Broughton CofE Primary and Nursery School

Inspection Report Broughton Church of England School

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112287 Unique Reference Number Cumbria LEA 278893 Inspection number 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr Alastair Younger Reporting inspector

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

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Kepplewray School address Primary Type of school Broughton-in-Furness Voluntary controlled School category Cumbria, LA20 6BJ 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01229 716206 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01229 716240 Fax number 85 Number on roll Mr Neil Gibbison Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Ian Nicol Headteacher 1 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278893 28 February 2006 - 4 to 11 1 March 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 an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small primary school in a rural area. The pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds and attainment on entry is broadly average. There are no pupils from minority ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average and no pupil has a statement of special educational need. Most pupils stay at the school from reception to Year 6. The school has had seven headteachers in 10 years.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Broughton Church of England School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school with good features. This judgement corresponds to its own evaluation and the views of the local authority (LA) and most parents. The school gives satisfactory value for money. Nearly all pupils love attending and enjoy their education. The last inspection was six years ago, since when there have been three different headteachers. The current one has been in post for nearly two years and under his leadership, improvement is gathering pace. Issues for improvement, identified by the previous inspection, have been tackled. Future improvements are well planned for; finances are stable, and numbers on roll have stabilised following a significant drop since the last inspection. These factors give the school the capacity to keep improving. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. As a result, pupils’ progress and achievement are satisfactory, and they reach broadly average standards. They could

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Grade: 3

do better. The main areas for improvement in the teaching are: for teachers to make better use of time in lessons so pupils produce more work; and, for teachers to match work more accurately to pupils’ varying needs. Within relatively small class groups, pupils are keen to learn and they behave well. The curriculum is good; pupils are well cared for, and their personal development and well-being are good. The Foundation Stage has a new leader and improvements are being made. Here too teaching and learning are satisfactory and most children reach their goals. Good steps have been taken to improve outdoor learning. Leadership and management are satisfactory and improving, with a particularly good governing body. not applicable

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What the school should do to improve further

• In order to raise standards, improve teaching by monitoring it more constructively so as to ensure that lesson time is used more productively and that work is varied to meet all individual needs.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory. Most parents are happy with the progress their children make and most pupils say they work hard. Attainment on entry is broadly average. Test results show that, by the end of Year 6, standards in English and mathematics are in line with the national average. This has been the case for several years. Throughout the school, results for reading and mathematics are better than those for writing. The inspection noticed no major difference in the progress of any group of pupils. Several parents feel that their higher attaining children could be challenged more. The school slightly exceeds national averages for pupils reaching the higher Level 5 in English, mathematics and science, but the evidence of inspection shows that it could still do better. A few parents feel that their lower attaining children should receive more help. Support for such pupils is good, but tasks should be more varied

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Grade: 3

to help them make better progress. There have been big improvements in information 2 Inspection Report: Broughton Church of England School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 and communication technology (ICT) since the last inspection, when computers were seldom used and there was little staff expertise. Pupils and staff are now using computers regularly, confidently and well. Last year, the school met its targets for mathematics and English, and has set higher ones this year.

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Grade: 2

These are good. Nearly all pupils and parents agree. There is very little misbehaviour and no evidence of bullying. Pupils work hard, love coming to school and attend well. They are being well prepared for the day they leave school and have to look after themselves. The school has a good atmosphere. Lessons are settled and playtimes are characterised by pupils chatting and playing happily. These testify to their good social and moral development. There is a good sense of spirituality. Pupils have many opportunities to contemplate the ups and downs of life. They learn the importance of helping less fortunate people and regularly contribute time and money to charity. An understanding of how other people live is well fostered through trips to urban areas to learn about other cultures and become aware of how people with disabilities overcome their problems. Pupils learn the importance of keeping healthy. They take

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Grade: 2

lots of exercise; fresh water is freely available, and a tuck-shop encourages pupils to buy healthy snacks. Involvement in the community is good. Local people are regularly invited to church services and school events, where pupils entertain them and offer hospitality. Pupils quickly learn that the first stage of staying safe is to behave sensibly and avoid causing accidents. Pupils develop the basic skills of literacy and numeracy to a satisfactory level. They learn to work cooperatively and collaboratively. Thus, they have a good basis from which to develop skills for later working life.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Good relationships between teachers and pupils contribute to the virtual absence of misbehaviour in lessons, allowing pupils to concentrate on learning. Teachers are good at making it very clear what they expect pupils to learn in each lesson. This is shared with pupils so everyone knows what is expected of them. Careful questioning helps teachers to establish what pupils have remembered from previous lessons and also involves and encourages them well. It also allows teachers to check whether some work needs revising or repeating. Increasingly good use is being made of computers as tools for both teaching and learning. Classroom assistants work effectively, often with those pupils who need most support. Teachers’ allocation of time to different activities is a weakness. Too often they get carried away and spend far too long building up to the point at which pupils actually do something

