Bishops Hull Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Bishops Hull Primary School Bishops Hull Hill, Bishops Hull, Taunton, Somerset TA1 5EB

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 December 2023

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Outcome

Bishops Hull Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning and are happy at Bishops Hull Primary School. They attend well. Adults at the school foster positive and caring relationships with pupils. Pupils have trusted adults they can talk to if they have a concern. They feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils rise to the challenge and behave well. The school is calm and orderly. Pupils get on with their learning without any unnecessary disruption. At breaktimes, pupils play happily together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides opportunities for pupils’ wider development, including citizenship. After-school clubs, including multi-sports, football and ‘rock band’ enable pupils to hone their skills and talents. Pupils raise money for charities and support the local community. They understand how they can contribute positively to society and help others. Pupils develop their understanding of the community through visits to the local church.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers comment on the close-knit ‘family feel’ of this school. They appreciate the caring nature of the staff and the inclusivity of the school.

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

The school’s curriculum is broad and ambitious. Typically, each subject includes the essential knowledge and skills that pupils must learn by the end of each stage of their education. The curriculums in mathematics and reading are well planned and sequenced. However, in some subjects, the curriculums are new. They do not build learning on what pupils already know, and pupils struggle to connect current learning to previous learning. For example, in art, pupils can recall artists they are learning about now, but struggle to remember what they have been previously taught. 13 and 14 December 2023

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The school has made reading a priority for all pupils. Phonics is taught from the Reception Year onwards. Pupils read books matched to the sounds they know. If pupils struggle with reading, they get the support they need to catch up. The school has invested in a wide range of books to ensure that pupils read from different authors and genres that reflect social diversity. Pupils love reading and borrowing books from the redeveloped library. Pupils regularly take books home to practise their reading.

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In English and mathematics, the school uses assessment well. Staff routinely check for misconceptions in learning. Adults provide pupils with ‘live feedback’ during lessons so that pupils know how well they are doing with their learning. In mathematics, pupils recall mathematical knowledge well. Pupils make connections between learning multiplication tables and completing calculations with fractions and percentages. However, assessment in the wider curriculum is not always precise. Staff do not always have in-depth knowledge of what pupils can do. Occasionally, teachers’ activity choices are not well matched to what they want pupils to learn.

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Children in the early years settle well into school life. Staff work closely with parents to plan for the needs of the youngest children. They encourage sharing and turn-taking and promote independence. Activities such as counting and mark making are carefully planned to build on what children already know and can do. The school works well alongside parents and external professionals to identify pupils with SEND. The school makes effective adaptations so that pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum as their peers.

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The curriculum for pupils’ personal, social and health education is well thought through. Pupils learn about anger, grief and how to manage their feelings. Pupils take up positions of responsibility, such as joining the school forum. This allows them to play an active part in the life of the school.

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Pupils learn about different faiths and cultures. They learn about various celebrations, such as Diwali and Easter. Pupils have a detailed view of equality and fairness. They understand that everyone is different. Older pupils discuss aspects of discrimination, such as racism, with maturity. They understand discrimination as a form of bullying and are clear that it is not tolerated.

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Governors are knowledgeable and have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Most staff are positive about the support they receive from the school to manage their workload and their well-being, for example recent changes to the school’s marking policy.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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 The curriculum in some subjects is new. The school has not identified the key knowledge that pupils need, and in which order they should learn it. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school needs to ensure that weaker areas of the curriculum are developed and implemented to the same quality as more successful areas so that pupils know more and remember more.  Assessment is not used well in some subjects. As a result, what some pupils are learning is not always well matched to what they already know. The school should ensure that assessment is used effectively in all subjects so that pupils are better prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2014.

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How can I feed back my views?

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.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with SEND; pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 13 and 14 December 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection

19 June 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school provides a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the designated safeguarding lead, members of staff, a representative from the local authority, and the chair and members of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, he discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited samples of lessons, 13 and 14 December 2023

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spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments, and the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Gavin Summerfield, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 13 and 14 December 2023

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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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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