Beaulieu Village Primary SchoolOfsted inspection, 9 Dec 2008

Beaulieu Village Primary School Inspection report

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115861 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 312078 Inspection number 8–9 December 2008 Inspection dates Gehane Gordelier HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 112 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Dr Frank McGinn Chair Mrs Jane Noble Headteacher 18 October 2004 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection High Street School address Beaulieu Brockenhurst SO42 7YD 01590 612255 Telephone number 01590 612955 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 8–9 December 2008 Inspection dates 312078 Inspection number .

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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. 2 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school is smaller than most primary schools and is situated in the heart of the New Forest. A small proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for free school meals. Most pupils are of White British heritage. Fewer pupils than is the case nationally have a statement of special educational needs. However, over the last three years there has been a significant increase in the number of pupils with moderate learning difficulties and/or disabilities and this has risen to a level which is higher than in most other schools nationally. As from autumn 2008, the governing body of the school has a new chair and vice chair of governors. At the time of the inspection, two of the five permanent members of staff were on maternity leave. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) leader is due to return to the school in January 2009. The school does not have a deputy or assistant headteacher. Specialists are employed to teach music, French and physical education. Pupils are taught in

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Description of the school

mixed-age classes and, depending on their ability, some of the younger pupils in Year 1 work with children of similar ability in Reception or with groups of pupils in Year 2. The school has the Active Sportsmark award for its work in promoting football.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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Grade: 3

The overall effectiveness of Beaulieu Primary School is satisfactory. This is an improving school and some aspects of its work are good, notably partnerships with parents, other schools and outside agencies, and this is of benefit to pupils. The good quality of pastoral care results in the good personal development and well-being of pupils, which is central to the school's ethos. The impact is evident from the good behaviour in lessons and around the school and from the respect that pupils show to others and the way they communicate with adults as well as their peers. The school is a valued part of the local village community. One parent stated, 'We have watched our daughter's confidence grow...we have also been very impressed with the communication between teachers and students and the way children speak up with quiet confidence.' Another parent commented, 'I am very happy with all aspects of the school.'

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Grade: 3

However, some parents have also expressed concern about the extent to which staff changes are adversely affecting the progress their children are making. Attainment on entry to the school is broadly average. Overall, pupils are now making adequate progress and attaining standards that are broadly in line with national averages; however standards in mathematics, particularly at Key Stage 1, are below average. Standards at Key Stage 2 have increased since the time of the previous inspection, although overall they are not as high as they were when they peaked in 2005. Evidence in pupils' workbooks shows that pupils are now making good progress in science. This is better than was the case at the time of the previous inspection, especially at Key Stage 2. Most pupils with special educational needs and with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve as well as their peers. The school has improved its use of data in the last couple of years. This has enabled the headteacher, some

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Grade: 3

managers and the governing body to identify strengths and areas in need of improvement. This has led to a sharper focus on pupils at risk of underachieving and more appropriate use of additional support to meet the needs of these pupils. A good example is the focused teaching of letters and sounds. Nevertheless, too few pupils attain higher levels at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2, particularly in English and mathematics. Pupils demonstrate an excellent understanding, for their age, of how to be healthy and the detrimental effects of not eating a balanced diet or taking enough exercise. Pupils know how to be safe when crossing the road and when riding their bicycle, and, from their good behaviour in and around school, they show a good appreciation for the safety of others. The pupils themselves contribute to the school being a happy and safe place to work and learn. The good relationships among staff and pupils, as well as improvements to the quality of the learning

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Grade: 3

environment, add to pupils' enjoyment of learning. Pupils enjoy taking on additional responsibilities around the school, including office duty and the healthy snacks trolley. The school has strong links with the local community and parish. The extensive range of community involvement provides pupils with a wide variety of opportunities and experiences. A good example is the link with the National Motor Museum, which recently led to pupils contributing to the production of 'discovery packs' for families who visit the museum. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. While there are pockets of good practice, some weaknesses remain. Classrooms are well organised and displays of pupils' work celebrate their achievements and contribute to their learning. Good examples are to be found in the science displays around the school. These contribute to pupils' learning of scientific vocabulary and help pupils to recall what they have been learning, such as the water cycle in

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Grade: 3

Years 5 and 6. Typically, teachers demonstrate adequate subject knowledge; they use questions 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008 satisfactorily to help pupils to think and help them to recall and build on previous learning. Lessons include planned opportunities for pupils to talk and discuss their work and this helps to improve pupils' speaking skills and contributes to their thought processes and the quality of their subsequent work. Most teachers make effective use of interactive whiteboards to demonstrate new learning and to help interest and motivate pupils. Where teaching is less successful and at times weak, lessons are not sufficiently well planned. In these lessons the expectations of what pupils can achieve is too low and the pace of learning is too slow. At times learning is not put into a sufficiently meaningful context and, as a result, pupils do not appreciate

