Booker Hill Primary School & Nursery

110260 Unique Reference Number Buckinghamshire LEA LEA 278393 Inspection number 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006 Inspection dates Malcolm Johnstone AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Field Road School address Primary Type of school High Wycombe Community School category HP12 4LR 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 01494 521646 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01494 537412 Fax number 255 Number on roll Mr G Palmer Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr R Seymour Headteacher 28 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278393 27 February 2006 - 3 to 11 28 February 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors

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Description of the school

The school is an average size primary school and serves an area with features of social and economic disadvantage. An above average number of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Attainment on admission is well below average. An above average number of pupils have learning difficulties. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well above average. A well above average percentage of pupils is at the early stages of English language acquisition. Pupil mobility is above average in Years 4 to 6.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Booker Hill School, 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006

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Grade: 3

Inspectors agree with the school's self evaluation that it provides a satisfactory education with a number of strong features. Pupils' personal development is good and they are well cared for in a supportive and stimulating environment. The curriculum is satisfactory overall, although it provides very good opportunities for learning outside lessons. Pupils' behaviour, relationships and attitudes are good. The school very clearly meets its aim to 'promote the natural politeness of happy children'. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good. Standards are well below average by the end of Year 2 but from a very low starting point, pupils make satisfactory progress. By the end of Year 6, standards are average in mathematics and close to national averages in science. Standards are below average in English where the more able pupils do not do as well as in other subjects. Writing is a key weakness. In all subjects, pupils make good

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Grade: 3

progress towards the end of Key Stage 2. Teaching is satisfactory overall. It is strongest in the Foundation Stage, and towards the end of each key stage. The leadership team and governors know the school's strengths and weaknesses and have identified the correct courses of action to bring improvement. There is a need to improve standards and the overall quality of teaching that they have recognised. The school also knows it must extend pupils' experiences in writing and improve the curriculum for pupils in Year 1. Some progress is being made with these issues. There has been good overall improvement since the last inspection and there is the capacity to bring about further improvement. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Raise standards, particularly by the end of Key Stage 1 and improve the quality of pupils' writing across the school, including more opportunities for pupils to write at length in subjects other than English * Ensure that the curriculum in Year 1 more effectively meets the needs of the pupils* Focus monitoring more sharply on raising the quality of teaching and learning

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Grade: 3

Standards and achievement are satisfactory. From a very low starting point, children in the Foundation Stage make good progress. By the time they move into Year 1, however, most are still not achieving all of the goals expected for their age group, particularly in communication, language and literacy. In Years 1 and 2, pupils make satisfactory progress overall, although the standards of work are well below average. Progress is satisfactory in Years 3 and 4 and good in Years 5 and 6. By the end of Year 6, pupils achieve well in relation to their prior attainment. By the end of Year 6, standards are average in mathematics and close to the national average in science. In English, standards are below average. Writing is the main weakness. Overall standards have improved since the last inspection, particularly in mathematics. The school met its appropriately challenging targets for 2005 in English and exceeded them in

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Grade: 3

2 Inspection Report: Booker Hill School, 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006 mathematics. The more able pupils did better in mathematics and science than in English. Across the school, good additional support for pupils who have learning difficulties ensures that they make good progress. Pupils who are at the early stages of English language acquisition are supported well and make good progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well being are good. Pupils are proud of the school, enjoy learning and get on well together. As a result, they feel safe and behave well. They know how important it is to stay safe and have a healthy lifestyle. Many join the headteacher on his daily jog around the playground. Pupils take responsibility for themselves, others and their school. As one pupil commented 'The thing I am most proud of is how we help the school, like when we redesigned and decorated the dining area'. The active school council is proud of the way they help the school. Pupils in each class take on a community project which they agree, plan and finance. They are currently planting trees in the school grounds and raising money to finance tree planting in deforested areas of Burkina Faso, Africa. These opportunities help pupils grow into confident and articulate young people who act as excellent ambassadors

