Burnopfield Primary School

BURNOPFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 21 st – 22 nd January 2002

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BURNOPFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Short inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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BURNOPFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Burnopfield Primary School - 1

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Front Street Burnopfield Newcastle upon Tyne

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: April 1997 Burnopfield Primary School - 2

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members 3277 Miss W L R Hunter Registered inspector 19741 Mr T Smith Lay inspector 12631 Mrs M McLean Team inspector 18819 Mr J Atkinson Team inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Eclipse (Education) Limited 14 Enterprise House Kingsway Team Valley Gateshead NE11 0SR.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Burnopfield Primary School - 3

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 4

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Burnopfield Primary School is a large school with 357 pupils and a further 52 children attending the nursery in either the mornings or afternoons. The school is very popular and, with increasing numbers of parents choosing to send their children here, it has been steadily increasing in size since the last inspection. The school serves the village of Burnopfield itself, to the north-west of Durham, but is situated on the boundary with Gateshead and also draws increasing numbers of pupils from outlying areas. The intake to the nursery is very mixed but, in recent years, has started to change with more children now having poor speech and limited concentration when they first start school.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Since the last inspection the school has established a resource base for pupils with statements of special educational need and is benefiting from an additional teacher and three support staff funded to support the education of these pupils. There are currently 13 identified pupils in the school, who are fully included in all lessons and activities with classmates of their own age, and a further five pupils also with statements of special educational needs. Pupils’ needs vary from physical disabilities, hearing and visual impairment, moderate learning difficulties, and emotional and behavioural needs. In addition, there are another 81 pupils on the school’s special educational needs register, and a further nine children identified in the nursery. Consequently, the level of special educational need in the school is above average. The level of free school meals is broadly average. There are no pupils from

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

minority ethnic backgrounds and all speak English as their first language.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective school that gives very good value for money. Teaching is very good in most classes and, as a result, pupils make rapid progress in their learning. This is especially true in the nursery, reception classes and Year 6. Pupils of all abilities achieve well and reach high standards. The school is very well led and managed. It has a genuine commitment to the inclusion of all pupils and gives every child the best opportunity to succeed. It does this very well and provides an extremely broad education.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • The school’s commitment to the inclusion of all pupils, regardless of their need or ability, is successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal needs are met very well. • The curriculum is very broad and offers a rich and interesting range of experiences. • Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. This supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in modern society. • The high quality of teaching in the nursery, reception classes and Year 6 accelerates children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before they leave the school. • The head teacher’s leadership and management are very effective. He is supported well by the governors and a team of experienced and committed staff, who all successfully contribute to

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved • The school is analysing data regularly but is not using it as effectively as it could to demonstrate the value that is being added to pupils’ learning or to set performance targets for individual pupils. • Teaching could be better in some classes if there was a more consistent focus on what pupils are expected to learn. Burnopfield Primary School - 5 The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in April 1997. It has kept all of its strengths since then and has made very good progress in further developments, particularly with regard to special educational needs. The school is very open and receptive to ideas and is actively involved in initiatives with other schools that help to support pupils’ learning. For example, it is successfully implementing a programme of educational inclusion and is introducing a project to develop pupils’ citizenship and sense of responsibility.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Key

English B D C C well above average above average A B Mathematics B D A A average below average C D Science C D C C well below average E

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Key

The school’s performance in 2001 was average in English and science and was well above average in mathematics. Although the 2001 performance is an improvement on the previous year, there were still a number of pupils in this year group with statements of special educational needs. The school’s culture of total inclusion is very positive and these pupils achieved well. However, because they do not always reach the levels expected for their ages, this affects the school’s overall performance and subsequent comparison with other schools. Consequently, the school’s trend in performance at age 11 is below the national rate of improvement. Nevertheless, the school is actually maintaining high standards and is setting realistic and challenging targets to aim for each year, depending on the make- up of the Year 6 group sitting the tests. For example, a group of gifted and talented pupils are expected to do very well in mathematics this year.

