Belton Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Belton Church of England Primary School

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120114 Unique Reference Number Leicestershire LEA 280736 Inspection number 1 February 2006 to 1 February 2006 Inspection dates Mike Capper AI Reporting inspector

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

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Sadlers Wells School address Primary Type of school Loughborough Voluntary controlled School category Leicestershire LE12 9TS 4 to 10 Age range of pupils 01530 222304 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01530 222304 Fax number 64 Number on roll Mrs Jane Rowland Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Robert McDermott Headteacher 31 January 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280736 1 February 2006 - 4 to 10 1 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This small rural primary school takes pupils from the local village as well as surrounding areas. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average and there are an average number of pupils identified as having learning difficulties or disabilities. There are no pupils for whom English is an additional language. Pupils’ attainment on entry to the Reception class varies from year-to-year but is broadly average overall. Pupils transfer to other schools at the end of Year 5.

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Key for inspection grades

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

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Grade: 2

This is a good school that provides good value for money. Good teaching throughout the school helps pupils to achieve well from their starting points. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good and by the end of the Reception Year, standards are above nationally expected levels. By the end of Year 5, standards are well above average overall, with reading and mathematics particularly strong. Pupils consistently make outstanding progress in reading, responding very well to the high expectations of teachers. In the last few years, test results in writing, although above average, have consistently lagged behind those for other subjects. There are missed opportunities in lessons for more able pupils to improve their writing by taking greater responsibility for their own work. Pupils are well cared for and their personal development is good. As a result, pupils are confident, articulate and sociable. Their behaviour is excellent and they enjoy the

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Grade: 2

many interesting activities, especially in sport, that the school provides outside lessons. However, pupils have only a limited awareness of cultures other than their own. The school is well led and managed. Rigorous systems for monitoring the work of the school mean that senior managers and governors have an accurate understanding of its overall effectiveness that agrees with inspection findings. There is a very strong sense of teamwork. Parents are very supportive and help to make the school successful. All members of staff share the headteacher’s vision for school development and standards have improved since the last inspection. As a result, the school is well placed to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

•Raise attainment in writing, especially for more able pupils, by ensuring that teachers encourage them to edit and redraft their writing and to take greater responsibility for their own work. •Give pupils more opportunities to learn about cultures other than their own.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ standards and their achievement are good. Pupils make good progress in the Reception class from their different starting points and, by the end of the Reception year, their attainment is above that found nationally. Pupils make especially good progress in personal, social and emotional development and reading, because of the exceptionally high expectations of the teacher in these areas of learning. They develop good levels of independence and quickly become confident about reading new words. In Years 1 to 5, all pupils, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities, continue to make good progress. By the end of Year 5, standards are well above the national average in English and mathematics. In recent years, national test results have been exceptionally high in reading, reflecting the outstanding progress that pupils 2 Inspection Report: Belton Church of England Primary School, 1 February 2006 to 1 February 2006

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Grade: 2

make in this subject throughout the school. In writing, where attainment is above average, pupils make satisfactory progress, but too few pupils achieve the higher levels of attainment when compared to other subjects. Pupils’ very good spoken vocabulary is not always reflected in their written work, which sometimes also lacks depth. The school makes good use of information about how well pupils are doing to set challenging targets for test results at the end of each academic year. These were met in 2005.

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Grade: 2

The well developed personal and social skills of pupils are an important factor in their good achievement. Pupils’ behaviour is excellent. They are very polite and courteous and they get on very well together. Pupils’ attitudes to work are good and they come to school happily, eagerly looking forward to their lessons. Attendance is good and pupils are keen to do well. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, although pupils lack an awareness of cultures other than their own. Pupils enjoy taking responsibility. For example, the school council plays an important role in school life and recently helped to design a play area for younger pupils. Through fund-raising, pupils show good concern for those less fortunate than themselves. Pupils contribute positively to the community; for example, during the inspection the school won a prize for its success in recycling old telephone books.

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Grade: 2

Pupils have a good understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles and know how to stay safe. They know which foods are good for them, and enjoy the many sports offered by the school. Pupils’ good basic skills and their high levels of confidence prepare them well for the next stage of their education and eventually for the world of work.