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Grade: 3

the purpose of what they are being taught. Teachers do not all check pupils' understanding or progress sufficiently well during the course of lessons and this at times results in limited support for the least able and a lack of challenge for the more able, particularly in English and mathematics. The headteacher provides the school with good leadership, but there is an over-reliance on her to drive school improvement. This has become very noticeable during a period of change and challenges, especially with the temporary absence of two key members of staff. Nevertheless, the headteacher has helped to improve the quality of teaching and learning while ensuring that staff and pupils feel valued and well supported. This contributes to the high morale and positive atmosphere in the school. As a result, staff work well together and are willing to learn from each other. Managers demonstrate an improving understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses,

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Grade: 3

but the role of some managers is underdeveloped. Consequently, they are not all contributing as well as they might to helping the school to improve and to raising standards. An example can be seen in the limited guidance they provide about the skills and understanding pupils are expected to develop in some subjects. Furthermore, management and improvement plans do not always focus sharply enough on the intended outcomes for learners and success criteria are not sufficiently measurable. The quality of governance is satisfactory and new governors are developing their role well. They are now more sharply focused on raising standards and are improving communication with parents. However, governors have yet to ensure that policies relating to equality of opportunity as well as disability are fully in place. Parents have not been kept informed on an annual basis of how the school is progressing with its disability scheme or the impact of the

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Grade: 3

school's policy about equality of opportunity.

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Grade: 3

The current quality of provision for the EYFS is satisfactory. Most children settle quickly when they begin school in the EYFS, even though they come from a wide range of pre-school experiences. There are good links with parents and a helpful transition process into the EYFS. Staff are gentle and caring towards children and provide them with a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities in a bright and colourful learning environment. Children make satisfactory progress overall by the end of the Reception year and attain levels in line with national expectations for their age. This represents good progress for those children who arrived at the school with very low levels in some areas. Children make particularly good progress in their personal, social and emotional development. There are appropriate opportunities for children to work alone as well as with others, and this helps to develop children's self-confidence and

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Grade: 3

enables them to make positive relationships, for example by sharing and taking turns in the 'home corner' and when using the computer. However, there are some missed opportunities 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008 for helping children to learn and develop, particularly in their writing. Furthermore, teaching assistants in EYFS are not always sufficiently aware of how best to meet the different needs of children.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards in mathematics, particularly at Key Stage 1, and ensure that consistently challenging teaching enables more pupils to attain higher levels at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 in English and mathematics. ■ Develop the role of all managers so they have a greater impact on raising standards by:

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What the school should do to improve further

- ensuring a sharper focus on outcomes for learners and by using success criteria that are measurable - ensuring that all curriculum guidance includes information about progress in skills and understanding.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that statutory duties relating to disability and equality of opportunity are met in full by communicating findings in relation to these policies to parents on an annual basis. A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Since 2005 there has been a small decline in the overall standard pupils attain by the end of Year 2. Although test results for 2007 show that standards at Key Stage 1 are in line with national averages for reading and writing, standards in mathematics fell in 2007 and were significantly below average. The unvalidated test results for 2008, as well as the current standard of pupils' work seen on inspection, show that standards in mathematics are rising. By the end of Year 2 more pupils are achieving the higher Level 3 in reading than is the case nationally, but too few achieve the higher level in writing and mathematics. By the end of Year 6 standards in English are above average and standards in mathematics and science are in line with national averages. However, while more pupils than is the case nationally achieve the higher Level 5 in English, too few attain this higher level in science and an average proportion attain the higher

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Grade: 3

level in mathematics. The school did not meet all of its targets for 2007 or 2008. This is due in part to some teacher assessment being over-generous and also to some previous inadequacies in teaching, which have now been resolved. Despite improvements in the last couple of years in the use of data and assessment information, this level of information about pupils is still not being used consistently well by all teachers to inform their planning and ensure pupils progress consistently well. This is particularly noticeable for the more able pupils in the school, some of whom have underachieved in the past. Although most pupils with special educational needs and learning difficulties and/or disabilities make satisfactory progress, this is at times limited because of the lack of detail in their individual education plans about how targets will be met.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' spiritual, moral and social development is good. There are good links between the school and another school in Uganda and pupils put together Christmas boxes for children who are 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008 less fortunate than themselves. However, their knowledge of other cultures and faiths is less developed. Pupils feel that staff listen to them and their views are taken into account. The school has an active school council, which meets regularly and contributes to bringing about changes in the school. The local vicar visits the school every week to lead much-valued collective worship. Pupils' personal development is enriched by links with a local garden centre, as well as an ornithological society. Attendance levels in the school are broadly in line with national averages.