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Grade: 2

for the school. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very good. They are alert to the dangers of racism and gain a good understanding of different faiths and cultures. From the early years onwards, pupils know how they should respond to others and begin to develop a picture of their own strengths and weaknesses. Their growing understanding of themselves as individuals prepares them well for their future.Attendance is below average but improving due to the school's comprehensive efforts.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Teaching is good in the Foundation Stage where the wide range of learning activities and the knowledgeable and caring support of teachers and other adults ensures that children make good progress. Teaching in other year groups is satisfactory overall and is good towards the end of both key stages. Relationships with pupils are strong and establish clear routines and standards of behaviour. This means that pupils are well behaved and keen to learn. Teachers and teaching assistants provide good additional support for pupils with learning difficulties. This helps them to make good progress. Teachers identify clearly what pupils are expected to learn through the good use of assessment and tracking data. In the best lessons, they use resources well to interest pupils and to build links between subjects. For example, in a Year 6 lesson, pupils used internet sources to find thought provoking

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Grade: 3

examples of bias in writing. The school has recognised that more needs to be done to ensure that teaching is consistently good in all classes. The teaching of writing has not improved as rapidly as the teaching of mathematics and science and the teaching 3 Inspection Report: Booker Hill School, 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006 of children moving from the Foundation Stage does build well enough on their past experiences. Consequently, pupils do not always make the progress they should.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory with some strong features. In the Foundation Stage, the curriculum is exciting, lively and challenging. Since the last inspection information and communication technology is used more to support work across the curriculum. There is a very good programme for pupils' personal, social, health and citizenship education.A popular and very good range of activities such as sports, chess, choir, canoeing, and homework clubs enrich the curriculum, particularly for older pupils. A very good programme of educational visits and visitors effectively extend and enhance the curriculum and broaden pupils' experiences and enjoyment of school. The school is aware of the need to provide more opportunities for pupils to develop their writing, across the curriculum. They recognise the need to establish a curriculum for pupils in Year 1 that builds more successfully on children's previous experiences in the

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Grade: 2

The school takes good care of its pupils. Procedures for safeguarding them and ensuring their health and safety are effectively implemented. External agencies are used well to support vulnerable pupils and those with learning difficulties and disabilities. Child protection arrangements are understood and applied well.An outstanding feature is the way in which pupils' emotional, behavioural or other personal needs are identified and met. The pupils who have the most severe needs are allocated a key worker who provides effective support in addition to that provided by class teachers. This has a marked impact on pupils' behaviour and general well being. Learning mentors contribute well to the well being and progress of pupils facing learning difficulties. All pupils have individual targets to work towards and are supported well in reaching these. There are good systems to assess, monitor and track their progress. Induction arrangements for

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Grade: 2

children starting school and for pupils moving to secondary school are good.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher is well respected by parents, staff and governors and loved by the pupils. The school regularly seeks the views of pupils and parents. The large majority of parents express very positive views, for example, one parent wrote 'the atmosphere at the school is warm and welcoming; a bit like a second family home' The leadership team has identified the right priorities for development and have the capacity to make further improvements. They are aware of the need to raise standards and have taken a number of measures to bring this about. These are having some success in Key Stage 2 but are less successful in Key 4 Inspection Report: Booker Hill School, 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006 Stage 1. Weaknesses in writing across the school are being addressed but more needs to be done. Monitoring of teaching has brought improvement but is not focused

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Grade: 3

enough to improve teaching significantly. Governors are supportive of the school and keep a good overview of the budget. They have been highly successful in helping the school to implement national reforms to allow teachers time for lesson preparation and planning. Governors demonstrate a clear commitment to raising standards but are not involved enough in strategic planning. 5 Inspection Report: Booker Hill School, 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Booker Hill School, 27 February 2006 to 28 February 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for all the help you gave us when we came to visit your school. We enjoyed meeting with you, especially talking to you and looking at your work. We can see why you are proud of your school. Here are some of the things we liked about your school. * You are very polite, well behaved and enjoy learning* The school helps you grow into mature young people* Mr Seymour and all the adults in the school care about you and want you to do well* There are many exciting things happening inside and outside lessons and you told us how much you enjoy these. We were particularly impressed with the ideas you come up with during your 'children in charge' week* You always try hard to do well in lessons and we know that you are proud of yourselves and what you do. Mr Seymour and the staff are very keen to make sure all of you do as well as you can. We have asked them to improve some things.* To make sure that children in Key Stage 1 do even better

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

work * We saw some good lessons but more of the lessons need to be good * To improve your writing and give you more interesting things to write about in all your subjects* To keep checking on your lessons to make sure you are making the best progress you can. Thank you again for talking to us and answering our questions. Good luck in the future.

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