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Key

Children start in the nursery with a lot to learn. They make very good progress through the nursery and reception classes and, by the age of five, are working at the levels expected for their age. Pupils make steady progress through Years 1 and 2 and are still working at the levels expected in English and mathematics by the age of seven. Pupils’ progress accelerates again as they grow older, particularly in Year 6, with the result that they are working well above what is expected and reach high standards in English, mathematics and science. Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) are satisfactory and are improving rapidly now that the school has a computer suite available. Standards in religious education are also satisfactory. Burnopfield Primary School - 6

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Very good. Pupils are excited by the range of learning experiences they get and want to do well.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good. Pupils work and play very well together. They respect the school’s rules and follow them well. The older pupils take their responsibility as ‘yellow hats’ very seriously and help to keep the school calm and orderly.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Excellent. An ethos of nurture and care permeates the whole school and pupils respond brilliantly to this. They learn to support and encourage each other but also to respect their differences, especially for those with needs different to their own.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Good. Attendance rates are above the national average and absence is rare.

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Aspect Comment

The school positively supports all pupils, regardless of their needs or abilities, and this underpins the excellent relationships and atmosphere that exist. Pupils learn to help each other but in a supportive and non-patronising way that values their differences and positively develops their social understanding and self-esteem. Burnopfield Primary School - 7

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Quality of teaching Very good Good Very good

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Teaching is very good, particularly for the youngest and oldest children in the school. In the nursery and reception classes teachers plan their lessons very carefully and make learning fun. They use other adults extremely well, especially to support the children with special educational needs, and other children in the class also benefit from their presence. This helps the children to develop confidence by talking to different adults and gives them good role models to copy. Teaching is very good, and sometimes excellent, in Year 6 for several reasons. Teachers are specialising in either English or mathematics and are teaching this subject to all pupils in the year group. This is extremely successful. It capitalises on their strengths and expertise and accelerates pupils’ learning in both subjects. Both teachers set very high standards. They expect ‘big things’ of the pupils with the result that they all

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

respond very well. The lessons have a ‘spark’ about them that lifts pupils’ spirits and challenges them to succeed. Elsewhere in the school, teaching is sometimes satisfactory, sometimes good and sometimes very good, but it does vary from class to class. This hinges around the quality of planning where, in some cases, teachers put too much emphasis on what they plan to teach rather than o0n what they expect pupils to learn.

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Literacy and numeracy are taught very well and the school is actively meeting the needs of all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs receive very good support to help them work alongside their classmates and achieve well. Gifted and talented pupils are also recognised well and are expected to realise their potential, wherever their skills lie, including mathematics, music and sport.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Good up to the age of seven and very good for the older pupils. The school offers a curriculum with remarkable depth and interest that broadens pupils’ horizons and gives them a rich selection of experiences, such as learning a foreign language.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Very good. The school’s central belief in full inclusion for all pupils reaps rewards and benefits across the board. These pupils do extremely well and gain a lot from their time in the school.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Excellent. The school is genuinely educating children for ‘life’ in modern society. The curriculum supports their development very well and is enhanced by involvement in a project that develops pupils’ responsibility and citizenship very well.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Good. All the health and safety issues identified in the last inspection have been dealt with effectively. The school is a caring and supportive place to be. Burnopfield Primary School - 8 The school offers a rich and interesting curriculum that goes way beyond what is required and helps pupils to develop as well-rounded individuals. Its involvement in the ‘TREE’ (Towards Responsibility in Education and Employment) project is helping pupils to develop the skills they will need to be able to solve problems, work with others, organise themselves and take responsibility. An annual project based around the life and work of William Shakespeare gives Year 6 pupils a wonderful opportunity to combine their work in many subjects and to support their social and cultural development.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the head teacher and other key staff Very good. The head teacher’s belief that every child deserves the best education they can get underpins the genuine philosophy of inclusion and challenge that surrounds the school. Other staff share this quality and work well as a supportive team to do their best for the pupils.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Very good. Governors lead by example and support the school’s involvement in projects and initiatives that broaden and improve its work. They are rightly proud of the school’s performance to date but still question where it could develop further.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance This is satisfactory but could be better. The school has a lot of data available and analyses it regularly, but this lacks some sophistication and is not always as meaningful and useful as it could be.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Excellent. The school uses every available source of funding to support its work. The number of support staff has increased substantially since the last inspection and they are all very effective in what they do.

