Beoley First School

Inspection of a good school: Beoley First School Beoley Lane, Beoley, Redditch, Worcestershire B98 9AN

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend this warm, friendly school eagerly. They want to attend every day because of the welcome and care they receive when they arrive in school. They are rarely absent. The school has a family feel, and all staff know the pupils well. It really is a school at the heart of the community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils engage well in lessons. They show good attitudes to learning. This is particularly positive when learning is adapted to meet the specific needs of all pupils. However, when the work pupils are asked to complete is not matched to their needs, they can become distracted and not complete the tasks set for them. Activities are provided to enable breaktimes to be enjoyable and pupils take full advantage of these. Play leaders enjoy supporting the younger pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has recently introduced different opportunities for pupils to play a meaningful role in the community. This includes links with the village hall and local farms. Parents are keen to get fully involved in the life of the school, including helping to make improvements to its grounds and environment. This reflects the high regard with which the school is held, and the success the school has achieved in ensuring staff and parents work in the best interest of the pupils.

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

All staff undoubtedly want the very best for pupils. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They are working hard to ensure consistency of quality across the different subject areas, but they understand that there is further work to do to ensure this is a reality. 30 April 2024

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The school has introduced new curriculum planning in a number of different subjects. Many of these are in the early stages of development. This means that pupils still have gaps in their learning so are not able to build on prior knowledge effectively. Assessment procedures are not yet effective in supporting staff to identify and address these gaps. This results in some pupils being expected to complete work that is beyond their capability.

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Whole-class phonic sessions support the most able pupils to grasp the skills of early reading. Most keep up with the pace of the programme. Books that are matched to pupils’ individual phonics ability help them to gradually become more fluent. However, pupils not keeping up with the content in lessons are not always identified quickly enough. The school recognises that there is not yet a standardised programme in place to support those pupils who have been identified as falling behind. This means they are not able to catch up as quickly as they might.

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However, actions the school has taken to improve writing are having a positive impact. Pupils take real pride in their work and books are presented to a high standard. A range of high-quality texts to support this are also having the intended impact. The school has thought carefully about including books that celebrate modern Britain and the diverse world in which they live. The high standards in these books reflect the learning behaviours the school promotes: ‘Creativity, inquisitiveness, resilience and ambition’.

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Pupils play an active role in the local community. The school is positioned in a beautiful semi-rural location and pupils get to take advantage of their surroundings in different areas of the curriculum. They show a good level of respect and tolerance in how they treat each other and are beginning to develop an understanding of how these behaviours will be important as they become older and have more interaction beyond their school environment. Trips and visits further support their understanding of the wider world, beyond that of the classroom and the immediate village.

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Pupils behave well. School is calm and harmonious. Some pupils do find managing their own behaviour more difficult. Currently, the school does not routinely record poor incidents of behaviour. This prevents it from identifying patterns in behaviour and providing appropriate support where necessary. Pupils say that they do not know what happens if they behave very well or what happens if their behaviour is not as positive. This is because some members of staff adopt their own approaches to rewarding positive behaviour and a whole-school approach is not yet embedded.

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The new headteacher has quickly identified aspects of the school’s work that requires some improvement. He is ably supported by a highly performing governing body and a team of dedicated and committed staff. They recognise the need to ensure that actions taken to make these improvements are monitored regularly and that progress towards achieving them are recorded in detail and shared in a timely fashion.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 30 April 2024

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The school understands the importance of ensuring a strong safeguarding culture in school. Staff are trained, but this is not always prioritised around the school’s specific circumstances and identified needs of staff. The school has recently introduced a new way of recording safeguarding concerns that any member of staff might have. However, not all concerns are reported formally. Some concerns that are raised are not followed up adequately to assure those with responsibility for safeguarding that cases can be closed yet still be monitored. The school does not yet have a consistent approach to recording dates and times of each concern and their subsequent follow-up actions.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Safeguarding records do not consistently include all concerns, discussions, decisions made, the reasons for those decisions and when these decisions were made. This means it is not always clear exactly what has happened when or how concerns have been followed up. The school, including governors, should ensure that they have a precise understanding of statutory requirements in relation to safeguarding, including in relation to record-keeping, and ensure that these requirements are consistently met.  Assessment is not yet well embedded in all curriculum areas. This means that pupils are sometimes given work that is too difficult for them to complete. The school should continue to develop its approach to assessment, and ensure it is used effectively to address gaps in pupils’ learning.  The school does not yet have an effective support programme in place for those pupils not keeping up with the pace of the phonics programme. This means that some pupils

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

are not getting the support they need to catch up swiftly with their peers. The school should ensure there are clear systems to identify pupils not keeping up in lessons, and that sessions to support these pupils follow a systematic approach that enables them to catch up.  Leaders do not collect, monitor and then analyse information about behaviour incidents. This hinders them in identifying any trends or patterns. Consequently, leaders are unable to identify additional support and actions that may be needed to improve pupils’ behaviour. Leaders should record and analyse information about behaviour incidents to better detect any patterns or trends and identify the actions needed to support pupils in making improvements to their behaviour. 30 April 2024

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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 September 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 special educational needs and/or disabilities (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). 30 April 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average school.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The headteacher has been in post since January 2024.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, subject leaders and the SEND coordinator.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject 30 April 2024

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leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at samples of pupils’ work in a range of subjects including writing, history, religious education, and art and design.  The lead inspector spoke with five governors, including the chair of governors.  The lead inspector spoke on the telephone with a representative from the local authority.  The lead inspector listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons at different times of the day and at breaktimes and lunchtimes. They spoke formally with groups of pupils, as well as talking to pupils in lessons and around school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the lead inspector reviewed the single central record, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The lead inspector reviewed a wide range of documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and improvement plans and information on the school’s website.  Inspectors talked informally with pupils and staff to gather general information about school life. In addition, they took account of the responses to Ofsted’s survey of parents’ views. No surveys were returned for pupils or staff.

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Inspection team

Keri Baylis, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Griffiths Ofsted Inspector 30 April 2024

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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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