Burrough Green CofE Primary School

SCHOOL

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 Burrough Green C of E Primary - 2 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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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. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Primary School category: Voluntary Controlled Age range of pupils: 4-11 years Gender of pupils: Mixed Number on roll: 88

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Bradley Road Burrough Green Newmarket Suffolk Postcode: CB8 9NH

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Telephone number: 01638 507236 Fax number: 01638 507236

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body Name of chair of governors: Mr Richard Selby

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 5 th May 1998

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

This small rural primary school was established as the result of an endowment of land by the vicar of the parish in 1630 and is one of the oldest schools in the country. There are 88 pupils on roll from widely varying socio-economic backgrounds. Although there is only a small number of pupils from Travelling families currently in the school, the proportion fluctuates from year to year. Pupils come from a wide area and over a third from outside the designated catchment area as a result of parental choice. On entry to the school the attainment of most pupils is below the national average although the attainment of around a quarter is above average. All pupils are from white English speaking backgrounds. The mobility of pupils is very high as many enter and leave the school part-way through this phase of their education. Around a fifth of pupils are entered on the school’s record of pupils with special educational needs, which is broadly in line with the national average. In 2001 the

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

school received a ‘School Achievement Award’ from the Department of Education and Skills in recognition of the school’s improved performance in national tests for pupils in Year 6. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 4

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

15477 John Messer Lead inspector Mathematics, science, art and design, design and technology, music, physical education. 9942 Susanna Stevens Lay inspector 2756 Mike Barron Team inspector The Foundation Stage, English, information and communication technology, geography, history, religious education, special educational needs.

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

Serco QAA Herringston Barn Herringston Dorchester Dorset DT2 9PU

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be made initially to the inspection contractor. The procedures are set out in the leaflet ‘Complaining about Ofsted Inspections’ , which is available from Ofsted Publications Centre (telephone 07002 637833) or Ofsted’s website (www.ofsted.gov.uk). Burrough Green C of E Primary - 5

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY PUPILS 8

Standards achieved in areas of learning, subjects and courses

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY PUPILS 8

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL 11

Teaching and learning The curriculum Care, guidance and support Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

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OVERALL EVALUATION

This is a good school where teaching is good and where pupils achieve well, so that by the end of Year 6 they attain standards that are above average in most subjects. The school provides good value for money.

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OVERALL EVALUATION

The school’s main strengths and weaknesses are:

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OVERALL EVALUATION

• By the end of Year 6 pupils attain standards that are above average in English, mathematics and science. • Teaching across the school is good and much of it is very good. Teaching for pupils in music in Years 4, 5 and 6 is very good. • A rich curriculum is provided. • Pupils’ attitudes to work and their behaviour are very good and help them to learn effectively. • The school provides an exceptionally caring and supportive environment where all pupils are respected and helped to learn confidently. • Pupils’ achievement is not analysed in sufficient detail to set precise targets for future learning. • Although most pupils achieve well, the high rate of absence diminishes the achievement of those who are absent for extended periods. • The school improvement plan does not focus sufficiently on how initiatives will be evaluated to show whether they have improved standards. • Accommodation is unsatisfactory; the hall is too small and the outdoor area for the youngest

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OVERALL EVALUATION

The school’s effectiveness has improved well since the last inspection. The quality of teaching is better than in 1998. By the time they leave the school pupils now attain higher standards in English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology, art and design, history and music. All seven of the key issues raised at the time of the last inspection have been tackled successfully. The school has far fewer pupils than at the time of the last inspection and the attainment of children on entry to the school is now lower than it was then. Against this background of lower attainment on entry, the school has done well to improve standards since the last inspection.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

all schools similar schools Results in National Curriculum tests at the end of Year 6, compared with: 2001 2002 2003 2003 English C A* C B mathematics B B C B science D C C B Key: A - well above average; B – above average; C – average; D – below average; E – well below average Similar schools are those whose pupils attained similarly at the end of Year 2.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

Pupils’ achievement is good. Pupils achieve well in the Foundation Stage and most are on course to attain the goals that children are expected to reach by the end of reception. Pupils’ achievement is good in Years 1 and 2 and they attain at least average standards in all the subjects inspected. Pupils also achieve well in Years 3 to 6 and attain standards in English, mathematics and science that are above average by the end of Year 6. The school’s performance in national tests varies widely from year to year because the groups of pupils taking the tests are very small and one pupil represents a large proportion of each year group. Also the characteristics of each group are very different from one year to the next, as are the number who enter and leave the school part-way through this phase Burrough Green C of E Primary - 7 of their education. Pupils’ achievement is good in art and design, history and music and they attain

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Pupils’ personal qualities, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development,

are good. Pupils have very good attitudes to their work; they are eager to please and keen to succeed. Pupils grow in confidence and have high levels of self-esteem. They have a keen sense of justice and fair play. Behaviour is very good. Attendance is unsatisfactory.

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The school provides a good quality of education. The quality of teaching and learning for

pupils in each year group is good. However, teachers do not use assessment records effectively to set targets that guide pupils towards improving their work systematically. The school provides high levels of care and relationships are very good so that pupils learn in a comfortable, supportive environment. The curriculum is enriched by a good range of educational visits, as well as through clubs that offer sporting and cultural activities. Parents hold the school in high esteem and a good partnership has been forged that supports pupils’ learning well.

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

The leadership and the management of the school are satisfactory and the governing body contributes to sound governance. There is a strong sense of teamwork and a shared commitment to striving for improvement. However, there is no clear direction about how to attain higher standards across the school. The school development plan, for example, is not sufficiently explicit about how standards will be raised further.

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PARENTS’ AND PUPILS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Parents are pleased with the education provided for their children. They particularly appreciate the fact that their children enjoy school, that the teaching is good and that staff are friendly and approachable. They especially value the good arrangements that help children settle in when they start school. A number of parents expressed concern about pupils’ behaviour and bullying but inspection findings indicate that pupils behave well and there is absolutely no evidence of bullying. Pupils themselves are also pleased with the facilities that the school provides and when asked what they would like to change most said, ‘Nothing’. A minority felt that behaviour should be improved.

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IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED

The most important things the school should do to improve are:

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IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED

• Modify the school improvement plan so that it provides clear guidance on how standards will be raised and how improvements will be evaluated. • Refine assessment procedures and use records of pupils’ attainment to set clear targets for improvement. • Improve rates of attendance. • Press the authorities responsible for the grounds and buildings to improve the accommodation so that physical activities can be taught more effectively. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 8

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Standards achieved in areas of learning, subjects and courses

Most pupils enter the school with standards of attainment that are below average but they achieve well in each year group. By the end of Year 2 most of the current year group are likely to attain average standards in reading, writing and mathematics. By the end of Year 6, most pupils are likely to attain standards that are above average in the core subjects of English, maths and science.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils’ achievement is good and by the end of Year 6 most attain standards that are above average in English, mathematics and science. • Pupils attain standards that are above average in art and design, history and music.

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Commentary

Standards in national tests at the end of Year 2 – average point scores in 2003

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Commentary

Standards in: School results National results reading 14.3 (12.2) 15.9 (15.8) writing 13.3 (10.4) 14.8 (14.4) mathematics 14.8 (14.1) 16.4 (16.5) There were 12 pupils in the year group. Figures in brackets are for the previous year

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Commentary

Standards in national tests at the end of Year 6 – average point scores in 2003

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Commentary

Standards in: School results National results English 27.5 (30.8) 27.0 (27.0) mathematics 27.5 (28.1) 27.0 (26.7) science 29.3 (28.6) 28.8 (28.3) There were 17 pupils in the year group. Figures in brackets are for the previous year

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Commentary

1. When they start school most children have standards of attainment in early learning skills that are below average. Although most have attended the playgroup that shares the school’s premises prior to entry into the reception class, some children do not attend any form of pre- school playgroup and arrive at school with poor early learning skills. They achieve well in the reception class and most children are likely to attain the national Early Learning Goals in each area of learning by the end of this school year. Pupils continue to achieve well in Years 1 and 2. Nearly all the pupils in the current Year 2, those who entered the reception class in September 2001, had attainment on entry that was below average. Most are now on course to attain average standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2. This represents good achievement.

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Commentary

2. The school’s performance in the national tests for pupils in Year 2 in 2002 was poor. This was partly due to staffing difficulties, which severely interrupted the continuity of pupils’ learning, and partly because half the group, an unusually high proportion, had special educational needs. With greater continuity of teaching last year, results for 2003 improved but were still well below national averages. This was mainly because there was an unusually high rate of pupil mobility Burrough Green C of E Primary - 9 in the year group, four times the national rate. This interrupted the continuity of pupils’ learning and resulted in a significant proportion not achieving as well as they should.