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Aspect Comment

The very effective leadership and management of the school is making sure that it maintains all its strengths at the same time as striving to improve and develop even further. Each child is valued and all possible means of support are used to give them the best chance to succeed. The school applies the principles of best value well.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• The school is well led and managed. • Teaching is good, pupils make good progress and reach high standards. • The school is approachable and encourages parents to be involved. • Pupils’ behaviour is good and they develop mature and responsible attitudes. • The school offers an interesting range of activities. A small number of parents were not entirely satisfied with the school’s arrangements for homework or for keeping them informed about their child’s progress. Burnopfield Primary School - 9 Parents are very happy and hold the school in high regard. They are right to do so. The inspectors agree with all parents’ positive comments and found no evidence to support the concerns raised by a small number of parents. Parents of pupils with statements of special educational needs are particularly pleased with the school, while other parents feel that the inclusion of these children adds an extra dimension to their child’s learning and personal development.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

1 The school has a central commitment to do the best it can for every pupil. Children are carefully assessed when they start in the nursery and this sets the scene for their future development. Each child is considered to be unique and is treated as an individual with their own strengths, talents and needs. In some cases these needs are very specific, such as visual or hearing impairment or physical conditions such as Down’s Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy, and therefore these children require additional support and intervention to help them to progress and learn. However, nothing is considered to be a barrier or problem as far as the school is concerned and every child is therefore expected to try their best and aim high.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

2 The school’s philosophy of inclusion permeates every aspect of its work. Pupils who are attending the school because of its ‘resource base’ status are fully included in all lessons and activities alongside their classmates. Although they receive additional support from adults at various times during lessons, these pupils ‘fit in’ perfectly and expect to be treated like any other child in the school. The fact that they are is a testament to the way in which all the staff and pupils accept and treat each other as individuals. For example, when one of these pupils realised that the printer in the computer suite had run out of ink, they were told quite categorically to ‘ get on with it and change the cartridge ’ by some of their classmates, since they would also soon be wanting to print their work.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

3 The school’s provision for special educational needs is very good. However, its support for average attaining pupils, and for those who are capable of doing really well, is just as good. The school has identified some ‘gifted’ and ‘talented’ pupils in all year groups (from nursery to Year 6) and has highlighted areas where they are expected to achieve well. Staff expect each pupil to succeed and the school uses a range of ways to encourage them to do so. For example, pupils who experience difficulty with their reading are helped by other pupils through a reading ‘partnership’. This works well. Pupils clearly benefit from reading with their partners and gain in confidence, for instance they were keen to explain “ I like reading now ” and “ I got to learn to read hard words ”. When they reach Year 6, pupils are organised into ‘sets’ for literacy and numeracy on the basis of their previous attainment. This helps the teachers to pitch their work accurately to the abilities within their groups

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

and also helps to provide a good level of challenge for the high flyers. For instance, a small group of girls has been identified with particular skills in mathematics this year and the school is preparing them to tackle an extended version of the tests for 11 year olds.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

4 The school actively discourages any form of discrimination. For instance, each year, pupils in Year 6 are given the chance to take part in a range of planned activities, such as dry-slope skiing, tennis and canoeing that are organised by the school. This is a deliberate policy that allows all pupils to experience a wide range of activities without the outlay of paying for residential visits that are offered at other times. In this way, the school is taking active steps to include all pupils and is making sure that there are no reasons why they should not get access to interesting and stimulating experiences.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

5 The school’s commitment to inclusion stems from the top. Governors are very keen to ensure that all pupils are given the best chance they can have. The head teacher embraces this aim then leads and manages the school very well to achieve it. For example, there has been a significant increase in the number of support staff since the last inspection, who work with pupils across all ages Burnopfield Primary School - 11 and abilities and make a very strong contribution to their learning. There has been positive recruitment of teaching and support staff who have qualities that fit into the school’s philosophy and share the belief in the value of all children. Parents also value the school’s approach and recognise the benefits it has on their children’s personal development. A particularly good example of this is in the reception class where many children are learning to communicate by sign language (Makaton) to converse with

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

other children with speech and hearing difficulties. This was used very well, for instance, in an assembly when the whole class signed ‘ thank you God for everything ’ to allow them all to share the experience of worship.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

The curriculum is very broad and offers a rich and interesting range of experiences.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

6 For children in the nursery and reception classes, their curriculum offers a breadth of stimulating practical activities. For instance, they practise their listening and writing by using a telephone and typewriter during their imaginative play and use musical instruments to mimic the sounds they have heard on a walk around the school. Children get a good range of role-play scenarios that help them to explore and develop their imaginative skills, such as pretending to work in a baby clinic, visiting a garden centre and by being ‘in the jungle’. Visitors to the nursery and reception classes broaden children’s experiences and bring them into contact with different aspects of life, such as the local vicar, dentist, fire brigade and a puppet theatre. There is an air of underlying excitement in the nursery and reception classes that comes from the richness of the experiences that children get, for

