Bradleys Both Community Primary School

Inspection Report Bradleys Both Community Primary School

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121383 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire Local Authority 292097 Inspection number 30 °31 January 2007 Inspection dates Lesley Clark 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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Skipton Road School address Primary Type of school Bradley, Keighley Community School category West Yorkshire BD20 9EF 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01535 633116 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01535 633116 Fax number 138 Number on roll (school) Mr Brian Clifford Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs E Preston Headteacher 21 January 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 292097 30 °31 January 2007 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 one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Bradleys Both Primary School serves the local communities of High and Low Bradley just outside Skipton in North Yorkshire. It is smaller than average and all pupils are taught in mixed-age classes. It is a popular school and numbers are buoyant. The majority of pupils come from advantaged backgrounds and attainment on entry is generally above average. A smaller than average proportion of pupils has learning difficulties and/or disabilities: an above average proportion has statements of special educational need. There have been staffing difficulties in the last two years, including extended sick leave by the assistant headteacher, covered currently by a temporary appointment.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007

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Grade: 1

Bradleys Both Primary School gives pupils an excellent education. Standards are high and achievement is outstanding because teaching and learning are highly effective. Most pupils say, 'We improve every lesson and if you struggle you get help.' Pupils develop into articulate and well-rounded individuals with a strong sense of right and wrong, capable of judging for themselves and fully aware of their rights as individuals. Outstanding leadership and management have ensured continuing high standards and a good rate of improvement since the last inspection. The school's view of its successes is relatively cautious. This is because of the ever-higher standards it sets itself. It is also a measure of the limited time the school has to evaluate its effectiveness because the headteacher has too many responsibilities due to a heavy teaching commitment and the temporary nature of the senior management team at present. Governors and

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Grade: 1

parents give good support and have the interests of the school at heart. The school benefits enormously from parents' generous fund-raising which has provided exciting play spaces outside for all age groups. The school has good capacity to improve further and offers outstanding value for money. A rich and exciting curriculum gives a good balance between learning new skills and applying them in interesting, worthwhile and practical contexts. Standards are exceptionally high in mathematics and science because teaching quality in these two subjects is outstanding. Pupils thrive intellectually as they learn to use and apply their mathematical skills in other subjects and carry out scientific investigations both in the classroom or virtually using information and communication technology (ICT) including microscopes and scientific simulation programs. Outstanding assessment ensures that any misconceptions are picked up straight away and work targeted to meet pupils'

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Grade: 1

needs. Standards are very good in English too and in recent weeks pupils' writing has really taken off with the school's focus on story writing in every class to stimulate imaginative and accurate use of language for different audiences and purposes. Children make good progress in the Foundation Stage because of good provision. They become happy, confident learners with a bubbling curiosity to find out for themselves. Outstanding personal development ensures that pupils work hard and try their best. Most enjoy school, appreciative of the many different clubs and activities provided for them both before and after the school day. They say, 'We all get along and it is fun here - it is not a boring school!' Behaviour is good but some pupils need 'yellow and red cards' to prompt them to behave sensibly. The school's recent campaign to stamp out bullying is proving successful in that pupils feel more confident that their

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Grade: 1

concerns will be listened to and they know what to do 'if someone over reacts' though a few still feel anxious. Parents recognise these changes as helpful and most agree that the school is effective and has a strong focus on raising standards. A substantial minority, however, expresses reservations about the pressure on pupils in the top class to do well and some pupils feel they do not receive enough encouragement. It is clear that behaviour in the past required a strong system of checks and controls which are now largely redundant. The children now feel their behaviour is improving and they can regulate themselves. 2 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007 The school offers outstanding academic support and guidance and pupils are very well cared for in school. Pupils act safely and show a mature appreciation of different views and cultures. Their vigorous interest in sport and healthy living, as well as their

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Grade: 1

advanced literacy, numeracy and ICT skills mean they are very well prepared for their future lives.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Give pupils greater reassurance and more encouragement so they relax, behave well and give of their best because they want to. • Distribute leadership responsibility more evenly across the school.

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Grade: 1

Achievement is outstanding and standards are high. From an above average starting point, children make good progress in the Reception/Year 1 class. Almost all exceed the level expected of them by the start of Year 1. Pupils make rapid progress in Years 1 and 2 and by the end of Year 2 standards are comfortably above average in reading, writing and mathematics. This good progress continues until the Year 5/6 class when most put on a spurt to achieve exceptionally high standards in mathematics and science and well above average standards in English. The trend in the school's results is upwards and pupils make significant gains during their time in school. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities do extremely well because of the intensive individual support they receive to help them learn effectively. The school sets very challenging targets, which it exceeded in 2006.

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Grade: 1

Pupils develop into confident, well-rounded individuals, well able to speak their minds and to judge for themselves. They are unafraid to stand up for what they believe to be right and are good at putting forward a balanced view. The school council is viewed by most pupils as a good thing because, 'we listen to everyone's ideas and teachers listen to us'. They agree that the system of changing council 'reps' each term is a good thing because, 'it gives everyone a chance to have responsibility and makes you feel special helping others'. Pupils work very hard and have very good attitudes to learning. They agree that they thrive on praise and encouragement, but that criticism makes them feel anxious and under pressure. Their behaviour is good rather than outstanding because adults need to give them the chance to show they can behave well on their own without having 'yellow' or 'red' cards to 'help us think about what we are doing'.

