Bucknall Primary School

Inspection Report Bucknall Primary School

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120443 Unique Reference Number LINCOLNSHIRE Local Authority 291738 Inspection number 14 December 2006 Inspection date Trevor Watts Reporting inspector

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

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Main St School address Primary Type of school Bucknall, Bucknall Community School category Lincs LN10 5DT 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01526 388233 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01526 388233 Fax number 46 Number on roll (school) Mr Paul Kent Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Shaun Canadine Headteacher 5 February 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 291738 14 December 2006 4 °11 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 rural school in which all pupils are White British. An average proportion of pupils have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. None has a Statement of Special Educational Needs. No pupils are entitled to free school meals. The headteacher was new to the school in September 2006, in an acting capacity, but is due to take up the permanent post in January 2007. He is the only full-time teacher.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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Grade: 2

The inspection finds that the school is effective, confirming the school's own judgement. It gives good value for money, and has improved well since the previous inspection. Leadership and management are good, being principled with essential functions covered appropriately. The school has a good capacity to continue to improve. Pupils achieve well. Children enter the school with skills a little below the level generally expected nationally. The quality of education in the Foundation Stage is good, providing a firm base for future learning. Pupils make good, steady progress throughout the school. When they leave in Year 6 standards are a little above the national average. There has been a rising trend for the past four years. Teachers have successfully introduced a range of strategies to address any dips in performance. Consequently Year 2 and Year 6 test results remained at or above the national average in 2006.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development is good. They leave the school as well-rounded individuals who are confident of succeeding in their next schools, and of taking responsibility when they can. Teaching and learning are effective. Teachers have positive relationships with pupils. They plan and organise their lessons thoroughly, and teach well-structured activities. When pupils are given their own work to do, however, the pace of lessons sometimes drops as pupils are not always encouraged sufficiently to ensure they work as hard as they can. Pupils enjoy school a lot, but they are sometimes more contented than enthusiastic, and their learning reflects this. Lessons are hardly ever disturbed by misbehaviour, and pupils say there is no bullying at all; they feel very secure. As the headteacher says, 'The family atmosphere here is something special.' The great majority of parents support this view. 'My child is coming on in leaps and bounds in this warm

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Grade: 2

and welcoming atmosphere,' wrote one parent. The school has many successful links with the local community, including other schools and many health and social agencies that contribute valuably to pupils' learning. The curriculum is good and is being improved by continuing development of links between subjects. Pupils in the main are well cared for, guided and supported but those with particular talents are not always 'stretched' by some lessons. Teachers accurately assess pupils' progress, and base their lessons on the results. However, pupils generally do not know what their targets are for the longer term and what they need to do to achieve them; how to attain level 5 in science, for instance, by the end of Year 6. The school's leadership and management has continued to be effective despite a term's uncertainty. Developments already in place are fully supported by staff and governors, and are showing good results in terms of pupils' progress. However, teachers do not

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Grade: 2

have any wider leadership roles and responsibilities across the school beyond their own class and although the headteacher has the support of the governors, they are only just beginning to look analytically at how the school is organised and why some decisions are made. This limits the school in its ability to utilise skills and expertise to the full and assist the headteacher in moving the school forward even more rapidly. 2 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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What the school should do to improve further

• Develop and extend the roles and responsibilities of governors and staff so that they can contribute more effectively to school improvement. • Increase the pace of work when pupils begin their own tasks through clear target setting and feedback on how pupils can improve their work.

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Grade: 2

When they begin in Reception, most but not all children have skills which are a little below those expected. However, they make good progress, being taught alongside pupils who are one and two years older. By the time they reach the end of Year 2, pupils' continued good progress sees them attaining in line with national averages, and sometimes above. This progress extends through Key Stage 2. As a result pupils have attained standards in English, mathematics and science at or above the national average for the past four years at the end of Year 6. Pupils with learning difficulties are well supported and progress at rates comparable with their peers. The overall trend in attainment has been rising. Dips in performance from one year to the next are largely due to the very small numbers of pupils involved. Nevertheless the school has used the test results to identify areas for improvement and has implemented appropriate

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Grade: 2

corrective action. For example more investigative and practical science activities have been introduced; extra opportunities for writing for different purposes have been included in subjects other than English; and some lessons have been planned to be more interesting to boys. As a result, the science and English results in 2006 improved and boys attained as well as girls. Inspection findings concur with predictions based on school assessments and analysis of performance by an outside agency that standards are set to rise further for the next two years at least.