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Commentary

3. The school’s performance in the national tests for pupils in Year 6 in 2003 in English, mathematics and science was average when compared with all schools and above average when compared with similar schools. Inspection findings and the school’s assessments indicate that most pupils currently in Year 6 are likely to attain standards that are above average in English, mathematics and science by the end of this school year.

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Commentary

4. The standards that pupils attain vary widely from year to year for several reasons. The small number of pupils in each group means that each pupil represents a large proportion of the total and so one or two pupils who are more able or who have special educational needs make a big difference to the school’s overall performance. In this school statistics concerning attainment should be treated with great caution. There is a high proportion of pupils who enter and leave the school part way through each school year and the lack of continuity in their learning causes results to fluctuate. The higher than average levels of absence also adversely affect some pupils’ achievement.

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Commentary

5. Across the school higher attaining pupils are supported well so that their achievement matches that of all the other pupils. Teachers’ lesson plans include a section on how the needs of these pupils will be met. In most lessons teachers modify work or provide extension activities so that the more able pupils are challenged appropriately. They also expect more from them in terms of the quality and quantity of work that they produce. Throughout the school pupils who have special educational needs achieve well. This is due to the good care and support they receive both in and out of the classroom. The additional literacy support for pupils experiencing learning difficulties in reading and writing is particularly effective. The targets in individual education plans are well thought out and are quite specific to pupils’ needs.

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Commentary

6. Pupils attain standards that are above average in art and design, history and music because the co-ordinators are particularly effective at supporting colleagues through their expert knowledge of these subjects and because teaching is carefully planned so that skills, knowledge and understanding are taught systematically. No significant weaknesses were noted in the standards that pupils attain in any subjects. The school’s provision for geography and design and technology was sampled to ensure that the school is fulfilling the requirements of the National Curriculum. Although there was also insufficient evidence to report fully on physical education, it is clear that this is an area of strength and records show that standards in swimming are above average.

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Commentary

7. All adults treat pupils with respect and speak with them sensibly, expecting in return sensible responses. The leadership of the school promotes a good sense of teamwork and a consistency of approach to pupils. This consistency throughout the school helps pupils to develop trust and confidence in staff. It also contributes to the development of high levels of maturity and positive attitudes. These help pupils to achieve well.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

Pupils’ attitudes and behaviour are very good. Pupils are encouraged to value themselves as well as to recognise the strengths that others possess. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Although pupils enjoy coming to school and are keen to arrive on time, overall attendance in the last year was well below the national average.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Relationships between pupils and between pupils and staff are very good and are based on tolerance, respect and consideration for others. • Pupils are aware of the consequences of their actions and are consistently praised and encouraged by staff. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 10 • Pupils are willing to take responsibility and are keen to help others. • The genuine kindness and care shown by older pupils towards younger pupils makes a strong contribution to the harmony and quality of school life. • The rate of absence is high mainly because parents take their children on holiday during term time, despite the efforts of the school to discourage this practice.

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Commentary

Attendance in the latest complete reporting year (%)

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Commentary

Authorised absence Unauthorised absence School data 7.0 School data 0.8 National data 5.4 National data 0.5 The table gives the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

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Commentary

8. Pupils’ behaviour and personal development are very good. The respect for pupils shown by all staff helps to foster an ethos which encourages self-worth and confidence. Pupils’ personal development is strongly influenced by the good spiritual, moral, social and cultural values promoted by the school. This, coupled with high expectations of pupils and consistent encouragement to work co-operatively, encourages a willingness to work and a strong desire to learn.

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Commentary

9. Pupils talk with interest about their school life, commenting that many of their lessons are fun. Staff expect pupils to behave well and behaviour is consistently very good. The occasional lapses are dealt with quickly and fairly. Pupils say that they have few concerns about bullying and that teachers deal with the very occasional incident well. The school councillors and the ‘buddies’, older pupils who take responsibility for assisting younger ones at playtime, are effective in helping pupils who feel unhappy or lonely. This assists the adults in the school to maintain harmony. Relationships between staff and pupils and between pupils themselves are very good. Pupils work and play happily together, showing a growing self-confidence and maturity. Pupils say they are happy to contribute in lessons and feel valued. They are ‘never made to feel stupid’ or laughed at. There have been no exclusions in recent years.

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Commentary

10. The school is successful in promoting strong Christian values, tolerance and concern for others. In assembly and religious education lessons, pupils are encouraged to explore their own beliefs and develop a community spirit with a common ethos that includes respect for other faiths and lifestyles. Pupils are sensitive to the needs of others. They take their responsibilities, such as publishing the school’s termly magazine, very seriously. This successfully promotes their independence and self-reliance. Initiatives in fund raising for charities contribute significantly to pupils’ personal and social development. Pupils take part in local community events, sing to senior citizens and welcome visitors to the school, such as representatives from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. This helps to develop pupils’ social awareness. Pupils show a very good grasp of the principles of right and wrong and the qualities

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Commentary

of fairness, justice and honesty. They are encouraged to respond sensibly to social issues and learn to adopt a mature approach to personal relationships. They learn about other cultures and beliefs, such as Jewish customs when studying Judaism. This understanding of other beliefs helps to prepare them to take their places in our diverse, multi-cultural society. Pupils develop into caring and sensible members of the community.

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Commentary

11. Pupils who have special educational needs behave well and show a willingness to learn. They have access to all aspects of school life and the range of activities the school provides. In addition they receive appropriate help with their learning from skilled teaching assistants.

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Commentary

12. Older children encourage younger ones to play together and develop friendships. Relationships with their teachers and staff are strong and mutually enjoyable. Pupils say that they enjoy Burrough Green C of E Primary - 11 school and are pleased with the friendly atmosphere. However, attendance at the school is lower than that of comparable schools and unauthorised absence is higher. This does not reflect the pupils’ very good attitudes or the good educational and personal opportunities that the school offers. The school has good procedures for monitoring attendance and works closely with the education welfare officer and the Traveller Support Service to promote attendance. Parents are very good at informing the school of reasons for absence but often extend the length of absence for family holidays beyond that authorised by the governing body. Also the mobility of Traveller families makes regular attendance problematical. The high

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Commentary

absence rate means that there are a large number of days when pupils are not learning in school and this adversely affects their achievement.

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Commentary

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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Commentary

Categories used in the Annual School Census No of pupils on roll Number of fixed period exclusions Number of permanent exclusions White – British 81 0 0 White – any other White background 2 0 0 Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 1 0 0

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL

The school provides a good quality of education . Teaching is good and teachers promote an enthusiasm for learning. The leadership of the school encourages pupils to do their best but pupils are not entirely clear about what they should do to attain higher standards.

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Teaching and learning

Teaching is good and as a result pupils learn effectively. Assessment is satisfactory but could be used better.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Teachers maintain high expectations of pupils’ performance and behaviour. • Lessons proceed at a brisk pace and this accelerates learning. • The teaching of music to pupils in Years 4,5 and 6 is very good. • Teachers provide a consistently productive learning environment in their classrooms and help pupils to enjoy learning. • Teachers’ lesson planning is clear, detailed and thorough. • Assessments of learning are not always used to help pupils to know how to improve their work.

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Commentary

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection in 34 lessons

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Commentary

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Commentary

The table gives the number of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons; figures in brackets show percentages where 30 or more lessons are seen.

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Commentary

13. Teaching across the school is good and nearly a quarter it is very good. Teaching is at least good in over ninety per cent of lessons and this represents a significant improvement since the Burrough Green C of E Primary - 12 last inspection. It is good in each of the subjects inspected and is very good in music in Years 4, 5 and 6. Teachers and support staff are conscientious and seek to improve their skills through advice and training. The teachers work together as a team and support each other well, without much recourse to management. Teachers plan lessons carefully and include in their lesson plans precisely what new skills are to be taught during the course of each lesson. The warm relationships in each class and pupils’ eagerness to please result from the high levels of care that staff provide for each individual. Teaching is particularly effective where teachers maintain high expectations of pupils’ performance and set high standards. It is especially good

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Commentary

where teachers have a profound knowledge of the subjects they teach or are particularly enthusiastic about particular areas of the curriculum. This was especially evident in music and art and design.