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Grade: 2

The good quality of teaching is a key factor in the good progress made by pupils. In the Reception class, the teacher and nursery nurses work together very successfully to make learning exciting. Expectations of what pupils should achieve are consistently high, resulting in a good pace to learning, especially in personal, social and emotional development and reading. In Years 1 to 5, teachers make learning fun by planning well-resourced and exciting work, resulting in high levels of enjoyment in lessons. Purposeful activities, such as work in science lessons on what is meant by a healthy lifestyle, help to make learning interesting and relevant. There are very good levels of challenge in numeracy lessons, with pupils being grouped by ability for many activities. This helps to ensure that 3 Inspection Report: Belton Church of England Primary School, 1 February 2006 to 1 February 2006 differing needs are being met fully. In literacy lessons, teachers have good expectations

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Grade: 2

of what most pupils should achieve but do not always give the most able pupils in the class the opportunity to take greater responsibility for their written work, for example by editing or redrafting their writing. This slows the pace at which their writing skills improve. Well-trained and hard-working teaching assistants give good support to different groups of pupils, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. In the Reception Year, there is a good balance between teacher-led and child-initiated activities and pupils quickly learn to ‘have a go’. In Years 1 to 5, the good basic curriculum is enhanced by the teaching of French. There are good opportunities for pupils to learn about their own culture but not enough is done to develop an awareness of other cultures. The school goes to great lengths to make the curriculum interesting. Teachers make good use of the local area to support learning and help pupils to contribute to the community. There are a large number of visits and visitors that bring subjects alive and contribute significantly to pupils’ academic and personal development. There is an excellent range of out-of-school activities, especially in sport. A very high number of pupils take part in these activities and they help to make school fun.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, guidance and support is good. This is a happy school with a welcoming atmosphere where pupils feel secure and happy. The school works well with parents and outside agencies to safeguard pupils’ well-being. Procedures for child protection are robust and the school takes health and safety issues seriously. There are good procedures for introducing new pupils into the Reception class, helping to ensure that they settle quickly. The school successfully promotes healthy and safe lifestyles, for example by encouraging pupils to eat fruit at playtimes. Teachers provide good academic support. Assessments procedures are well established. Teachers use this information to plan work and to set targets that help pupils understand how to improve their work. However, some targets are too general and, to be wholly effective, need further refining in order to cater for the wide variation in the capability of pupils in each class.

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Grade: 2

The guidance and support given to pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities are very good. Individual education plans for these pupils are detailed and support learning well. 4 Inspection Report: Belton Church of England Primary School, 1 February 2006 to 1 February 2006

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. Senior managers and governors have a very clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses that is based on rigorous systems for evaluating school effectiveness. For example, good use is made of information on pupils’ progress by the headteacher, subject leaders and special educational needs coordinator to identify where additional support is needed. For example, a teaching assistant is working with a small group of pupils to improve their coordination because monitoring identified a specific problem that was affecting their learning. The monitoring of teaching and learning is thorough and this has helped to identify the correct priorities for improvement. The school has rightly identified the need to address the comparative weakness in writing and has already begun to address this issue, for example by providing more specific additional support for the most able

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Grade: 2

pupils in Years 4 and 5. Parents and pupils are given satisfactory opportunities to contribute to the school’s procedures for monitoring its effectiveness. For example, the school recently extended the range of after-school clubs following a request from parents. Parents are very positive about the school, with several commenting that it ‘feels more like a family’. The very strong caring atmosphere in school reflects the headteacher’s leadership. Members of staff work together well as a team and have a very clear vision for the school. Weaknesses from the last inspection have been successfully addressed and the school is in a good position to improve further. 5 Inspection Report: Belton Church of England Primary School, 1 February 2006 to 1 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: Belton Church of England Primary School, 1 February 2006 to 1 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 2 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 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 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 1 The behaviour of learners NA 2 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 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 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 2 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

Thank you for welcoming us to your school and for showing us your work. You were very polite and friendly. What we liked most about your school •You work hard and achieve well, especially in reading and mathematics. •We are very pleased that you behave so well and enjoy school and all the clubs that you are able to attend. •The school is good at teaching you about the importance of staying safe and healthy. •You are taught well. Your teachers are very kind and caring and they make school fun. •We are pleased that you have a well-organised school council which lets you contribute to school life. •Your headteacher, teachers and governors are working hard to make the school even better. •Your parents and carers are very pleased that you come to this school. What we have asked your school to do now •We have asked the school to help you to learn even more quickly in writing. •We feel that the school should do more to help you learn about different cultures and traditions.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We thoroughly enjoyed talking to you about your work and watching you learn and we wish you all well for the future.

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