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

instance when studying their handprints with a visiting policeman.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

7 English and mathematics are given an appropriate emphasis in the school’s curriculum and pupils get a good range of learning opportunities to support the development of their literacy and numeracy skills. For example, in Year 1, they are given the chance to develop speaking and listening skills through role-play as ‘travel agents’ and by interacting with a visiting theatre group then performing to an audience. Writing is developed through a wide spread of activities, such as when Year 3 pupils wrote poetry about seasons and colours and Year 5 pupils produced directions about how to make hot ‘Ready Brek’. By the time they are in Year 6, pupils are writing confidently and imaginatively and are given plenty of opportunities to express themselves, for instance by preparing scripts for different ‘film’ versions of Oliver Twist and by word processing their autobiographies. Mathematics has just as high a profile in the school and pupils in all year groups get plenty of

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

experience handling numbers and exploring shapes, patterns and data. For example, pupils in Year 2 were fascinated by the fact that they could represent counting in units, tens and hundreds, tens by moving around the classroom in ‘hops’, ‘steps’ and ‘jumps’, while Year 6 pupils confidently tackled problems, such as investigating the relationship between the length of a dragon’s body and the number of scales it should have on its wings.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

8 There are good links between other subjects of the curriculum that bring pupils’ learning into focus round a central topic or theme. For example, when studying ‘forces’ in science, Year 2 pupils developed this theme through their artwork by making paintings of ‘pushing’ and ‘pulling’ activities, such as skateboarding. Pupils experience a good range of scientific investigations across all year groups, ranging from Year 1 trying to find out which materials make the best rain hats for a teddy bear, to Year 3 pupils looking at growth by measuring the forearms of other children in Years 2, 4 and 6. This strong emphasis on practical experience and investigation carries through into other subjects. For instance, in history, pupils in Year 1 are helped to gain a better understanding of the past by writing with a feather and an old fashioned pen.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

9 Creative subjects, such as art and design and music, also feature strongly in the school’s curriculum. Pupils are given opportunities to receive instrumental tuition, including brass and woodwind, and a significant number take part in musical clubs and activities, such as soprano and Burnopfield Primary School - 12 descant recorder groups and the school choir. Displays are used well to celebrate pupils’ achievements and to provide a stimulus for further learning. In Year 2, a large display of different kinds of puppets (glove, hand, string and stick puppets) helped pupils to think about their own designs. Similarly, in the same class, an attractive display of artwork showed silhouettes of cliffs and boats against oil-painted ‘waves’ and ‘splashes’ to illustrate the ferocity of the sea. This had been linked well with literacy to emphasis the sounds that the water would have made.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

10 Visits are used extremely well to support all areas of the curriculum. For example, pupils in Year 1 visit Beamish museum to get an idea of children’s experiences in the Victorian era (history). Year 4 pupils’ visit to Durham City was used initially as a stimulus for very good extended writing about the day’s visit but was followed up well by writing a holiday guide for Durham (geography and literacy). Year 5 pupils develop field study skills and knowledge of places and rivers by visiting Middleton-in-Teesdale (geography) while Year 6 visit Teesmouth to investigate the industrial base of the River Tees and why changes have occurred, such as the demise of the Iron Works (geography and history). The music curriculum is also enhanced by educational visits, such as productions by the National Youth Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia Prom. Visitors make a similarly strong contribution to the range of experiences offered to pupils, ranging from artists and sculptors, who

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

introduce pupils to felt-making and woodcarving, to authors, musicians and theatre groups.