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Commentary

14. Where teachers pay great attention to detail the quality of pupils’ learning is enhanced. In a good lesson in gymnastics for pupils in Year 4, for example, the teacher referred to each muscle in turn, such as quadriceps, calf muscles and the hamstring, as each was extended and warmed up in preparation for vigorous exercise.

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Commentary

15. Teachers explain the plan of the lesson clearly to pupils and tell them what they are expected to learn and how they are to conduct activities. Such clear explanations are coupled by a brisk pace that promotes rapid learning. A great deal of learning is packed into most lessons. Teaching is particularly effective when opportunities are grasped to make links with other subjects, as in a series of science lessons on sound where pupils were required to write a short story that incorporated sound in every sentence. Where teachers seize on opportunities to extend pupils’ vocabulary by explaining the meaning and derivation of words, such as, for example, decibels in science with reference to the prefix signifying one tenth, pupils are helped to make connections that support learning well.

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Commentary

16. Teaching and learning for pupils with special educational needs is good and they achieve well. Pupils are provided with good support from class teachers and support assistants who use individual education plans effectively to guide their work with these pupils.

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Commentary

17. There is a consistency about the quality of teaching and a similarity in the way teachers use effective strategies to support learning. All, for example, are good at asking challenging questions about how things happen and why things work as they do. This extends learning well and promotes good achievement. A productive learning environment and a business-like approach have been established in each class that generate serious attitudes to learning. Homework is used well to consolidate understanding.

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Commentary

18. There is no specific teaching and learning policy to guide teachers in understanding clearly what represents high quality teaching but teaching is monitored effectively against a clear set of criteria. There is no marking policy that outlines the practice to be followed in responding to pupils’ work. Consequently teachers do not always use their on-going assessments of pupils’ performance to show them what they must do to improve their work. Also the broader assessments of pupils’ performance at the end of a unit of work are not always analysed sufficiently to highlight the gaps in individual pupils’ learning so that action can be taken to reinforce areas of weakness. Although pupils’ achievement is good, there is scope for further improvement. There is room for an even sharper analysis of precisely what each pupil knows, understands and can do, so that teachers can show each pupil what they need to do to

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The curriculum

Overall the curriculum provided by the school is good and prepares pupils well for the later stages of their education. The match of teachers to the needs of the curriculum is good. The school supports pupils’ learning outside the school day effectively and develops the range of pupils’ interests well. Resources are adequate but there are deficiencies in accommodation. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 13

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• All pupils are treated fairly and the school provides a good variety and breadth of learning opportunities that are enriched through a good range of out-of-school activities. • Provision for pupils with special educational needs promotes their good achievement throughout the school. • Provision for pupils’ personal, social and health education is good and promotes good levels of confidence. • Pupils develop skills that prepare them well for transfer to the next stages of their education. • Classroom assistants are used effectively to enhance curriculum opportunities, especially for pupils who encounter learning difficulties. • The school’s accommodation is presently unsatisfactory.

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Commentary

19. The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum which is kept under constant review. Many of the areas of concern reported by the previous inspection, such as the lack of depth and challenge in work provided for older pupils in subjects such as art and design, history and geography, have been tackled effectively and as a result achievement in these areas has improved. Provision in ICT has also improved because of improved resources and better teaching. Consequently the standards that pupils attain in these subjects have improved. However, the school hall is small and unsuitable for teaching physical education effectively. Similarly the outside area used by pupils in the Foundation Stage is cramped and restricts learning opportunities.

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Commentary

20. Despite the deficiencies in the outdoor area, the curriculum for children in the reception class is good. Teaching is imaginative and promotes a good range of varied activities. Planning is good and successfully incorporates all areas of learning into interesting themes and topics. Resources are used well to support the curriculum. For example, children were all given torches and asked to peer down long tubes with strange things in them during a lesson on developing observational skills. Imaginations ran wild and the children were totally engrossed. The teacher uses very good questioning techniques to enable children to identify similarities, differences and patterns in the world around them. The curriculum is modified according to individual needs and as a result all children achieve well.

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Commentary

21. Across the school resources to support individual learning needs are good and the school employs a good number of classroom assistants. Provision for pupils with special educational needs is good and this is reflected in the good achievement of these pupils in all year groups. The inclusive ethos of the school helps all pupils to have full access to the curriculum and all are supported well in all lessons. However, although individual education plans have clear targets for improvement, plans often lack detailed success criteria against which to evaluate progress. Also, there is little evidence of parental or pupil involvement at either the planning or review stages.

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Commentary

22. Across the school learning is effective because the teaching is good but also because the teaching assistants help pupils of lower ability to take a full and active part in lessons. As a result the achievement of all pupils is good and this is evident in the quality of work that each produces.

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Commentary

23. Pupils are given effective opportunities to enrich their knowledge and understanding of the wider world through the provision of a good range of out-of-school activities including regular visits to places of interest such as the Duxford Air Museum and residential visits to Norfolk. In addition the school provides a wide range of after-school activities for pupils including football, netball, choir and recorder clubs. Provision for the personal, social and health education is good and is reflected in the way in which the school’s ethos celebrates the individuality of all pupils. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 14 24. The curriculum is managed well by subject leaders. Detailed planning frameworks are in place for all subjects and this promotes full coverage of the National Curriculum and religious education.

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Care, guidance and support

Ensuring the welfare of all the pupils is given high priority. High levels of care are maintained and health and safety issues are attended to rigorously. Support, advice and guidance are satisfactory. Pupils’ involvement in school development is good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The kindness and commitment of all staff ensure that pupils and parents feel confident that any problems will be handled fairly, effectively and sympathetically. • There are good procedures to ensure the protection and health and safety of pupils. • Guidance for pupils on how they can improve their performance is not always clear.

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Commentary

25. The school provides a secure environment and there is good awareness of health and safety issues in and around the buildings. Adult supervision at playtimes and during the mid-day break is good. The staff know the pupils very well and treat them fairly and with good humour. Members of the school council and school ‘buddies’ help keep a watchful eye on younger pupils and mediate in minor disputes when needed.

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Commentary

26. The strength of the relationships between pupils and staff enables open communication between them. For example, pupils share jokes or discuss the finer detail in their paintings with their teachers in a happy and courteous manner. There are very good arrangements to help new children settle quickly into school routines. Children starting in the reception class, and new pupils who start school in other year groups, are welcomed warmly. Pupils are fully involved in the day-to-day development of the school through the school council and their many good ideas have improved school life and have had a positive impact on behaviour across the school.

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Commentary

27. Procedures for monitoring and supporting the academic progress and personal development of pupils are satisfactory. All staff know the pupils well and this ensures that each individual has access to good personal support and pastoral guidance. Children in the Foundation Stage and those with special educational needs are very well cared for. Pupils generally receive sound educational support, guidance and advice but are not always told how they can improve their work. Pupils are involved well, both formally and informally, in decision making processes and this has a positive impact on the quality of school life and the personal development of the pupils. Procedures and practices concerning child protection are good and known to all staff.

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Commentary

28. Procedures for monitoring and supporting the academic progress and personal development of pupils with special educational needs are good. Information about individual pupils is usually used effectively to produce individual education plans and pupil progress is monitored on a regular basis. Further information is then used when reviewing plans and setting new targets for pupils.

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Commentary

29. Staff are trained in child protection procedures and maintaining a high level of awareness to any health and safety hazards in the school.

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Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

The school enjoys a good and effective partnership with parents, which has a major impact on its work and pupils’ enjoyment of school life. There are strong links with the local community and close Burrough Green C of E Primary - 15 liaison with the pre-school playgroup. Links with the secondary school to which most pupils transfer are good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Parents hold the school in high regard. • The school encourages and welcomes parents’ involvement in school life through regular newsletters and an excellent prospectus. • Parents are always welcome in school and have close ties with their children’s teachers; any complaints are dealt with effectively. • The parents’ association is supported well and raises substantial funds. • There are very good, mutually beneficial links between the local church, the community and the school.

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Commentary

30. The school has produced an excellent prospectus that includes good photographs of the life and work of the school as well as pupils’ comments and illustrations. The quality of the day-to- day information provided for parents about the school is good. Consultation evenings are well attended. Teachers are always willing to see parents and give them any information they may require. A large majority of parents indicate that they are pleased with what the school provides and have confidence in the ability of the school to meet the needs of their children. Some parents expressed concerns about behaviour management and incidents of bullying. The situation has been dealt with effectively by the school and parents and pupils spoken to during the inspection expressed satisfaction with the positive improvements and better standards in behaviour.

