Burford Primary and Nursery School

Inspection of Burford Primary and Nursery School Oxclose Lane, Arnold, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG5 6FX

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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 Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Lisa Lister. This school is part of Transform Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Rebecca Meredith CBE, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Michael Butler. 14 and 15 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

From the moment pupils enter the doors at this inclusive school, staff are warm and welcoming. Pupils’ well-being is at the core of everything that happens at Burford. Staff develop positive relationships with pupils and their families. Pupils feel safe and happy. They know that trusted adults will help them if they have any worries or concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations. They want pupils at the school to live out the school motto, ‘attend, aspire, achieve’. In the main, pupils across the school achieve well. However, children in the early years do not consistently benefit from a well-designed or taught curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well, and disruption to lessons is rare. Pupils enjoy taking on leadership responsibilities, such as being part of the safety or eco crew, which enable them to support younger pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a broad set of experiences outside of the classroom. This includes trips to broaden pupils’ horizons and extra-curricular activities so that they can develop their interests. Pupils enjoy a range of clubs, such as axe throwing and bracelet making. They also have the opportunity to represent their school at different events, including as members of the pupil parliament.

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

The school has recently made changes to the curriculum. The important knowledge that pupils should learn has been set out clearly. Pupils now understand the differences between the subjects that they study. In some subjects, pupils can connect their learning over time. For example, in physical education (PE), pupils are able to recognise how the skills that they have learned, connected to passing, can be applied to different ball games. In a minority of subjects, the school has not identified how teachers should help pupils to remember their learning. This means that pupils do not routinely get the opportunity to recall previous learning and make links to their current learning.

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

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They provide pupils with work which enables them to learn the curriculum. In most subjects, teachers routinely check pupils’ understanding and take action to address any gaps in their knowledge.

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

Reading is prioritised. Pupils read books that are matched to their understanding. Older pupils talk positively about the books they read as part of whole-class reading. The school follows a phonics programme that helps pupils at the early stages of reading to identify and blend sounds. On occasion, staff do not check pupils’ understanding. Some pupils do not develop their knowledge as quickly as they could, including some of those who are at risk of falling behind their peers.

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

Staff promptly identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school closely monitors these pupils’ progress through the curriculum. Staff support pupils with SEND well and ensure they are ready to learn. 14 and 15 January 2025

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The implementation of the curriculum in the early years requires improvement. At times, the work provided to children does not help them to build their knowledge. Consequently, children do not consistently benefit from high-quality teaching and are not prepared as well as they should be for the next stage of their education. However, children do benefit from positive relationships with staff. They make friends quickly and enjoy coming to school.

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Pupils’ behaviour is calm. They understand the importance of behaving well so that they and their peers can be successful. Staff feel supported in managing behaviour. The school has invested in counselling services and other agencies to support pupils and their families.

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Some pupils do not attend school as often as they should. The school analyses the reasons for this. Staff are tenacious in their actions to remove barriers to pupils’ attendance. Their work is having a positive impact. The number of pupils who are persistently absent from school is decreasing.

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The school promotes pupils’ personal development well. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online. They develop an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. Pupils have an understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics. They recognise the importance of treating others with respect and kindness.

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Governors and trustees know the school’s strengths and areas that require further development. They use this knowledge to hold the school to account. Staff value the training they receive from the trust to support them in their roles. Leaders are considerate of staff’s workload and well-being. Staff work hard to bring about positive change to the school. Many parents and carers appreciate the impact this has on their children.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The work provided for children in the early years is not always focused on the important knowledge that the curriculum outlines that children should learn. As a result, children do not build their knowledge as well as they should, and they are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. The school should ensure that children consistently benefit from work designed to ensure that they develop their knowledge and understanding.  When teaching phonics, there are occasions when staff do not check pupils’ understanding. As a result, some pupils do not get the support they need and do not 14 and 15 January 2025

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develop their phonics knowledge as quickly as they could. The school should ensure that staff develop the expertise they need to identify and address any misconceptions that pupils may have.  In a minority of foundation subjects, consideration has not been given to how pupils revisit their learning over time. This means that pupils struggle to recall their prior learning and connect it to their recent studies. The school should ensure that pupils are given opportunities to recall and revisit their learning over time in each subject across the curriculum.

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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). 14 and 15 January 2025

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School details

Website www.burfordprimaryandnursery.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 May 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Transform Trust.  The headteacher took up their post in September 2023.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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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 . 14 and 15 January 2025

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 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.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, other school staff, members of the governing body, trustees and the CEO of the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, PE 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, listened to pupils read and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum and looked at work in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils and considered the extent

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to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Throughout the inspection, the inspectors met with groups of staff and considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.  The inspectors considered the views of parents expressed through Ofsted Parent View and met parents at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Roxanne Fearns-Davies, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Angela Kirk Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 January 2025

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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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