Baring Primary School

Inspection of Baring Primary School Linchmere Road, Lee, London SE12 0NB

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 January 2025

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 14 and 15 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a warm and welcoming school. Parents and carers typically describe it as ‘part of the community’ where staff carefully consider the needs of their children. Pupils feel safe and are kept safe. If pupils have concerns, they know there is a trusted adult they can talk to who will listen and deal with any problems appropriately.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils and has created an ambitious curriculum. Learning builds as pupils move through the school, and by the time they leave, most pupils achieve in line with national averages.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a huge range of experiences to enrich learning. This includes trips to museums, galleries, and London landmarks. There are a wide variety of visitors and projects such as working to compose music with the English National Opera and learning how to stay safe with representatives from the NSPCC and the emergency services.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and courteous. They follow instructions, and there is little low-level disruption in lessons. In the playground, they play together in mixed-age groups happily and harmoniously. Pupils in the early years share and take turns. Adults support their exploration and engage them in rich conversation.

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

The school has created a broad and balanced curriculum that builds from pupils’ different starting points. Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of what is working well and where they would like to refine the curriculum. Typically, teachers successfully adapt their teaching where needed. However, in some subjects, teachers’ activity choices and adaptations are not as well matched to what they want pupils to learn. This can limit the development of pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

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

Reading is a priority across the school. In Nursery, pupils enjoy rhymes, poems, and stories, and then, in Reception, they start the chosen phonics scheme. Staff are well trained and present learning effectively. Pupils use their knowledge of sounds to read words. The books they read match the sounds they know. If any pupils struggle, there is help available to ensure they catch up quickly.

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

The school ensures that pupils continue to increase their language skills and develop specialist vocabulary as they progress through the curriculum. For example, in early years, children are encouraged to talk about the colours they are mixing with paint. By Year 5, pupils confidently discuss the techniques different artists use in their work.

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

Teachers typically recap on previous learning to make sure pupils remember the important knowledge they need. Most teachers use questions well to check pupils have understood what they are learning. This helps them identify what pupils know and anything they still need to learn.

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

The school identifies any pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) 14 and 15 January 2025

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as swiftly as possible. It works closely with a range of external agencies. Staff ensure pupils with SEND receive the help and support they need. This means that most pupils with SEND access the curriculum successfully.

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Pupils are kind to each other and to the adults in school. They follow the three rules of ‘be ready, be respectful and be safe.’ The school helps pupils identify and manage their feelings. The school is doing all it can to improve attendance. They are successfully improving levels of attendance year by year.

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The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development is a real strength of the school. The school provides pupils with a rich variety of opportunities to help them become responsible citizens. Pupils are proud of their contributions to the school and local community. They raise money for charities, sing at a local care home or act as peer mediators in the playground. Pupils discuss fundamental British values and relate them to work completed by school councillors on the rights of the child. They show maturity when talking about gender and race discrimination.

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Staff are supported by leaders, including governors. They appreciate leaders’ concern for their workload and well-being, such as marking being based on verbal rather than written feedback. Governors are proud to work at the school and feel it is a truly nurturing place that is an asset to the local community. Governors offer appropriate support and challenge to the school so that the quality of education pupils receive continues to improve.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, staff are not making the teaching choices needed to ensure that learning is embedded as intended and outlined in the school’s curriculum. In these instances, pupils do not consistently develop the same depth of knowledge and understanding as they do in other subjects. The school should ensure staff consistently select appropriate activities and then adapt these as required so pupils consistently remember more in all subjects.

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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. 14 and 15 January 2025

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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). 14 and 15 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 February 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision for its pupils.  The school runs a before- and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 14 and 15 January 2025

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors 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 inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors also spoke with groups of staff and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work in other subjects.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys completed by

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parents and staff.  Inspectors reviewed a sample of the school’s policies and records, including those related to behaviour and pupils’ wider development.

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Inspection team

Eleanor Ross, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jo Franklin Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 January 2025

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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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