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Commentary

31. Parents and members of the community support events organised by the parents’ association well and considerable funds are raised to supplement resources. Parents’ and pupils’ views are canvassed for ideas or suggestions concerning the school. The school has close links with the local church and the many religious festivals celebrated there. Visitors from the church and local chapel, the playgroup, the elderly in the community and the secondary schools, to which the pupils transfer, consolidate the school’s place in the community. The school is very much a part of the village and news of school life is included in the village newsletter and those of surrounding villages. Through the work of the Traveller Support Service, the school endeavours to include parents of pupils from the Traveller community whenever an opportunity arises.

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Commentary

32. The quality of information produced by the school to inform parents about the nature of special educational needs and about the identification, assessment and progress of pupils who have special educational needs is satisfactory. However, many individual education plans do not contain evidence of parental involvement at either the initial or review stages.

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Commentary

33. Transfer arrangements with secondary schools are well planned and pupils express few concerns about moving into their new environment. The close working links with the on-site playgroup enable an almost seamless progression into the reception class by these children.

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher provides sound leadership and he is supported well by the teaching staff, all of whom shoulder a large number of responsibilities for assisting with curricular management and subject leadership. The school is organised efficiently and the curriculum is appropriately managed. The governors are closely associated with the school and provide sound governance. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 16

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The headteacher takes a strong lead in maintaining high levels of pastoral care and developing an ethos that is rooted in a commitment to nurturing the individual and promoting the happiness of all pupils. • The school’s vision for improvement lacks clarity because the school development plan is not sufficiently focused on raising standards. • The school has not analysed in detail why the school’s performance in national tests is sometimes lower than expected.

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Commentary

34. The headteacher, with the assistance of governors, has successfully built an effective team of teachers and support staff. One good innovation is to employ computer assistants to support the systematic teaching of skills in information and communication technology. Relationships throughout the school are warm and friendly and this contributes to a supportive learning environment where all pupils work and play happily together. A strong emphasis is placed on ensuring high levels of care for all pupils. Responsibilities for managing the curriculum have been delegated appropriately and the curriculum is managed well by subject leaders but, as there are so few teachers to share subject leadership, each is accountable for standards in a daunting range of subjects. The headteacher supports teaching well by working alongside colleagues in several classrooms. However, the Foundation Stage co-ordinator is isolated in

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Commentary

classrooms away from the main school and receives insufficient support with her work. Throughout the school resources are generally at least adequate to support teaching and learning, although several of the computers are outdated and lack enough memory to run all relevant programs effectively. The resources allocated to the Foundation Stage, although generally adequate, are at lower levels than found in most schools. In addition, the outside area for the youngest children is under-developed and restricts their learning opportunities.

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Commentary

35. The school development plan lists tasks to be completed and describes success criteria as well as the results of monitoring and evaluating each initiative. However, the success criteria rarely refer to how initiatives are expected to raise standards. For example, one objective is ‘To carry out reading tests’ and the success criteria are described as ‘Tests completed and analysed’. There is no indication of how these tests are expected to raise standards. The monitoring just records that tests were trialled but gives no indication of their usefulness in identifying ways to improve standards. There is no clear link between the objectives described and raising standards. This results in a lack of clear focus on enhancing the quality of provision and improving the school’s performance. The school is aware of the need to improve this aspect of its work and has recently established a committee of governors to support the

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Commentary

headteacher and staff in creating effective school development plans.

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Commentary

36. The headteacher and subject leaders do not know why the school’s performance in national tests is not higher. There is a lack of detailed analysis of the progress of individuals to pinpoint exactly who is not succeeding as well as they should in specific areas of literacy, numeracy and science. As a result the school is not fully aware of any pupils who may be underachieving in specific areas. Consequently support is not necessarily being focused on areas of greatest need.

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Commentary

37. The school is very good at ensuring that all pupils are treated fairly. There is a strong commitment to making sure that all pupils are valued and staff share a great concern for the varying needs of individuals. The special educational needs co-ordinator fulfils her role soundly and overall leadership and management of special educational needs provision is satisfactory. She has ensured that statutory assessments are completed in accordance with the school’s policy and that systems have been set up to identify, assess, monitor and cater for the needs of these pupils. The school has ensured that efficient systems are in place to deliver a relevant curriculum to pupils needing extra support even though the management of provision has been hampered by the long-term illness of a classroom assistant. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 17 Financial information for the year April 2002 to March 2003

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Commentary

Income and expenditure (£) Balances (£) Total income 282 349 Balance from previous year 6 392 Total expenditure 287 232 Balance carried forward to the next 1 509 Expenditure per pupil 2 992

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Commentary

38. Finances are managed efficiently and the school has coped well with a significant drop in income caused by a falling roll. Hard decisions have been made regarding staffing and as a result the school misses the input of a science specialist and a co-ordinator for gifted and talented pupils. The school benefits from a small income that derives from rent for land endowed when the school was first established. Although the expenditure per pupil is above the national average, it is typical of the amount spent on each pupil in similar sized schools. Taking into account the good teaching, pupils’ good achievement and the above average standards they attain by the time they are due to leave the school, the school provides good value for money. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 18

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

There are fourteen children in the Foundation Stage who started school just a few weeks before the inspection. There are also ten Year 1 pupils in the class. Children enter school with a broad range of early learning experiences but the attainment of most is below average and a number have limited vocabulary and find it difficult to express themselves clearly. Children’s attainments on entry to the school are lower than at the time of the last inspection, when they were above average. Consequently the standards that children attain at the end of the reception year are not as high as they were when the school was last inspected. The good quality of provision has been maintained in all areas of learning since the last inspection.

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

The leadership and management of the Foundation Stage are sound. The management of provision is satisfactory. Careful records are kept of children’s development and planning takes account of the children’s widely varying learning needs. The curriculum is enriched by a good range of visits outside the classroom as well as by inviting visitors into school. Effective curricular planning and good teaching combine to provide children with varied and interesting experiences which promote effective learning and help them to achieve well. The reception teacher and her assistants work together very effectively as a team and this is reflected in the overall quality of teaching, which is good across all six areas of learning. The classrooms for these pupils are situated in old buildings away from the main school and they are rather isolated from the main body of the school. Resources are adequate but the planned development of the outside area has been suspended because there is the

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

possibility of a new building in the near future.

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

The Foundation Stage teacher has a good knowledge and understanding of how young children learn. Although planning is thorough, it is not linked securely enough to the Early Learning Goals. This makes it difficult to assess exactly where each child is in terms of their progress through the various stages of learning in each area. Furthermore the activities provided are not specifically linked to the early learning goals. Consequently staff have no clear view of what goal is being tackled as a result of the activities provided. Good use is made of the digital camera to record experiences and to supplement assessment records but there was little evidence of pupils themselves taking photographs. Photographs are used well to illustrate class books and where a pupil’s comments have been used verbatim to describe the record, they are of high quality. Good teamwork by the Foundation Stage teacher and teaching support staff has ensured that children in this stage of

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

education, including those with special educational needs, achieve well. However, assessment procedures are not presently used systematically to respond to children’s individual needs and this remains an area for future development.

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in personal, social and emotional development is good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• There are very good procedures to introduce new children into school and these support their social and emotional development well. • Children are encouraged to work and play co-operatively and to take responsibility for keeping the classroom tidy and for organising daily routines such as snack time.

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Commentary

39. Most children have attended the pre-school playgroup that shares the school’s site and functions each weekday morning. There are strong links with the playgroup and before starting school children are familiar with the reception class and know their way around the school. The playgroup leader works in the reception class each afternoon as a classroom assistant. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 19 Transition from the playgroup to the reception class is exceptionally smooth and as a result children settle quickly and confidently. Relationships are very good. Teaching is good so that children achieve well and learn effectively. They gain great confidence and this supports their learning well. Most are likely to attain the early learning goals by the end of reception.

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Commentary

40. Morning snack times are very well organised and support this area of learning well. Special assistants take it in turn to prepare and distribute food and drinks. Great emphasis is placed on courtesy and the children are polite, as demonstrated by the confident manner in which they say, ‘Excuse me, please’, when adults or other children stand in their way. Children understand the need for hygiene and explain that they wash their hands to get rid of all the germs that could get into their tummies and make them ill. They have a good understanding of different cultures and beliefs and enjoyed frying latke cakes when studying Judaism and making candle sticks for Hanukkah.