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Grade: 2

The school successfully encourages pupils to adopt healthy lifestyles. Pupils understand the need to eat and drink a balanced diet to stay healthy. They are enthusiastic in taking up their physical education (P.E.) activities each week and there is good involvement in extra-curricular sports and play activities. In addition many pupils walk or cycle to school. Pupils feel secure and know how to look after themselves in different situations. Their enjoyment of school is obvious. Their behaviour is good and their attendance is outstandingly good. Pupils develop a good social and moral awareness through many lessons and the whole atmosphere of the school. Their spiritual and cultural awareness is nurtured well through many special events, assemblies and theme days, such as maypole dancing, Chinese New Year and visiting places of interest such as an aircraft museum. Pupils willingly take responsibility and help in their community. They join the School

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Grade: 2

Council, organise the tuck shop, assemblies and friendship areas in the playground. 3 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006 They take an interest in their environment and helped to design a mural for the playground fence. They raise money for different charities each year, and support the local church and home for elderly people. Their good learning of basic literacy and numeracy skills stands them in good stead for their futures. They also develop good skills with information and communication technology (ICT), practical and problem-solving activities, and working in teams.

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Grade: 2

The good teaching produces the good academic results of the past several years, as well as encouraging pupils to be well-rounded individuals with good personal and social skills. Teachers and teaching assistants enjoy good, warm relationships with pupils. Lessons are well planned and prepared. Activities are appropriate and based on previous assessments of how well pupils are progressing. Introductory activities clearly tell pupils what they are going to learn and why. When pupils settle to do their own work, they sometimes work at a pace that is comfortable rather than demanding. Then, teachers do not always 'push' them enough to get the work done quickly. Teachers use the skills and expertise of support staff well to enhance learning. For instance support staff help pupils who struggle with their work, or, under clear guidance, teach numeracy skills to groups of pupils. Teachers successfully use many

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Grade: 2

different resources to make their lessons interesting and lessons end with reviews that solidly reinforce what pupils have been expected to learn.

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Grade: 2

All required subjects are covered well, with a clear focus on English and mathematics. Teachers often successfully combine learning across several subjects, bringing literacy, mathematics and ICT into many lessons. This reinforces skills in those subjects, and broadens pupils' understanding of the links between subjects. The science, PE and personal/social lessons are very beneficial in helping pupils to learn about the value of exercise, avoiding harmful substances and how to build up positive and cooperative relationships with each other. Numerous activities out of school hours are well attended by pupils, often with parental help in organising them. These include many sporting and other activities such as chess, violin, nature watch and craft clubs. The school sometimes finds it difficult to provide activities to stretch pupils who are particularly able in one area such as dancing (to cite a recent example). Plans to link with other

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Grade: 2

local schools are appropriate and have the potential to change this situation. 4 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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Grade: 2

Strong health and safety procedures ensure that pupils are well cared for. Pupils feel secure and all are able to take a full part in lessons and activities. Standard checks have been thoroughly carried out on all staff and visitors; new safeguarding requirements are met. Pupils respond well to the expectations made of them in relation to behaviour and conduct. As a result the school is calm and orderly. Relationships are positive and constructive. Throughout the school, staff make good use of the information they gather about pupils' progress to ensure that lessons are appropriate and pupils make at least good progress. Nevertheless, pupils could do even better. The lack of clear individual targets and feedback on how to improve their performance results in a sense of complacency in some pupils. Pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities are supported well.

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Grade: 2

During his term as an acting headteacher, the newly appointed headteacher successfully maintained the school's strengths and ensured that the quality of education remained at a high level. In addition he has clearly focussed his attentions on analysing pupils' attainments, and evaluating the measures that are already in place to develop pupils' learning further. This self-evaluation has been thorough and largely accurate. Existing initiatives are being maintained well, contributing to the school's continued success. New initiatives are planned and have the potential to bring about further improvements. Although there are very few staff in school, they support the changes and share a common purpose to raise standards further. They discuss matters openly, take part in training events, and successfully develop strategies to improve their own teaching such as the use of electronic white boards. However, the roles of teachers are not wide

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Grade: 2

enough to enable them to share whole-school 'corporate' responsibility with the headteacher for wider aspects of school improvement. The chair of governors is perceptive and dynamic, but the governing body as a whole is not questioning or proactive enough when decisions need to be made. 5 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 1 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

15 December 2006 Bucknall Primary School, Main St, Bucknall, Lincolnshire, LN10 5DT Dear Pupils I expect that you will remember when I visited your classes recently. Thank you for helping me, talking to me and letting me see your work. I think you go to a good school where the staff teach you well and look after you. Mostly, you make good progress all through the school. By the time you are ready to leave, you are getting better scores in the national tests than children in most other parts of the country. In the past some children's test results were not always as good as the teachers expected, so they rightly changed some of their teaching methods. I am suggesting that they change one or two more things so that you know exactly what you need to do to get the results you are capable of because I think some of you could work harder in class if your teachers encourage you in the right way. You told me how much you enjoy school, and that there is no bullying. You have lots of

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

opportunities to help each other and other people. I think you learn a lot from all the things that you do for yourselves, and that are done for you, whether it is your class lessons, special days, clubs, or trips out. Mr Canadine is working hard to make everything right for you, but he has a lot to do, especially as he teaches one class for more than half of each week. I have asked the school's governors, and other staff to continue to help Mr Canadine in running the school, by making suggestions and offering to help. With my best wishes Trevor Watts Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Bucknall Primary School, 14 December 2006

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