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Grade: 1

Attendance is good and pupils clearly want to come to school. Pupils have an excellent understanding of why it is important to lead healthy lives. Those in the top class attend circuit training followed by a healthy breakfast each week 'to get our brains going for the lessons that follow'. Awareness of health and safety is also very strong and older pupils have had first aid training. Pupils' spiritual, social, moral and cultural development 3 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007 is good and they learn to appreciate the life-styles and beliefs of others through educational visits and visitors to school and fund raising to help people in need. Advanced literacy, numeracy and ICT skills mean that pupils are very well prepared for their future economic well-being.

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Grade: 1

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. Reception children learn well through a mixture of taught activities and times to find out for themselves. Teaching is outstanding in mathematics and science where much of the work is practical and assessment used extremely well to ensure that pupils fully understand new concepts before going on to the next stage. The school's recent focus on story telling has boosted writing with imaginative use of role-play and dramatic voices bringing language alive. In one lesson, for example, pupils tiptoed into the library to discover silver hoof prints, multi-coloured feathers and shiny glass pieces amongst the havoc wreaked in a normally tidy room. When they returned to the classroom a gigantic silhouette of a strange creature had appeared. Pupils bubbled over with vivid words to describe the experience. Teachers' good organisation helps pupils learn well. Work is matched well

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Grade: 1

to individual needs. Sometimes questions ask for limited responses and then some pupils switch off momentarily. Pupils say they find 'the traffic light system really helpful' and are delighted when they move from 'red' to 'green' (full understanding) at the end of a lesson.

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Grade: 1

The curriculum makes outstanding provision for the skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT which are linked in with other subjects in imaginative, practical and memorable ways so that pupils use and apply what they have learnt. For example, Year 6 pupils built a pyramid based on linked triangles and then calculated the number of additional sticks needed to enlarge it. Outstanding provision for physical education, with well-attended after school clubs, ensure that pupils get a well balanced education. An outstanding range of extra-curricular activities together with extensive residential and educational visits further expand pupils' educational opportunities. Foundation Stage children follow a good curriculum which fully utilises the indoor learning space, but the outdoor learning area has yet to be fully utilised throughout the school day.

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Grade: 1

There is outstanding provision for pupils' welfare and child protection procedures are robust. The systems to support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are good and the school has the capacity to cope successfully with a wide range of 4 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007 needs and abilities. Parents appreciate the recent Friday newsletters which keep them well informed about matters at school. The systems to support academic progress are outstanding and give a clear overview of progress and challenging targets to aspire to. It is easy to track the progress of different pupils and so support is targeted precisely when and where it is needed. Pupils are involved in setting targets and play a large part in checking whether they have met them or not. The upshot is highly effective learning.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding because despite staffing difficulties and set backs standards are rising year by year. The school has made good progress since the last inspection in developing the curriculum, ensuring that the Every Child Matters agenda now permeates the school's work and re-organising the care, support and guidance given to pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. As a result of staffing difficulties, leadership across the school is not evenly distributed. The headteacher has taken on a huge commitment in terms of subject leadership and part-time teaching, plus running before and after school clubs as well as overseeing the care, support and guidance of all pupils including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. While ably supported by the Key Stage 1 co-ordinator, she too has a disproportionate number of responsibilities compared to other staff.

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Grade: 1

Nonetheless the school improvement plan is clearly focused on the right developments for the school, including giving Foundation Stage children more times to use outdoors as part of their curriculum. Systems to check that teaching and learning are effective work well and the local authority's contribution helps to take pressure off an over-stretched temporary management team. Governors are warmly appreciative of the school's strengths and mindful of areas for further improvement. Planned training for governors new to the team is already underway so they can play a full part in supporting the work of the school. Financial management is excellent with administrative assistance providing first class support. 5 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007 .

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Grade: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007

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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 1 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

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 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 2 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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?

1 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: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007

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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: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for your friendly welcome and for talking to me so openly. I really enjoyed meeting you all and seeing some of your clubs and the play facilities outside as well as looking at your work. Your teachers had clearly gone to great trouble to make the school look special for my visit. My visit was part of the inspection system for the whole country that assesses how well pupils are learning. Yours gives you an outstanding academic education and your teachers work extremely hard to make lessons interesting as well as challenging. The new emphasis on story writing is particularly good. These are some of the things that are really good about your school. • You achieve exceptionally high standards in your work because you are taught extremely well and follow a rich and exciting curriculum that gives you lots of occasions to use and apply your mathematical and ICT skills in many different subjects.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• Your teachers help you to make excellent progress because they take such care with marking your work and involving you in checking what you need to do to improve it. Like you, I think the 'traffic light' system is a good way of helping you to check whether you have understood something fully or not. • All the extra activities you do, including art, sports, residential visits and circuit training give you a very well balanced education. • Your school council represents your views very well and it is good that so many of you get a turn at being 'reps'. • Your school is extremely well organised and prepares you well for your future lives. Even in extremely good schools there is always something more that could be done to make them even better. This is what I have said your school must do now. Your behaviour is good rather than outstanding as it should be and some of you rely on 'yellow and red cards' to ensure you behave sensibly. I have asked your school to talk to you about

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the importance of behaving well and taking responsibility for yourselves and to give you lots of encouragement so you relax, behave well and give of your best because you want to. Secondly, your headteacher and Key Stage 1 co-ordinator are doing far too much and need to make sure that all the staff take a share in managing the school so that they all work reasonable hours during the working week. 9 Inspection Report: Bradleys Both Community Primary School, 30 °31 January 2007

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