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Commentary

41. They are sensitive to the needs of others and most are good at sharing, although several get upset when they cannot ride the tricycle because someone else is using it. They exercise self- control but one or two still find it difficult not to shout out answers rather than raising their hand to signal that they would like to answer a question or contribute to a discussion. They are encouraged to work well together as when acting out stories. This co-operation spills over into play as when a large group of boys, for example, organised themselves into a string of horses that ran along imaginary gallops until the leader decreed a halt and they all sat down until ordered to proceed. Relationships through the class are very good. Children take responsibility for maintaining a tidy environment that includes sweeping the leaves from the playground in autumn.

p.19

COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Provision in communication, language and literacy is good.

p.19

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children develop good attitudes to learning because of interesting and sometimes exciting teaching. • Early reading skills are taught well. • Teaching is much more effective when the whole class is taught together rather than being separated into the two different age groups.

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Commentary

42. Many children start school with underdeveloped speaking and listening skills. All adults seize opportunities to extend children’s vocabulary through explaining things clearly and engaging in conversations with children. Opportunities for role-play give them regular opportunities to talk to others in order to develop their confidence in this area of learning. Reading is taught well. The school uses an effective system for teaching pupils the sounds that letters make. Consequently they develop a good understanding of phonics. This is supplemented by teaching children to recognise everyday words on sight by recognising the sequence and pattern of letters in familiar words. The teaching of reading is also reinforced through singing nursery rhymes and re-telling familiar nursery stories. Writing is also taught well and is particularly effective when there is a purpose, such as writing signs and labels for the classroom or writing letters. The

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Commentary

teacher uses computers well to prepare illustrated sheets for pupils to use when writing; they use the pictures as prompts for their descriptions. Children achieve well and most are on course to attain the early learning goals by the end of this school year.

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Commentary

43. Children develop good attitudes to learning because of interesting and sometimes exciting teaching. The classroom is structured to promote the development of language and literacy, especially speaking and listening skills. For example, during one lesson, the class was encouraged to listen as children took turns to talk about their teddies. Several responded well to Burrough Green C of E Primary - 20 questions and communicated using simple statements. However the social and listening skills of some pupils are less well developed and they find difficulty listening to others and cannot resist shouting out. Children enjoy listening to stories and some join in with the words of familiar songs. The quality of teaching is better when the whole class is taught together. When the reception children are taught separately from the Year 1 pupils, teaching is less effective. This is because the teacher cannot concentrate on teaching one group whilst also giving enough

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Commentary

attention to the other. Although the classroom assistants give good support, provide appropriate work and most children are good at working independently, the quality of teaching is diluted when the class is split.

p.20

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in mathematical development is good.

p.20

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Teaching is good; staff maintain high expectations of children and this helps to accelerate learning. • A good variety of activities help pupils to gain a good understanding of shape, number, and pattern and how to organise data.

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Commentary

44. Teaching is imaginative and extends pupils’ learning well. In a lesson on shapes pupils explored different shaped parcels and described their properties. They were then given objects that were precisely the same shape as the parcels. They deduced that the unwrapped objects were exactly the same as the wrapped objects. They were asked how they knew and were encouraged to describe the shapes according to their properties. They demonstrated that they had remembered terms such as ‘curved’, ‘corners’, ‘cylinder’ and ‘cone’, from their previous learning. When the teacher asked how many corners had the square she had drawn, most pupils replied four but a more able pupil suggested that if it were ‘stretched out’, meaning if it were expanded into a cube, it would have eight corners. Every opportunity is grasped to develop children’s understanding. During snack time they consider the cylindrical shape of their

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Commentary

carrots and in the playground create curved patterns with lines of conkers or challenge friends to walk around a cunningly curved skipping rope.

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Commentary

45. As part of their work on transport children conduct a traffic survey and record car number plates. They made columns of blocks to see the difference between the tallest and the shortest pupils. They regularly use wooden bricks to make cities formed from cuboids, cylinders, triangular prisms, semi-circular prisms, discs and cubes. They describe the soapy bubbles they blow as spheres. Children enjoy testing toy vehicles to see which will travel the furthest with one push. Children’s achievement is good. They develop a sound understanding of mathematics and are likely to attain all the early learning goals by the end of the school year.

p.20

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Provision in knowledge and understanding of the world is good.

p.20

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils are introduced to a rich range of learning experiences that make a major contribution to the children’s effective learning. • Regular visits to places of interest help children to make sense of the world.

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Commentary

Burrough Green C of E Primary - 21 46. Children’s knowledge and understanding of the world is sound and is enhanced through the provision of a range of interesting activities designed to increase their understanding of similarities, differences, patterns and change. In lessons children’s curiosity is evident when they use torches to look down long tubes to catch sight of strange objects. They are given opportunities to design and construct, for example, Santa’s sleigh and are provided with a good range of visits to places of interest such as the seaside and the zoo. They dug in the sand at the seaside and studied the cockles, jellyfish, lug worms and starfish that they found. In addition they take part in practical activities such as washing and wringing clothes when they explore and investigate how things were in the past. They visited the post office and posted letters to their parents. Visitors are welcomed and one from the Royal National Lifeboat Institute allowed

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Commentary

the children to try on the lifeboatmen’s equipment, including their fluorescent jackets. This fitted well into their study of light where they used torches to explore the dark interior of car tyres and dark patches underneath the bark of trees. They found out about how human bodies work when the ‘Life Bus’ visited school and found out how to keep healthy. They drew pictures of their skeletons after studying x-rays. When the nurse visited they wore masks so as not to pass on germs to people who are poorly and pretended to give people injections. A lady from South Africa showed them how women in her country carry babies on their backs, which helped them to understand different customs. A hedgehog called Tripod and who had three legs visited the class and was studied closely before he went into hibernation. Children wrapped themselves up tightly in rolls of paper to try to experience what it must be like to be a butterfly bursting out of

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Commentary

a cocoon. This rich range of learning experiences results in good achievement so that most children are likely to attain the early learning goals by the end of the school year.

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Commentary

47. There is a great deal of imaginative teaching. Children studied the past through nursery rhymes such as dressing up as Wee Willie Winkie to run through the town with a candle before electricity was invented. They learned how to spot somebody in difficulty on the sea and how to dial 999. They picked blackberries and made blackberry pies. Snack time is used exceptionally well to extend learning. A different fruit or vegetable is chosen each day and sometimes they make toast. Pupils themselves prepared carrots, peeling the skin before carefully cutting the carrots into slices. They saved the peelings and added it to their garden compost. They studied the packaging and noted the union flag and found that the carrots come from Norfolk. They found Norfolk on the map and saw how far away from school it is. The teacher has produced an excellent photographic record of the pupils’ design and technology project on vehicles that

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Commentary

also includes a good collection of children’s views and comments.

p.21

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision for physical development is satisfactory.

p.21

Main strengths and weaknesses

• The outdoor area is used well but it is not well developed as a learning resource.

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Commentary

48. There is a good emphasis on developing children’s physical development. Children are given regular opportunities to develop skills at using a variety of tools and equipment and engage well in activities requiring careful co-ordination. They are shown how to use a sharp knife safely to cut up carrots or apples. Effective use is made of the school’s outdoor facilities to develop a wide range of physical activities. During one lesson in the playground, children practised ball skills and showed good control and co-ordination when catching, hitting and throwing. However the lesson did not focus enough on developing new skills and this affected overall achievement. Good use is made of the limited facilities of the outdoor area to develop children’s confidence in using, for example, tricycles and scooters competently. They organise their own games of football and games involving following the leader. Children are provided with good opportunities

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Commentary

to improve manual dexterity through, for example, drawing, painting and using construction Burrough Green C of E Primary - 22 materials. They achieve well and most are likely to attain the early learning goals by the end of the school year.

p.21

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Provision in creative development is good.

p.22

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children are introduced to a good range of activities and are encouraged to observe closely. • Children are encouraged to pretend and play imaginative games.

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Commentary

49. Children’s drawings reveal a great deal about their skills on entry compared with the standards they attain nine months later. On entry in September many draw a person’s head with legs sprouting from the chin and by September are drawing splendidly bold portraits that include details such as the teacher’s earrings, hairstyle and the patterns on clothing. This is because staff grasp every opportunity to encourage children to notice the detail in the world around them. Children study portraits by famous artists, such as Gainsborough’s painting of Mr and Mrs Andrews, and dress up and pose for photographs that are similar in composition. They studied Dufy’s painting of ‘The Harvest’, and painted beautiful landscapes inspired by his work.