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Grade: 3

more than listen. This is especially frustrating for higher attaining pupils, and standards could be raised if teachers were more aware of the point at which these pupils could get started on tasks without further help. 3 Inspection Report: Broughton Church of England School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 For lower attaining pupils, not enough thought is given to varying tasks so as to allow them to work with more independence, rather than giving them the same work as others but with lower expectations and more support.

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Grade: 2

There is a good curriculum. It is carefully planned and meets all requirements. All classes contain two year-groups and great care is taken to ensure that no work is unnecessarily repeated. A good amount of time is given to numeracy, literacy and ICT. Good links between subjects help pupils to realise how learning in different subjects is often related. They also help to make good use of time. When pupils in an English lesson were learning how words such as ‘helicopter’ derive from word forms used in ancient Greece, they were excited by the prospect of learning the Greek alphabet in history. A good programme of personal, health and social education contributes greatly to pupils’ awareness of the changes they go through in life and of how to look after themselves. Many visits take learning out of the classroom and add excitement to it. They often combine opportunities for learning and personal development very

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Grade: 2

These are good. Health and safety are well promoted. Governors keep a particularly good oversight of potential risks. The programme of routine checks is comprehensive. Staff thoroughly assess risk when planning activities and outings. Nearly all parents say their children are safe and well cared for. Many, however, would like more notice to be taken of their views and want more information about what goes on in school. This is a demanding challenge as they already receive monthly newsletters, a termly curriculum newsletter and frequent letters to inform them of coming events. Parents are very well represented on the governing body and the thriving Broughton School Association includes a parent /teacher partnership. Pupils nearing transfer to other schools are kept well informed and helped to make successful transitions to their new schools. Increasingly good checking of individual progress is improving the process of

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Grade: 2

identifying, guiding and supporting pupils who may be encountering problems.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory and improving. At the instigation of the headteacher and governors, the local authority has supported the school in recent years but has recently reduced the level of support in recognition of the progress being made. Self-evaluation is accurate and thorough. The views of parents have been sought and the local authority has contributed well. Self-evaluation is increasingly identifying the true priorities for school improvement. However, when teaching is monitored, the feedback teachers get does not make points for development clear enough; nor do 4 Inspection Report: Broughton Church of England School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 these points set the focus for subsequent observations. In this respect, monitoring in its present form is not contributing enough to raising standards for all pupils. The governing body is particularly good. It has excellent parent representation and members

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Grade: 3

have a huge amount of experience and wisdom to support the school in many aspects of its work. Governors are tremendously supportive of the headteacher. Over the past year, too much leadership, management and governance time has been taken up dealing with persistent, and often unjustified, criticism from a small group of parents. This has taken attention away from the more important issue of raising standards. 5 Inspection Report: Broughton Church of England School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 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: Broughton Church of England School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 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 3 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 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 3 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 2 The attendance of learners NA 1 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 2 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 3 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 2 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

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 Mr Ian Nicol Broughton CofE School Kepplewray Broughton-in-Furness Cumbria LA20 6BJ 2 March 2006 Dear Pupils I came in the other day to have a look at your school and to see how you were getting on. Thanks for making me so welcome and doing your best to help me find out about the school and what you think of it. It was lovely chatting to you and the warmth of your reception made up for the freezing temperature outside. The lessons I saw were fine. I thought you behaved well and were trying hard, but you could be doing even better. I’ve suggested that your teachers should spend a bit less time talking to you at the start of lessons and should get you to work a bit sooner. Some of you can do work with a bit less explanation from the teacher and a few of you could have done with more help. It’s good to see how much you learn from your trips out of school. It was good to see you so

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

happy and relaxed; you obviously feel safe and I am reassured that you are. Mr Nicol, staff and governors have good ideas for improving the school. I hope you’ll do your bit to help. Good luck for the future Alastair Younger (Lead inspector)

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