Bracebridge Heath St John's Primary Academy

Inspection of Bracebridge Heath St John's Primary Academy Grantham Road, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln Lincolnshire, LN4 2LD

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 12 and 13 July 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bracebridge Heath St John’s Primary Academy is at the heart of the community. Leaders know pupils and their parents extremely well. However, safeguarding procedures are not effective. Leaders have not made sure that all pupils feel as safe as they should in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are taught what bullying is. Many pupils say that their teachers would resolve bullying if it happened to them. However, some pupils worry about bullying. Some parents are concerned that bullying is not quickly and effectively dealt with.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave well in school. In lessons they work hard. They listen carefully. Poor behaviour does not disrupt their learning. Pupils really like the ‘peg’ behaviour system. They appreciate the rewards that they receive for behaving well. They are keen to be role models. They say that the behaviour policy is fair and that they ‘own it’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they enjoy their lessons. They appreciate their teachers’ efforts to help them learn. They are particularly enthusiastic about their art lessons. They enjoy seeing their artwork beautifully displayed throughout the school. However, some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not learn as well as they could.

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better?

The curriculum is not yet fully implemented. In some subjects, the curriculum is coherent. This helps pupils to learn in a logical way. Pupils revisit previous learning. This helps them to remember important knowledge. They are supported to have a can-do approach to their learning. However, in some subjects the curriculum is not planned well enough. Some pupils do not acquire the knowledge and skills that they need in these subjects.

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better?

A systematic reading curriculum is now in place. It is in the early stages of implementation. Many pupils learn how to read with confidence and accuracy. This includes children in the early years. However, some teachers lack the phonics knowledge needed to teach the curriculum correctly. This means that some pupils who are behind in reading, particularly the most disadvantaged, do not catch up as quickly as they could.

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better?

Leaders have rightly recognised the need to promote pupils' love of reading further. Pupils now have access to a wealth of books of different genres written by different authors. The library will soon be up and running. Pupils said that they enjoy reading. They particularly enjoy their teacher reading the class book to them. They said that they 'looked forward to the next instalment'. 12 and 13 July 2022

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Pupils benefit from a well-planned personal social health education curriculum. They learn the important knowledge they need to help them keep safe, including when they are online. Activities take place outside of the school day. Many pupils try out new things, including in performing arts. They develop new interests and talents. Leaders do not check that the most disadvantaged pupils benefit from this extra- curricular offer. Some pupils do not develop the cultural knowledge needed to help them succeed. Pupils do not develop a deep enough understanding of different world religions, for example.

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Leaders make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support. The curriculum is appropriately adapted to meet these pupils’ learning needs. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

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The COVID-19 pandemic is still having a negative impact on pupils’ attendance. Some pupils are still struggling to get back into the routine of attending school. Some pupils, including the most vulnerable, fail to attend school regularly enough. They are missing out on their education.

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New leadership is ensuring that children get off to a great start in the early years. The curriculum is carefully constructed, so that children are ready for Year 1. Adults are well trained. They use assessment skilfully to adapt the curriculum. They promote pupils’ confidence, knowledge and understanding. Children’s personal development is equally well considered. Children get on well with one another and learn how to understand their emotions and those of other children.

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Staff appreciate the efforts that leaders take to consider their workload. They say that they are very proud to work at the school. One staff member spoke for many when they said, ‘This school is a family.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

There are no clear, chronological records that detail the actions leaders take to safeguard the welfare of the most vulnerable pupils. It is not clear if these pupils have received the help that they need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have not dealt with some safeguarding concerns in line with the statutory guidance. This includes concerns linked to peer-on-peer abuse and harmful sexual behaviour.

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Safeguarding

Attendance coding is used inappropriately. Pupils’ absence is authorised when it should not be.

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Safeguarding

Leaders undertake the appropriate checks on adults before they begin to work with pupils at the school. 12 and 13 July 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders do not respond to some safeguarding concerns in a timely and appropriate manner. This includes incidents of peer-on-peer abuse and harmful sexual behaviour. Some pupils do not feel as safe as they should. Leaders must urgently ensure that all safeguarding arrangements comply with statutory guidance. They must make sure that all pupils are safe and happy in school.  Safeguarding records do not routinely contain the necessary detail to record leaders’ actions to keep pupils safe. It is not always clear whether leaders have responded appropriately to safeguarding concerns. There are occasions when safeguarding records do not exist. Leaders must make sure that there is a rigorous procedure in place for the recording of safeguarding concerns, so that records provide comprehensive detail of the actions leaders have taken to keep pupils safe, including referrals to outside agencies.  Staff use attendance codes incorrectly. Some pupils’ absence is authorised when it

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

should not be. Leaders have not fully assured themselves that pupils are safe when they are absent. Leaders must make sure that the recording of attendance is accurate, so that they can be confident of pupils’ safety when they are not in school.  Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. They are missing out on their learning. Leaders must make sure that pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, attend school regularly.  The curriculum in some subjects is not fully implemented across all year groups. In a few subjects the curriculum is not well planned. This means that pupils do not learn all aspects of the curriculum well enough. Leaders must make sure that all aspects of the curriculum are equally ambitious for all pupils. They should ensure that the curriculum is consistently well implemented.  Some teachers do not have the subject knowledge needed to accurately teach phonics. Some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not learn to read as

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

quickly and confidently as they could. Leaders must make sure that teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to teach early reading well.  Leaders do not know how many of the most disadvantaged pupils attend extra- curricular clubs and activities. They do not make concerted efforts to ensure that the most vulnerable pupils gain from participating in extra-curricular opportunities. Leaders must make sure that the most disadvantaged pupils gain the cultural capital that they need for their future success.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 12 and 13 July 2022

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

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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. 12 and 13 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227848 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 30 November 2020 under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school sources alternative provision from Springwell Alternative Academy.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. They deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 12 and 13 July 2022

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 The lead inspector met with the headteacher, acting co-headteacher and other senior leaders to discuss their evaluation of the quality of education. She met with the chair of the governors and three members of the governing body.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, art, religious education and mathematics. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at the curriculum plans, visited lessons, spoke to teachers and spoke to pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work. They heard pupils read. They visited the early years provision.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding leads to discuss the actions taken to keep children safe. She reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s single central record. She looked at information about the actions taken to protect the most vulnerable pupils.  The inspector considered the views of members of staff and pupils as shared in

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Ofsted’s surveys. The 51 responses to Ofsted Parent View were taken into account.

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Inspection team

Jayne Ashman, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Anderson Her Majesty's Inspector 12 and 13 July 2022

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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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