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Commentary

50. Children use circular and rectangular trays which they line with paper before rolling painted marbles around the trays to create intricate swirling patterns. They are introduced to marbling techniques and splatter painting to create a starry sky. They enjoy listening to music and play simple percussion instruments to accompany the singing of nursery songs. They have good opportunities for role-play and enjoy pretending to be shopkeepers, nurses, doctors or train drivers. They achieve well and most are likely to attain the early learning goals by the end of the school year.

p.22

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils’ achievement in English is good and their attitudes towards the subject are very good. • Standards attained in reading and writing by older pupils are above average. • Teaching is good across the school although in Year 2 more could be expected of the higher attaining pupils in writing. • The marking of work is inconsistent between classes and does not always show pupils precisely how they can improve and as a result not all pupils achieve as well as they could. • Assessment procedures lack detail and are not used to set clear targets for further learning.

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Commentary

51. Pupils attain standards in English that are average in Year 2 and above average in Year 6. This represents good achievement through the school as most pupils enter the reception class with below average standards of attainment. Pupils make good progress in developing their knowledge, skills and understanding in all areas of the subject in all year groups, partly due to good teaching and partly to the successful introduction of the National Literacy Strategy. Pupils with special educational needs are supported well and teaching support assistants make a strong contribution to their learning. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 23 52. Standards in reading are average in Year 2 and above average in Year 6. Year 2 pupils at all levels of attainment read simple texts accurately and slower learners have developed a range of strategies to help them to sound out unfamiliar words. By Year 6 pupils read confidently and

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Commentary

independently and retell a story, capturing the main points of the plot. Higher attaining pupils read with expression and feeling. Most have a good understanding of the stories they read. They pick up clues to make inferences about features of the story and deduce what might happen as a result of the interaction between characters. They discuss and compare favourite authors and books. Nearly all pupils in Year 6 read confidently and discuss stories and the characters within them sensibly.

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Commentary

53. Standards in writing are average in Year 2 and above average in Year 6, but there was evidence that several potentially higher attaining pupils do not achieve as well as they could in Year 2 because not enough is expected of them. Even so by Year 6, pupils use, for example, correct punctuation within sentences as a matter of course and many have developed a full understanding of, for example, the use of commas, apostrophes and inverted commas. They are capable of writing fluently about character profiles in plays and understand fully the differences between direct and reported speech. Work is usually carefully presented and neatly written.

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Commentary

54. Standards in speaking and listening are above average in both Year 2 and Year 6. Teachers make good role models for pupils and involve them well in discussions. As a result pupils in all year groups are given regular opportunities to explain, describe, discuss and ask questions. Higher attaining pupils in Year 2 express their ideas confidently and clearly and are quick to respond to questions. Nearly all are able to discuss their work and what they enjoyed with assurance. Pupils in Year 6 listen attentively and with respect to others and many use a wide range of vocabulary to express their views. For example, many displayed a good use of correct terminology when using syllabic counting during discussions about the merits of good poetry during a well-taught literacy lesson for pupils in Years 5 and 6.

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Commentary

55. The quality of teaching and learning is good across the school and no teaching observed during the inspection was judged to be less than good. Pupils’ attitudes are very good. They enjoy learning because of the way in which most lessons are structured to enhance enjoyment in learning and enable all to achieve success. The school uses the National Literacy Strategy well to promote good achievement. This was evident in the two lessons for older pupils observed during the inspection, which were judged to be very good. In both these sessions all pupils, including those with special educational needs, made very good progress in learning because teachers had high expectations and the work set was challenging but achievable. The pace of both lessons was very brisk and pupils were attentive, responsive and interested in what they were doing. However, the marking of work is inconsistent and does not always clearly show

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Commentary

pupils how they can improve. Some comments written on the work of younger, less able pupils are inappropriate as they use long words and are difficult for these pupils to read. In addition, although the school has developed measures to track pupils’ progress in the subject, assessment procedures used by the school presently lack detail in setting precise targets for further learning.

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Commentary

56. The subject is led and managed soundly by the co-ordinator, who has only recently been appointed to the position. Evidence from school documentation, the school’s results in national tests and pupils’ work reflects the importance the school has placed on raising the standards that pupils attain. Since the last inspection there have been significant improvements in pupils’ achievement. As a result the attainment of pupils in Year 2 has been maintained despite the fact that children’s attainment on entry to the school has declined. In addition the standards that pupils in Year 6 attain have been raised. This represents good improvement throughout the school.

p.23

Language and literacy across the curriculum

Burrough Green C of E Primary - 24 57. The use of language and literacy across the curriculum is satisfactory overall. Reading and writing skills are developed in other subjects such as history and geography and pupils are usually encouraged to further develop their speaking and listening skills during discussion periods within lessons.

p.24

Main strengths and weaknesses

• By the end of Year 6, pupils attain standards that are above average. • Teachers maintain high expectations of pupils’ performance and this helps them to achieve well. • Teachers generate an enthusiasm for learning. • Assessment procedures are not sufficiently well developed to identify pupils who may not be achieving as well as they should so that intervention can be targeted towards those who need extra support. • Pupils’ ability to record, analyse and interpret data gathered in surveys and investigations is under-developed.

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Commentary

58. Pupils achieve well in each year group. By the end of Year 2 most pupils attain average standards and by the end of Year 6 most attain standards that are above average. This represents a significant improvement since the last inspection when standards were average. Pupils in Year 6 demonstrate a good understanding of number and how to calculate difficult operations such as 478 x 124. They describe their methods of calculating, for example, 9x8 as ‘ten lots of eight minus eight’. Across the school pupils have a very good understanding of shape and space and recognise patterns in sequences of numbers. They are not so good at interpreting pie charts or line graphs. Pupils are interested in the subject and many say it is their favourite activity.

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Commentary

59. Across the school teaching is good. Teachers expect much of pupils and set high standards. In a good lesson for pupils in Years 1 and 2, for example, the teacher introduced the correct mathematical vocabulary to describe three-dimensional shapes. Because her explanations were so clear, the pupils understood the meaning of terms such as ‘vertices’, ‘edges’ and ‘faces’ and were soon using them accurately. Many found it challenging to find out how many edges there are in a cube. The teacher used good questioning to challenge the more able by, for example, asking them to determine the number of edges in a hexagonal prism. Time is used well and, whilst waiting in the corridor for a few stragglers to finishing washing their hands before lunch, the teacher grasped the opportunity to present quiz questions such as, ‘I have four vertices, twelve edges and six faces of equal size. What am I?’ To ensure that higher

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Commentary

attaining pupils are provided with sufficient challenge, the school maintains a flexible approach to class organisation so that, for example, higher attaining pupils in Year 4 join Years 5 and 6 for numeracy lessons. All pupils are supported well because teachers are sensitive to the varying learning needs of all and match tasks accordingly. Lower attaining pupils are helped to succeed. They answer as enthusiastically as the rest of the class and their work shows that tasks are modified so that they also get most of the answers right.

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Commentary

60. Teachers encourage a sense of discovery that extends learning well. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 were amazed at the number of diagonals that could be drawn in a regular hexagon and were keen to explore this further with different shapes. Pupils develop an enthusiasm for learning that extends beyond lessons. After the lesson on diagonals, for example, several pupils stayed in a playtime to test their hypotheses regarding the relationship between the number of sides in regular polygons and the number of diagonals. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 25 61. Relationships are very good and this helps pupils to ask for further explanations if they are not sure how to proceed. Towards the ends of lessons teachers review what has been learned and this helps to assess pupils’ understanding. In one class pupils were asked to explain what they had learned during the course of the lesson that they did not know before. This helps them to

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Commentary

appreciate for themselves the amount of progress they are making. Teachers congratulate the pupils for working hard and for learning so much. Opportunities are sometimes missed to use the gaps that teachers identify in pupils’ learning to set short-term targets for improvement. Homework is used well to consolidate learning and pupils are set regular challenges to resolve at home.