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successfully translated into practice. As a result, pupils’ individual academic and personal

11 Every year pupils in Year 6 undertake a cross-curricular project based on the life and work of William Shakespeare. This embraces aspects of literacy, art and design, information and communication technology, design and technology and drama. Pupils design and make the scenery and costumes for a production of the chosen Shakespearean play, study the characters in depth, produce a range of writing based around the play then rehearse and perform it for other pupils in the school. This annual event gives plenty of opportunities for pupils’ social and cultural development and pulls together the skills they have learnt in previous years in a way that celebrates their achievements and makes learning fun. This epitomises the school’s approach to providing a curriculum that provides pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need in different subjects, but brings it all together in a relevant and enjoyable way.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

12 The school has improved this area since the last inspection and now provides pupils with an excellent start to their life, which shows in the very positive attitudes and maturity they develop as they grow older.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

13 The curriculum is so rich and exciting that it supports pupils’ personal development just as well as their academic progress. For example, provision for music is very good and pupils get extensive opportunities to work and perform together. However, they are also encouraged to stop and take time to think about their experiences, for instance by writing about their responses to a performance by the National Youth Orchestra. Burnopfield used to be a stopping point on The Pilgrim’s Way between Durham Cathedral and Holy Island. The school exploits this well by links through the religious education and history curriculum. For example, pupils in Year 5 have mirrored experiences from the past by taking time for quiet reflection to think about ‘special’ people and events at various points during a pilgrimage through the village. In this way, a positive planned use of the curriculum has supported and broadened pupils’ spiritual development.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

14 Pupils are encouraged to think about themselves as unique individuals but to also consider the needs of others. For example, in Year 5 pupils have written about their own thoughts and ideas on Burnopfield Primary School - 13 ‘how I can be helpful’. This theme is reinforced by displays around the school, such as posters about ‘helping each other’ and ‘treating each other the way you would like to be treated’. It is also supported well by the school’s reward system culminating in the ‘gold’ book where pupils’ names are written when they have been particularly helpful and kind.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

15 Assemblies provide occasions for pupils to share their experiences and demonstrate their personal talents. Pupils who play musical instruments often accompany the singing or play selections of songs for the rest of the school. Other pupils confidently perform drama and role-play activities, read prayers and speak publicly about things they have achieved. Assemblies are also a good source of opportunities for spiritual and moral development. For instance, in a class assembly in reception, the children talked about a poster ‘thank you for the food we eat’ then came up with their own ideas to say thank you to God, including ‘ thank you for our life ’ and ‘ thank you for our mammies ’.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

16 Pupils’ moral development is supported by the richness and diversity of the school’s curriculum. Carefully planned experiences encourage pupils to think about and challenge their own values. For example, through their work in geography Year 2 pupils have considered how to make the local environment safer and have written letters requesting a pelican crossing outside the school. On a different theme, in Year 6, pupils have written letters from the stance of World War II evacuees to parents detailing their experiences and feelings.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

17 Each class has its own rules that have been negotiated and agreed with the pupils. In this way, the pupils take them very seriously and realise that, since they made the rules, they shouldn’t break them. Pupils are taught to think about the effects and implications of people’s actions. For example in Year 5, pupils have written their own fables based on proverbs, such as ‘one good turn deserves another’. They have also had the chance to follow-up their work in history by considering how they can behave in a way that reflects the spirit of Dr Barnardo, to show a kind, helpful and sharing manner. This is reinforced through assemblies where moral values are shared and discussed, and by pupils’ charitable actions such as collecting for the Blue Peter Appeal and the National Children’s Home.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

18 Pupils of all ages are actively encouraged to work independently and this supports their social development very well. For instance, Year 6 pupils have carried out research together to look at the history of the North East 1900 – 2000, while children in the nursery happily pretend to be eskimos working together to try to catch fish for their dinner. The school’s ‘buddy system’ has only recently started but already strongly supports pupils’ social development well. Pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 wrote about why they wanted to become ‘buddies’ to younger pupils then, following the selection of a small initial group, these pupils are now training further buddies to help look after and support the younger children in the school. These buddies are instantly recognisable by the ‘yellow caps’ they wear in the school playground and the younger pupils clearly respect and trust them. The ‘school council’ has

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

been in place slightly longer and is another way in which the school encourages pupils to take responsibility and have their say. These pupils have been particularly active in considering a ‘safer route to school initiative’ and representatives of the council have met with staff from the local planning department to discuss their ideas.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

19 Physical education and music make a particularly strong contribution to pupils’ social development. Dance is a key feature where pupils often work together to practice and perform their routines, such as creating movements and sounds in Year 2 to simulate different types of rain, and by using poetry and pupils’ own musical compositions as a stimulus for personal expression through dance in Year 6. The school’s sporting clubs offer a plethora of choice and span a vast range of interests, from line dancing to cross country and cricket coaching. Extra-curricular activities enhance the school’s curriculum and give even more opportunities for pupils to mix and share experiences together, Burnopfield Primary School - 14 such as recorder groups, a choir, and a full range of sports teams. Pupils often take their talents out to share with the local community, for instance when carol singing for local residents.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

