, by phone.  We met with parents at the start of one day of the inspection. We considered the responses to Ofsted’s Parent View survey and the associated free-text comments. We also considered staff survey responses.  I reviewed the school’s website, the publicly available information about pupils’ performance and other relevant school documentation.  I reviewed safeguarding procedures in place at the school, including checking the single central record and safeguarding policies. I met with the designated safeguarding lead.  We observed pupils’ behaviour at playtimes and lunchtimes, in classrooms and as they moved around the school. 3–4 March 2020

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 We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, writing, mathematics, PE, and art and design. This involved inspectors talking to subject leaders, teachers and pupils about learning in these subjects. We also considered pupils’ work.

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Inspection team

Dylan Davies, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Appleby Ofsted Inspector 3–4 March 2020

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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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