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Commentary

62. The leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory. The co-ordinator monitors teaching and learning through classroom observations and samples pupils’ work to check on standards and progress. Pupils are assessed regularly and the end-of-year assessment is recorded and used to set a target for the future year’s attainment. However, these broad long- term targets are not broken down into short achievable steps that can be shared with pupils so that they understand how to reach the next levels of attainment. Also the pupil tracking system is not sufficiently refined to identify precisely which pupils are doing better than expected and those who are not doing so well. As a result nobody can confidently answer the question of why pupils in Year 2 did not do very well in the national tests in 2003 and did not attain higher standards. Furthermore the school is not yet using computerised systems to record and

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Commentary

illustrate pupils’ progress and attainment or to set targets. As a result potential revelations concerning pupils’ achievement could be missed. The co-ordinator has identified data handling as an area for improvement.

p.25

Mathematics across the curriculum

63. Pupils use basic numeracy skills well when recording data resulting from experiments in science and when measuring dimensions during model making sessions in design and technology. They use coordinates during mapwork in geography and study time lines in history that help them to calculate, for example, how long ago Queen Victoria died.

p.25

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils attain standards that are above average. • Teaching is good. • Pupils have a good understanding of how to set up experiments to test their hypotheses.

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Commentary

64. Pupils achieve well in each year group so that by the end of Year 2 most attain average standards and by the end of Year 6 most attain standards that are above average. This represents a significant improvement since the last inspection. Discussions with pupils in Year 2 showed that they had a good understanding of how to control variables to ensure a fair experiment and valid results. They knew, for example, that when testing material to see if it was waterproof, the same amount of water must be used on each material tested and the same sized pieces of material should be used. They have a good understanding of light source and explained clearly why the moon is not a source of light.

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Commentary

65. Good work was seen in Year 4 where pupils set up experiments to determine what materials were most effective for soundproofing. Here they showed a good understanding of how to conduct a fair test and used their previous knowledge well to test their ideas. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 26 66. Teaching across the school is good. In the lesson on soundproofing the teacher spun a tale about her friend who was suffering agonies because she lived next to a recording studio and was disturbed by the noise that escaped. Here the teacher used good questioning strategies as the pupils searched for a solution to the problem. After dealing with suggestions such as. ‘Move house’ or ‘Call the police’, the pupils were led towards considering the key question, ‘What is the best material for soundproofing?’ They set up their experiments with alarm clocks placed in shoeboxes that they insulated with different materials. They then had to consider how to

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Commentary

measure the volume of sound that escaped from the boxes. The teacher challenged pupils to explain their ideas. When asked during the concluding part of the lesson to explain why certain materials were more effective than others, it was noticeable that many in this year group found it difficult to unravel their thoughts and to express themselves clearly. However, good evaluations were conducted which demonstrated that pupils were skilled in analysing exactly what could be done to improve the experiment. Computers were used well during this lesson to record results in block graphs that illustrated the pupils’ findings clearly. Teaching is thorough and extends, for example, to a detailed examination of exactly how the ear receives sound.

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Commentary

67. The subject is managed well. The new co-ordinator is building well on the work of the previous specialist who had to be released due to financial constraints. There is a good planning framework that follows a two-year cycle and ensures that all aspects of the National Curriculum are fully covered. There is a good system for reviewing plans and policies every eighteen months. Assessment of pupils’ performance at the end of each unit of work identifies those who have learnt particularly well and those who have not. Optional annual tests for pupils in Years 3,4 and 5 complement the national tests for pupils in Years 2 and 6. The tests are analysed to determine whether there are any areas of the curriculum where pupils demonstrate any lack of understanding. Pupils’ attainment and progress is recorded but there is no clear evidence that the records are used to meet any specific individual learning needs. One

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Commentary

particularly good initiative involves the village college to which most pupils transfer at the end of Year 6. Towards the end of the summer term each pupil in Year 6 starts a project which is developed in the secondary school early in the autumn term.

p.26

Main strengths and weaknesses

• The good use of teaching support staff has a positive impact on learning. • Good use is made of the school’s ICT suite to aid learning. • New skills are taught effectively. • Pupils’ attitudes to learning are very good. • Leadership and management are good and have contributed well to raising standards of achievement.

p.26

Commentary

68. The school makes very good use of its computer suite even though some of the computers within it are now beginning to show their age. Pupils are taught effectively in small groups, often by knowledgeable teaching assistants. Pupils’ achievement is satisfactory and most make satisfactory progress in learning new skills. By the end of Year 2 and again by the end of Year 6, most pupils attain average standards. This represents a significant improvement since the last inspection when standards were below average.

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Commentary

69. The quality of teaching and learning of ICT is satisfactory and pupils are given regular opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in all areas of the subject. Pupils’ attitudes to ICT are consistently very good. Pupils in Year 2 use simple word processing programs and communicate effectively using text. They write using different font styles and enter and amend writing. They import clip-art when using word processing programs to tell the Burrough Green C of E Primary - 27 story of, for example, ‘Eddie’s Teddy’. Pupils in Year 6 use spreadsheets to plot graphs and use formulae to monitor changes in calculations. They use drawing tools to create plans of their classroom and are able to use a range of control technology. They apply their computer skills well to support learning in other subject areas and situations.

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Commentary

70. Standards and provision in ICT have improved since the last inspection as a result of effective leadership and management. Concerns then regarding low standards and a lack of opportunities for pupils to use computers have been fully addressed and pupils are now keen to learn. Resources are used effectively to aid learning and the schools’ equipment has been constantly improved and updated over time. The machines in the computer suite, whilst not among the most modern, are networked and the school has its own web site, which it is presently updating. Pupils are given good opportunities to use their knowledge, skills and understanding of ICT in other subject areas to produce, for example, a good quality termly school magazine, ‘Green Gossip’, using a desktop publishing program and are able to import photographs into text using scanners and a digital camera. Computers are also used well in classrooms to aid learning in subjects such as English and science.

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Information and communication technology across the curriculum

71. The use of ICT across the curriculum is good overall and computers are often used well to support learning although their use is slightly inconsistent in different subject areas. There is little use of computers in art and design, for example, but they are used well in science to illustrate findings and in English for word processing and redrafting.

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HUMANITIES

Religious education and history were inspected individually and are reported in full below. Inspectors also observed one well-taught lesson in geography but there was not enough evidence available to report on provision in this subject in full.

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Religious education

Provision for religious education is satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Very good links with the local church enable pupils to extend their understanding of the main Christian festivals. • Knowledge of other faiths is enhanced through visits to their places of worship and through the use of ICT. • Systems to assess pupils’ progress on a formal basis and to use it to inform planning have yet to be established.

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Commentary

72. Evidence from the lessons seen, from assemblies, from talking informally to pupils and looking at pupils’ work indicates that standards of attainment are in line with the expectations described in the locally agreed syllabus. Achievement is satisfactory throughout the school and standards are similar to that reported at the time of the last inspection.

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Commentary

73. The main focus on learning is on Christianity, as set out in the programme of study in the locally agreed syllabus. Pupils have a very good knowledge and understanding of Christian festivals and celebrations, such as weddings and christenings. In Year 1 and Year 2 pupils also learn about Judaism and the importance of books such as the Koran to the Islamic faith. Older pupils extend their knowledge and understanding of the values and practices of other beliefs and Burrough Green C of E Primary - 28 traditions through visits to places of interest such as Buddhist centres and also use computers to experience ‘virtual visits’ to different places of worship.

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Commentary

74. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall and there are examples of good teaching. In a well-taught lesson for pupils in Year 2/3 on the importance of baptism, the teacher developed the concept of ‘commitment’ well by constantly referring to pupils’ own experiences and so made the idea meaningful to them. She used a variety of well thought out strategies to encourage pupils to work together to discuss their ideas and, as a result, nearly all pupils made good progress in their understanding of the importance of baptism to the Christian faith.

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Commentary

75. A weakness in teaching throughout the school is the lack of the use of assessment to inform planning. Whilst the marking of pupils’ work in books is usually good, with comments and suggestions for improvement evident, formal assessment systems are not yet established and therefore there is only limited evidence that assessment information is used to adjust teaching to match pupils’ learning needs.

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Commentary

76. Pupils’ attitudes towards the subject are good and the very good links with the local church enable them to extend their understanding of the main Christian festivals such as Easter and Christmas. Last term all the pupils and staff were involved in a ‘School Wedding’ in the local church in order to give them a first hand experience of a Christian marriage ceremony. Pupils assumed the roles of bride, bridegroom, bridesmaids and guests and dressed appropriately. There was a bridal limousine and chauffeur, provided by a grandparent, an official photographer and a wedding reception. The vicar conducted the ceremony. Pupils still talk about the day and it is evident that it made a lasting impression. This was a good example of exciting and imaginative teaching.

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Commentary

77. Leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory and have helped maintain the standards reported by the previous inspection. Resources are good and are used well to support learning.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils make good progress and achieve well in Year 3 to Year 6. • Attitudes to the subject are good. • Teaching is often stimulating and brings the subject to life. • No effective systems exist for measuring pupils’ progress and the standards they attain.