20 Educational visits and outdoor activities offer numerous opportunities for social development, ranging from the nursery children exploring the wooden outdoor play area to pupils from Year 5 going on a joint residential visit with pupils from a local special school. Year 6 pupils participate in a residential visit in Glenshee where they experience canoeing, archery, abseiling, orienteering and gorge walking. This is a particularly good activity that helps develop their confidence and independence even further.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

21 The school has little cultural variation among the pupils but the head teacher makes particularly good use of his own personal background and heritage to make pupils aware of issues, such as racism and prejudice, towards people with unfamiliar or foreign names. The school makes very good use of visits and visitors from the community to support pupils’ local cultural development. For instance, a visit by two members of the local Muslim community helped pupils to become more aware of the traditions and beliefs of people from this culture. Religious education makes a particularly strong impact in this area and helps pupils to learn about the similarities and to appreciate some of the differences between a range of faiths.

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

22 The school is actively working with a group of other local schools to implement the ‘TREE’ project (Toward Responsibility in Education and Employment). The aim of this is to promote a sense of citizenship in pupils, starting in nursery and building progressively as they move through the school into Year 6. The project focuses on key attributes of a child’s development which will provide them with the skills they need for ‘life’, such as recognising themselves as a person, solving problems, taking responsibility, working with others and organising themselves. Opportunities to develop these skills are woven through all areas of the curriculum and aspects of the school’s daily life, and pupils strive to achieve ‘leaves’ for the tree in their class. Parents, pupils and teachers have all embraced the ‘TREE’ project and have made it a great success so far. As a result, it is becoming the foundation for

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supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and prepares them for ‘life’ in

pupils’ personal development and is already making a good contribution to the work of the school.

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

23 Teaching is very good, particularly for the youngest and oldest children in the school. As a result, children make very good progress through the nursery and reception classes to the point that, by the time they are ready to leave reception, they are working at the levels expected for their age. For instance, some have started writing their own simple sentences with good letter formation and plausible spelling, such as ‘ we then wit hom ’ (we then went home). The high quality of teaching in Year 6 accelerates pupils’ progress again, with the result that they are working well above what is expected and reach high standards in English, mathematics and science by the time they leave the school.

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

24 In the nursery and reception classes teachers plan their lessons very carefully and make learning fun. They have a good understanding of the needs of young children and provide them with interesting and challenging activities to catch their interest, spark their imagination and develop a thirst for learning. For example, children in the nursery developed their counting skills as they dressed as eskimos and ‘fished’ for numbers in an ‘ice pool’. On a similar theme, other children were learning to look at colour and texture as they made ‘bubble’ paintings to simulate the surface of an Emperor Penguin’s egg. Burnopfield Primary School - 15 25 Teachers in the reception classes, have particularly good story telling and questioning skills. They capture children’s attention and carefully plan linked activities that effectively develop children’s basic skills. For instance, after listening to the story of ‘Mrs Mopple’s Washing Line’, children were

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

told to concentrate on the sound of the letter ‘w’. They were asked to suggest words that began with ‘w’, made rubbings using ‘w’ shaped pieces of sandpaper, and practised writing ‘w’ on whiteboards and the computer. They also made ‘w’ shaped patterns from dough and drew shapes and pictures of objects starting with ‘w’ such as ‘wheels’, ‘whales’ and ‘watches’. The sheer range of activities meant that children were fascinated by their work and concentrated very well. By the end of this particular lesson, one child could hardly contain themself when they realised that ‘w’ could stand for ‘well done’ and that this was true!

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

26 In the nursery and reception classes, teachers use adults extremely well, especially to support the children with special educational needs, but other children in the class also benefit from their presence. For example, an adult intervened well when she realised that some of the nursery children were just about to ‘suck’ the paint through their straws rather than blow it! In the reception classes, the effective adult support means that children regularly work in small groups and get plenty of time to talk and interact with adults. This helps to develop their speaking and listening skills but also supports their personal development and gains in confidence.

