Bugbrooke Community Primary School

Bugbrooke Community Primary School Inspection report

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121800 Unique Reference Number Northamptonshire Local Authority 327573 Inspection number 27–28 April 2009 Inspection dates Kerry Rochester 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 284 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 Alan Kent Chair Robert Cotter Headteacher 6 June 2006 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 Bugbrooke Northampton NN7 3PA

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4–11 Age group 27–28 April 2009 Inspection dates 327573 Inspection number 01604 830610 Telephone number 01604 832877 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 27–28 April 2009 Inspection dates 327573 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. 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

Bugbrooke is a larger than average-sized primary school, which draws the majority of its pupils from the immediate locality. The vast majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average. The school has a high number of pupils who join the school throughout the year. The number of pupils identified as having learning difficulties and/or disabilities is in line with the national average. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are taught in a Reception class and a mixed Reception and Year 1 class. The school has gained the National Healthy Schools Award and the Sports Activemark. The current headteacher is due to retire and a new headteacher has been appointed to take up post for September 2009.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory standard of education. Pupils clearly enjoy school, especially the wealth of sporting activities that are on offer. A strength of the school is their good behaviour and the good relationships between the pupils and staff who know the pupils well. The school provides good links with other agencies, and the parents are overwhelmingly supportive of, and happy with, the school. Standards are above average overall and pupils' achievement is satisfactory. Children join Reception with skills and abilities that are broadly in line with those expected for their age. Their skills in communication, language and literacy, and knowledge and understanding of the world are below average. However, by the time they leave Reception, children have made good progress and skills are in line with the national average in communication, language and literacy and above national averages in all other areas. Throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, pupils

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Grade: 3

make satisfactory progress so that by the end of Year 6, standards in English, mathematics and science are above the national average. Measures to raise pupil progress and standards further are beginning to bring about improvement; for example, in reading and writing initiatives, the majority of a targeted group of pupils make good progress. However, the full impact of other initiatives implemented is yet to be felt on other groups of pupils. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make sound progress. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school; they behave well and involve themselves in the school council, extra-curricular activities and fundraising for different charitable organisations. The good curriculum provided is broad and balanced, with a strong emphasis on the pupils' personal development. At the time of the inspection, safeguarding procedures were fully met. Attendance is above the national average and pupils

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Grade: 3

clearly enjoy coming to school. They have a good understanding of what they need to do to lead healthy lifestyles and they enjoy participating in the many sporting and extra-curricular activities provided by the school. The good care, guidance and support help pupils to develop a clear understanding of how to keep themselves safe. There is effective pastoral support for those pupils who are emotionally vulnerable. The school's tracking of pupil progress is satisfactory. Currently, the school is not as effective as it should be in ensuring that targets set are monitored and met by teachers, therefore targets set for pupils are not effectively supporting them to make consistently good progress. The school is rightly refining and improving its procedures. Leadership, management and governance are satisfactory. Whilst the school has a number of activities in place to promote community cohesion, as yet there is no clear plan and thorough

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Grade: 3

self-evaluation to demonstrate the school's impact on this aspect. The headteacher and senior staff are strongly committed to ensuring that the pupils are well cared for and provided with a safe environment. The school has made progress since the last inspection, for example in improving marking, which uses pupils' self-assessment well. The school's capacity to improve and its value for money are both satisfactory.

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Grade: 2

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage get off to a good start in the Reception class and make good progress, particularly in knowledge and understanding of the world and 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009 communication, language and literacy. Current school data confirms children's attainment is above expectations in all areas except communication, language and literacy, where it is in line with expectations. Staff promote the pupils' personal, social and emotional development well and the children are well cared for and thrive in the safe and calm atmosphere. They are confident, polite and interact well with adults and each other. There is a range of adult-led and child-initiated activities. However, more emphasis needs to be given to independent activities in order to further promote opportunities for children to follow their own interests and find

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Grade: 2

out for themselves. Overall, teaching and learning are good and the outside area is used well to help support the curriculum. There is good leadership and management in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The leader tracks pupils' progress and standards and has a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses within the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the effectiveness of pupil tracking systems in order to accelerate progress further by: o ensuring teacher assessment moderation is more rigorous o monitoring progress on a frequent basis in order to ensure challenging targets are met. ■ Ensure monitoring systems are embedded and used effectively by managers at all levels to gain a better awareness of pupils' progress. ■ Produce a clear plan to establish how the school contributes to community cohesion and evaluate its effectiveness. ■ A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory but 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

Overall, pupils' achievement is satisfactory. This includes the achievement of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Pupils enter Reception with skills and knowledge that are in line with expectation and make good progress by the time they leave Reception. Standards have declined in Key Stage 1 over the past three years and are now closer to the national average. However, standards in mathematics have risen this year and are now above the national average. Standards are above average at the end of Year 6 and all groups of pupils make satisfactory progress throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The school has identified, however, that pupils could be doing better and has set about introducing measures to accelerate their progress, for example by developing initiatives linked to raising standards in reading and writing. These measures are beginning to have a positive impact. Where good progress is made in science,

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Grade: 3

this is due to the emphasis placed on practical activities which support the development of pupils' investigative skills.