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Commentary

78. Pupils take a keen interest in the subject and by the end of Year 6 attain standards that are above average. This represents a significant improvement since the last inspection when standards were below average.

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Commentary

79. The quality of teaching and learning are good overall. In a very good lesson for pupils in Year 4, the teacher’s interest and very good subject knowledge made pupils eager to learn and work to their full capabilities. Less able pupils were well supported by a very able teaching assistant who was well directed by the class teacher. As a result the achievement of all pupils was very good. They discussed their work, on mummification in ancient Egypt, with knowledge and enthusiasm and used subject specific vocabulary, such as ‘sarcophagus’, accurately. Pupils particularly relished the gruesome details of how bodies were prepared for mummification. In addition small groups of pupils took turns to use computer programs about the subject to Burrough Green C of E Primary - 29 enhance their learning. Overall the lesson was very effective and standards of attainment above those expected from this age group of pupils.

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Commentary

80. The subject is well led and managed by the co-ordinator, who has helped to ensure that areas of concern reported by the previous inspection, for instance the lack of a suitable scheme of work, have been dealt with well. As a result standards of attainment have improved markedly since the last inspection. Resources are good and are used well to enhance learning. However, the school has yet to introduce assessment procedures for measuring progress and informing future planning,

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

Art and design and music were inspected in detail and are reported in full below. No lessons were seen in design and technology but the subject was sampled through an examination of pupils’ work and teachers’ planning to confirm that the requirements of the National Curriculum are taught in sufficient depth. In physical education, two gymnastics lessons and one games lesson were observed and the provision and attainment for swimming discussed but no dance lessons were seen. The provision for games is good but provision for gymnastics is unsatisfactory, as the school hall is too small to enable the full range of activities to be taught to a full class effectively. There was insufficient evidence available to make judgements about all the strands of the physical education curriculum to report on the subject in full. Teachers’ plans and records show that the subject is well established in the school’s curriculum and that swimming is a strength. The teaching observed was

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils are introduced to a rich range of learning experiences that help them to develop a keen interest in the subject and attain standards that are above average. • Teaching is good and pupils achieve well in all year groups. • There is little evidence of three-dimensional work being produced by the older pupils.

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Commentary

81. Pupils achieve well in each year group. By the end of Year 2 most attain average standards and by the end of Year 6 standards are above average. This represents a significant improvement since the last inspection when standards were below average. Pupils produce a range of high quality work inspired by a good range of experiences. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 visited Madame Tussaud’s and this proved a rich source of inspiration. They made good papier-mâché masks of personalities such as Naomi Campbell, added woollen hair and clothed their models in crepe paper. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have opportunities to visit a local studio where specialists introduce them to printing techniques. They are shown how to make lino prints and to use a large press to add fine definition to their work. Pupils in Year 1 studied the work of Andy Goldsworthy and made their own ephemeral pictures of autumn using natural materials such

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Commentary

as dried runner bean pods, slices of wood, leaves and conkers. Sketchbooks are used well to practise skills such as using grids to scale up a picture to three times its original size, experimenting with painting techniques such as pointillism and drawing perspective. Pupils in Year 3 have made colour sums to show that yellow plus red makes orange. Pupils use a wide range of media and have, for example, produced bold portraits in the style of Picasso, using pastel crayons.

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Commentary

82. Good links are made with other subjects, as when pupils studied Roman and Viking designs on metal and woodwork to form the basis of their fabric prints. Pupils are introduced to screen printing techniques and they have produced a good series of woven fabrics with colours Burrough Green C of E Primary - 30 carefully chosen to represent the four seasons. Seashells were studied closely by pupils in Years 1 and 2 before they created their own shells made from clay. However, there is little evidence of three-dimensional work being produced by pupils in Years 4 to 6, or of the use of computers to generate pictures. The digital camera is used well to keep records of pupils’ work.

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Commentary

83. The quality of teaching is good. Skills are taught systematically according to a good schedule of work to be completed by each year group. In a very good lesson for pupils in Years 5 and 6, pupils studied works by Vincent Van Gogh. They had assimilated a great deal of information about the artist’s life. The teacher generated great enthusiasm and a serious business-like approach to the work. Brush strokes and the use of colour were examined in great detail. During the lesson music from the time of Van Gogh was played to set the mood. The teacher set high standards and as a result the paintings that pupils produced were of high quality.

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Commentary

84. The subject is managed well. The co-ordinator has good levels of expertise and supports colleagues effectively. Good displays of pupils’ work around the school help to create a colourful environment and demonstrate the high expectations of the quality of work that pupils are encouraged to produce.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils achieve well and by the end of Year 6 most attain standards that are above average. • Teaching is very good and high expectations of pupils’ performance are maintained.

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Commentary

85. Throughout the school pupils sing exceptionally well in unison. Pupils learn a good range of skills and by the end of Year 6 they attain standards that are above average. This represents a significant improvement since the last inspection when standards were average.

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Commentary

86. A part-time teacher teaches in the school on two days each week. The teacher has an excellent knowledge of the subject and the quality of music teaching is very good. The teacher packs a great amount of work into each lesson and sets high standards for the pupils to attain. In one very good lesson for pupils in Year 4, a brisk singing session was used as a warm-up activity. The life of Saint Saens and his works were reviewed and compared with another child prodigy, Mozart, whilst listening skills were developed through listening to ‘Carnival of the Animals’ and comparing this with ‘Peter and the Wolf’. The creatures represented by different instruments were identified and agreement reached on the appropriateness of the sounds produced. Pupils then moved to their composer groups for a session on composing different patterns of sound. They used musical notation well to clap rhythms and had a good

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Commentary

understanding of musical terms such as ‘mezzo-forte’ and ‘pianissimo’ and demonstrated a good understanding of dynamics. A lesson for pupils in Year 6 was equally brisk and energetic and involved all pupils in understanding the structure of a concerto. They understood the need for balance and used technical terms such as ‘ostinato’ accurately. They were tasked with composing and performing a piece of music in three movements to accompany and illustrate a poem about the sea. Each section of the class orchestra practised their compositions before they all came together to record their work. One pupil played the piano whilst others played recorders, descant and tenor, as well as xylophones, glockenspiels and untuned percussion instruments.

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Commentary

87. The subject is managed well and the co-ordinator sets high standards. Although the work that pupils produce is above average she is disappointed that she does not have more time to work with pupils to attain even higher standards. She helps to generate an enthusiasm for music and a deep interest in the subject. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 31

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP

88. The school teaches personal, social and health education within the context of a general health programme. No lessons in personal, social and health education were observed so it is not possible to make judgements about the quality of teaching in this area of the curriculum. However, teachers and staff are skilful in developing individual’s self-esteem and in addressing any concerns or developing viewpoints. In class discussions and in assemblies, pupils are encouraged to explore their own attitudes and values. Specific information on sex education is provided with the assistance of the school nurse. Parents of Years 5 and 6 pupils are able to view and discuss the relevant material and can withdraw their children from any area not regulated by the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum.

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP

89. Pupils are prepared well for the responsibilities of citizenship through the activities of the school council, house captains, ‘buddies’ and school monitors, who all act as very good role models. The ability of any pupil to put forward an idea or an issue for discussion by the council enables growing self-confidence and a mature approach to wider community matters. The termly newsletter provides a good opportunity for pupils to take editorial responsibility. Burrough Green C of E Primary - 32

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The overall effectiveness of the school 3 How inclusive the school is 2 How the school’s effectiveness has changed since its last inspection 3 Value for money provided by the school 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Overall standards achieved 3 Pupils’ achievement 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities 3 Attendance 5 Attitudes 2 Behaviour, including the extent of exclusions 2 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The quality of education provided by the school 3 The quality of teaching 3 How well pupils learn 3 The quality of assessment 4 How well the curriculum meets pupils needs 3 Enrichment of the curriculum, including out-of-school activities 3 Accommodation and resources 5 Pupils’ care, welfare, health and safety 2 Support, advice and guidance for pupils 4 How well the school seeks and acts on pupils’ views 3 The effectiveness of the school’s links with parents 3 The quality of the school’s links with the community 3 The school’s links with other schools and colleges 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The leadership and management of the school 4 The governance of the school 4 The leadership of the headteacher 4 The leadership of other key staff 4 The effectiveness of management 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Inspectors make judgements on a scale: excellent (grade 1); very good (2); good (3); satisfactory (4); unsatisfactory (5); poor (6); very poor (7).

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