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

27 There are several reasons why teaching is so good in Year 6. The teachers are specialising in either English or mathematics and are teaching this subject to all pupils in the year group. This is extremely successful. It capitalises on their strengths and expertise and accelerates pupils’ learning in both subjects. It also means that all pupils in the year group get the chance to benefit from contact with both teachers on a regular basis. Both teachers set very high standards. They expect ‘big things’ of the pupils and challenge them to do well. For instance, in an excellent mathematics lesson, the teacher set the same problem for the whole class but then spent time with each child to tease out the best way for them to tackle it and to specify the degree of challenge that they could build in to their investigation. This was very successful. It meant that the pupils who could handle numbers

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

confidently and accurately in their heads moved onto developing algebraic formulae while others concentrated on establishing number patterns and recording their results in tables.

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

28 The teachers in Year 6 expect the pupils to take a degree of responsibility for their own learning and to show initiative and independence in their work. For example, in a literacy lesson at the start of the week, the teacher outlined very clearly what pupils were aiming to achieve by the end of the week. This meant that they knew precisely what had to be done, how much work was involved and what was expected of them. Having previously been given the Dicken’s text that they were studying, pupils had clearly done their homework and had studied the characters in preparation for their lesson in order to get the best out of their time with the teacher.

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children’s learning at the start of their education and gives them a positive boost before

29 The consistently strong teaching at both ends of the age range in the school supports pupils’ personal development extremely well and contributes positively to pupils’ effective learning and the subsequent high standards they achieve.

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the governors and a team of experienced and committed staff, who all successfully

30 The head teacher leads and manages the school exceptionally well. He passionately believes that all children deserve the best opportunities they can get and works hard to provide this for them. Burnopfield Primary School - 16 31 The head teacher is supported very well by the deputy head teacher and other key staff. They all share the same philosophy and values and this underpins the school’s all embracing approach to including every child to the best of their ability. This is a big school where staff work in two separate buildings but there is a strong sense of identity and team spirit that supports their work. This stems from the example given by the head teacher who leads from the front and encourages staff to strive for constant improvement and development, in the same way that they expect their pupils to strive for success.

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the governors and a team of experienced and committed staff, who all successfully

32 The head teacher and governors work very well together and have a strong and effective partnership. Governors are rightly proud of the school’s successes but still ask critical and challenging questions to be sure that they are doing the best they can for the pupils. In particular, governors encourage and support the school’s involvement in initiatives and projects with other schools and organisations if they feel there will be a direct benefit to the children. This has been very positive. For instance, it has led to the implementation of the ‘TREE’ project, the development of a sensory garden in the school’s grounds, joint educational visits with other local schools and involvement in a regional ‘inclusion’ project. One of the most beneficial features of this, to date, has been the successful way in which the school has established the resources base for pupils with special educational needs and the

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the governors and a team of experienced and committed staff, who all successfully

way in which these pupils have seamlessly become part of the everyday life of the school.

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demonstrate the value that is being added to pupils’ learning or to set performance targets

33 The school is inundated with statistical data. Staff and governors are trying to use this to support their work but they often get ‘bogged down’ in extensive and time-consuming analysis that reveals little more than they already knew. In the process, the most important factors are sometimes overlooked. For instance, the school’s system for setting the targets that pupils are expected to reach by the end of Year 6 is a little superficial. There are more sophisticated and reliable ways of doing this by using the national guidance materials (Autumn Package) that are issued to all schools in October each year.

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demonstrate the value that is being added to pupils’ learning or to set performance targets

34 The pupils with special educational needs, and particularly those with statements, quite often do not attain the levels expected for their ages in the tests in Year 6. The school knows this and recognises that the inclusion of these pupils’ results skews its performance when making comparisons against other schools. Consequently, there has been a lot of time and effort put into dissecting the school’s results for several years to ascertain how its performance varies depending on the make-up of each group as they pass through Year 6. Although this confirms that the school is sustaining high standards, it does little to demonstrate the actual benefits that these pupils have got from their time in the school. The school is clearly adding value to the learning of these pupils and they achieve well in relation to their individual needs. However, by concentrating on ‘taking them out of the equation’

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demonstrate the value that is being added to pupils’ learning or to set performance targets

when analysing the data, the head teacher and governors are not using the data that is available as meaningfully as they could to assess and evaluate how effective the school has actually been.