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Grade: 2

The pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good overall, although their multicultural awareness is less secure. Pupils' good behaviour and the good relationships amongst pupils and between pupils and staff help to create a harmonious community. Good pastoral support helps those pupils who join the school later to settle well and achieve in line with their peers. Pupils talk knowledgeably about the need to eat healthy food and they make sensible choices at lunchtime. They exercise regularly and make the most of the good 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009 opportunities to take part in a range of activities to keep fit at both play and lunch times. By the time they leave the school, pupils are mature, confident and well prepared for future life. Pupils enjoy a range of opportunities to take responsibility within the school, such as being a

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Grade: 2

playground buddy or a member of the school council, and to contribute to the local community through fund-raising activities. They have recently supported school rebuilding projects in Tanzania and Sri Lanka.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. Where teaching and learning is better, staff manage the pupils well and there are good relationships between staff and pupils which support the pupils' good behavior. Teachers use the interactive whiteboards well to support the delivery of lessons which have clear learning objectives. Teaching assistants contribute well to the lessons and to small-group work. The school has improved the marking of pupils' work and this now identifies the next steps for learning and helps pupils to understand better what they need to do to improve. Good opportunities are provided for peer assessment and peer marking. Teaching is satisfactory overall as teachers do not always use assessment well to ensure work is planned to stretch all pupils and ensure they make consistently good progress. In some classrooms, there is a lack of challenge and better use could be made of time

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Grade: 3

targets to support the pace of the lessons. Occasionally there is too much teacher talk and not enough independent learning. However, there is evidence of good teaching and learning in Years 5 and 6.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and covers all the subjects that it should. It allows the pupils to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding and has several strengths. It contributes well to the pupils' social skills and provides opportunities to learn a wide range of instruments in which pupils take national music exams and many achieve good levels of success. The curriculum for all years is planned appropriately to ensure a balance of subjects, but pupils' basic skills are not always sufficiently developed and extended through other subjects to promote high enough quality learning. The curriculum is enhanced by a very good range of clubs and other activities that make a good contribution to pupils' personal development and well-being. Pupils also have the opportunity to learn French.

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Grade: 2

Pastoral care and support are strong features of the school. Very positive relationships between staff and pupils encourage pupils to feel safe and happy. Parents and carers have the fullest confidence in the care provided. Good mentoring helps support those pupils with behaviour difficulties and those who are vulnerable. Academic guidance is in an early stage of development. The school has good systems for the recording of pupils' progress from year to year, but these are not used well enough to ensure good progress. The pupils have a good knowledge of their literacy targets, but are less sure of those for numeracy. Child protection and health and safety procedures are robust and reviewed frequently. 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. Senior leaders know pupils well and make good provision for their personal and social development, which contributes to their positive attitudes to learning. Pupils are well cared for and provided with a safe environment. There is an effective strategy for engaging with the local community. However, there is a lack of clarity about what is required to promote community cohesion. The leadership team satisfactorily monitors the quality of provision and standards and there are good systems in place to track pupils' progress; however, they are not monitored or tied in to the school self-evaluation process rigorously enough. Some new initiatives which are beginning to have an impact on pupils' progress have been implemented. The senior leadership team is aware of the work needed to raise the rates of progress for all groups of pupils and the need to involve managers at all levels. Governance

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Grade: 3

is satisfactory. The strong chair of governors is moving the governing body forward, particularly in keeping the school on track and monitoring the progress that pupils are making. However, many governors are new to post and a training programme has been established to support their development. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009 .

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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: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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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?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

3 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 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: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 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 2 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? 2 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: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Dear Pupils Inspection of Bugbrooke Community Primary School, Northampton, NN7 3PA My colleagues and I enjoyed our recent visit to your school. We really appreciated the way you greeted us and made us feel very welcome. A special thanks to those of you to whom we talked at lunchtime and during lessons; you conducted yourselves well. Your school has continued to improve since it was last inspected and it provides you with a satisfactory education. These are some of the things that the school does well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ All the staff take good care of you and help you all to be fit, safe and healthy. You work hard, are well behaved and enjoy coming to school. ■ Your behaviour is good and you are growing into sensible young people who take responsibilities seriously and want to learn. ■ You know what you need to eat and do to keep yourselves healthy, and you know how to keep yourselves safe. ■ Staff provide you with very good opportunities for sports, music and after- school clubs.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

In order to help the school become even better, we have asked the staff to do the following.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Find ways of helping you make better progress, particularly in writing and mathematics.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Check more carefully how well you are getting on in English and mathematics.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Plan carefully how they can develop your knowledge and understanding of your local community further. As you can see, you have a big part to play in this. Work hard in lessons and do your very best to improve! Thank you again for all your help in the inspection and good luck for the future. Yours faithfully Kerry Rochester Lead inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Bugbrooke Community Primary School, 27–28 April 2009

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