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Grade: 3

Pupils enjoy the themed days and weeks during the year, such as art days and science, literacy and numeracy weeks. This is because learning is put into a meaningful context and because pupils enjoy learning from first-hand experience. In some lessons pupils make effective use of laptops to support and enhance their learning. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is particularly effective in supporting the needs of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities; however, there are insufficient planned opportunities for this resource to be used in this way. Where there are weaknesses in teaching, pupils do not fully understand what is expected of them and key vocabulary is not sufficiently well taught. There are insufficient systems to enable pupils of all abilities to make best use of their time and contribute as well as they might to their learning. The value that teaching assistants (TAs) add

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Grade: 3

to pupils' learning is very variable. When TAs have a good understanding of the focus of the lessons and the specific learning needs of pupils, they make a good contribution to pupils' learning. However, especially for younger pupils, TAs are not always used as well as they could be and teachers do not maintain a sufficiently good overview of how effectively pupils are being supported in their learning. The quality of teachers' planning is too variable and at times lacks sufficient focus on the skills pupils are expected to develop and the specific learning outcome for different subjects, especially when these are taught simultaneously.

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Grade: 3

The school has adapted its curriculum to provide a more integrated approach to teaching subjects. However, this at times results in a lack of focus on basic skills and insufficient time being allocated to teaching basic skills. Nevertheless, a more topic-based curriculum is proving of interest to pupils, but it does not always meet the needs of all pupils equally well. The school has improved provision for ICT and this is now better than at the time of the previous inspection. The school makes good use of the outdoor learning environment to help bring learning to life. Pupils speak enthusiastically about their music lessons, and a significant number are learning how to play a musical instrument. The school is particularly proud of pupils' talents shown in music and physical education. Pupils also benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities, as well as visits to places of interest and visitors to the school. The school community takes

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Grade: 3

part in the annual harvest and Christmas production in Beaulieu, both of which foster community cohesion and provide a model of whole-school teamwork and participation. 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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Grade: 3

The school provides a very good level of pastoral care, guidance and support and this contributes significantly to pupils' personal development and well-being. Systems to ensure pupils' safety are robust and reviewed regularly. Pupils are confident that the adults in the school will help them to resolve problems amicably and provide support when needed. However, the quality of academic guidance and support is not as strong, but is satisfactory overall. Pupils receive helpful oral feedback from their teachers, but their workbooks are not always marked in a way that helps them to identify what they have done well and what they need to improve. Furthermore, teachers have yet to make sufficient use of information about pupils to ensure their planning and lessons cater as well as they might to pupils' individual needs and capabilities. Pupils with special educational needs and learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive adequate support.

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Grade: 3

They have individual education plans (IEPs) to which they contribute, and these are evaluated and updated on a regular basis. However, these IEPs are not detailed enough to ensure that small steps can be measured and do not include enough information about how targets will be met.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management of the school are satisfactory overall. Staff typically have many areas of responsibility and this causes tensions in how they should use their time. As a result, some aspects of the curriculum remain less well developed, such as history. The improved use of data is leading to a sharper focus on targets to help raise standards. A good example can be seen in the progress pupils are now making in science. However, the analysis of data across the school is still not sufficiently robust and not all managers are using this information to set challenging targets or to compare the progress made by different groups of pupils. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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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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needs of learners?

Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well being? 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

3 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 3 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 3 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 3 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 3 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

05 January 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Beaulieu Village Primary School,Brockenhurst,SO42 7YD Thank you for contributing to the inspection of your school. I am writing to tell you some of the findings of this inspection. I was very impressed with how well you behaved and how politely and confidently you spoke to each other, as well as to adults in the school. As you know, I spent time in some of your lessons and talked to some of you. I also spoke to some of the school governors and some of the adults who work in the school. I was also very interested in what your parents had to say in their responses to the inspection questionnaire. I agree with you that your school is a lovely, happy place and that the staff treat you like individuals and care about you. Beaulieu Primary is a satisfactory and improving school. These are some of the things that are particularly good about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The school works well with parents and other people. This helps you with your learning and enables you to feel well cared for and supported. ■ You have an outstanding understanding for your age of how to keep yourselves healthy.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your behaviour is good and you help to make the school a safe and happy place.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You enjoy taking on responsibilities around the school, such as being on office duty and helping out with the healthy snacks trolley. Your headteacher is doing a good job, but there is more the school could do to become even better. Here are some of the things I have asked your school to do to help it to improve.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You need to do better in mathematics, especially the younger pupils in Years 1 and 2, and teachers need to help those of you who would welcome more challenge to reach higher levels in English and mathematics throughout the school. ■ Those adults with a responsibility for managing a subject need to do more to raise standards.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The governors at the school work hard and care about you a lot. There are some things they must do to make sure they are doing their best for you and the school. You and your parents can also help your school by making sure you come to school when you are supposed to. It was a real pleasure to visit your school and I wish you every happiness and success. Yours faithfully Gehane Gordelier Her Majesty's Inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Beaulieu Village Primary School, 8–9 December 2008

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