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demonstrate the value that is being added to pupils’ learning or to set performance targets

35 The head teacher and governors accept that this is an area where they can learn and develop further in order to truly celebrate the value that the school adds to the learning of all pupils. In this way, the school’s evaluation of its own performance will begin to mirror its central commitment to inclusion rather than cut across it by extracting key groups of pupils from its analysis. Burnopfield Primary School - 17

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Teaching could be better in some classes if there was a more consistent focus on what

36 The quality of teaching is satisfactory in some classes. Although this does the job and meets the needs of the pupils, it does not match the high quality of practice that is taking place consistently in other classes around the school. This means that pupils’ learning has some peaks and troughs as they move through the school depending on which class they are in. This is particularly true in Years 1 to 4 but is picked up and stabilised very well in Year 5 then accelerated by the extremely good teaching in Year 6.

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Teaching could be better in some classes if there was a more consistent focus on what

37 When teachers plan their lessons, they sometimes put too much focus on what they are planning to teach and not enough emphasis on what they expect the pupils to learn. In many classes, this does not matter because the teachers are so skilful and experienced that they intuitively match their questions and the work to individual pupils’ needs, and therefore make sure that they make progress and learn what was intended. However, in a few classes, where teachers do not have this breadth or range of experience, they rely on their planning to pitch work correctly and to make sure that pupils are challenged sufficiently. This occasionally falls down a bit when the pace of lessons is slow and pupils are left with activities that are not as sharply focused as they could be. For instance in a Year 1 literacy lesson where pupils finished their writing and started colouring in the pictures and in a Year 3 mathematics lesson where pupils did not really grasp the point of subtracting by counting back

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Teaching could be better in some classes if there was a more consistent focus on what

38 The head teacher is fully aware of the particular strengths in teaching and knows where it could be better. He is managing this situation well by strategically pairing the teachers that work together in the different year groups and encouraging teachers to plan and evaluate their work together to give each other effective support.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(a) Use the information in the Autumn Package and the performance data available to:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

§ identify the value added to pupils’ learning in reading, writing, mathematics and science; § set individual performance targets for pupils on the basis of their previous attainment. (Paragraphs 33, 34, 35)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(b) Get a greater consistency in the quality of teaching and bring the satisfactory teaching up to match the very good practice already happening in some classes by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

§ making sure that teachers’ planning puts a clear emphasis on what pupils are expected to learn; § making sure that all teachers identify opportunities to assess and evaluate whether pupils have learnt what was intended in each lesson or sequence of lessons; § making use of the results of these assessments to help all teachers to plan work that builds on what pupils already know. (Paragraphs 36, 37 and 38) Burnopfield Primary School - 18

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 17

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than five percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 26 357

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 38

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 1 17

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 9 81

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 17

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 11

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Attendance

School data 5.3 School data 0.0 Burnopfield Primary School - 19 National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Burnopfield Primary School - 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2001 28 29 57

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 23 24 25 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 28 25 27

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 89% (87%) 86% (82%) 91% (90%) at NC level 2 or above National 84% (83%) 86% (84%) 91% (90%)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 23 24 27 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 27 25 29

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 88% (85%) 86% (82%) 98% (87%) at NC level 2 or above National 85% (84%) 89% (88%) 89% (88%)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2001 30 23 53

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 24 27 29 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 17 17 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 77% (73%) 83% (67%) 92% (82%) at NC level 4 or above National 75% (75%) 71% (72%) 87% (85%)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 24 27 29 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 19 18 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 81% (56%) 85% (64%) 92% (73%) at NC level 4 or above National 72% (70%) 74% (72%) 82% (79%)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Burnopfield Primary School - 21

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 0 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 15.2 Financial year 2000 - 2001

p.23

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 23.5

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 701,948

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 6.0 Total expenditure 722,189

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 193 Expenditure per pupil 1,906

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 38,000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1.0 Balance carried forward to next year 17,759

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 26.0:1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2.0

p.23

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 67

p.23

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 1.0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2.0

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0 Burnopfield Primary School - 22 FTE means full-time equivalent. Burnopfield Primary School - 23

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

p.25

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 61 38 1 - -

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 50 45 2 - 3

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 46 39 12 1 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 54 37 8 1 -

p.25

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 80 16 2 1 1

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 67 33 - - -

p.25

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 50 42 4 1 3

p.25

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 67 28 3 - 3

p.25

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 63 36 1 - 1

p.25

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 64 31 1 1 3

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