The Brigg Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils by:
  • identifying precisely the reasons for their underachievement and using the pupil premium to enable them to overcome these barriers
  • requiring all monitoring and evaluation records and subject action plans to include references to the progress of disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that their attendance is at least in line with the national average.
• Improve the progress of the most able, by: ensuring that teachers have high expectations of what the most able pupils should achieve in all of the different subject areas providing the most able pupils with plenty of opportunities to develop and apply their reasoning skills in mathematics lessons.
• Improve pupils’ progress across the curriculum by: equipping teachers with effective strategies to help lower-attaining pupils master basic spelling and punctuation skills using questioning to extend and deepen pupils’ learning ensuring that all subjects are covered in appropriate depth ensuring that pupils enjoy reading and read regularly.
• Improve the effectiveness of subject leadership by: ensuring that leadership teams check rigorously the quality of teaching and learning

identifying clearly how well pupils are learning and any factors that are slowing down their progress.

• Improve communications with parents to gain the confidence and full support of the small minority of parents who currently would not recommend the school to others. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leadership and management require improvement because, despite better outcomes in some important areas, disadvantaged and most-able pupils are underachieving.
• Since the previous inspection, staffing has been quite unsettled. This has slowed down the rate of improvement. Too much of the work to bring about changes to the culture and ambition of the school has been shouldered by the headteacher.
• In Years 1 and 2, disadvantaged pupils are not doing as well as others. Leaders have not identified precisely the factors contributing to this underachievement. Consequently, the pupil premium is not being used effectively to accelerate the progress of this underachieving group.
• Recently, subject leadership teams have been established. Members of these teams are enthusiastic about the opportunity to support senior leaders in bringing about the required changes. However, much of their work is at an early stage and so has not yet had a significant impact upon teaching and learning.
• Records kept by middle leaders following learning walks, and other checks on the effectiveness of teaching, do not focus sufficiently on pupils’ progress. They do not highlight the factors that are preventing some groups of pupils from doing as well as they could.
• Plans for improvement do not always identify the actions leaders are taking to accelerate the progress of disadvantaged pupils.
• The impact of performance management has been mixed. Decisions about progression through the teachers’ pay scales are linked closely to the progress made by pupils. Where required, tailored support is provided to help teachers improve their practice. Staff value this support. Nevertheless, there remain pockets of practice that are not good enough.
• Leaders ensure that the physical education and sports premium is used effectively. Children enjoy the extra-curricular clubs and benefit from better physical education teaching. Staff have received high-quality training to help them teach dance and gymnastics. The funding has also enabled pupils to participate in local festivals of sport, where they enjoy friendly, competitive games.
• Inspectors spoke to a good number of parents during the inspection. The vast majority of them were happy with the education their children are receiving, as were most parents who completed Parent View. However, a quarter of parents who completed the online questionnaire would not recommend the school to others. Comments made by some of these parents expressed dissatisfaction with how the school responds to complaints and communicates with parents.
• The 18 members of staff who completed their questionnaire were positive about the impact of the headteacher on driving improvement. All of these staff enjoy working at the school and the great majority judge that the school is well led.
• The information published on the school’s website about the curriculum does not meet requirements and some subjects are not covered in sufficient depth. Nevertheless, pupils do enjoy plenty of interesting activities each term. These include visits to a castle, a farm and places of worship in Derby.
• Visitors to the school teach pupils about keeping fit, staying safe and about the range of different cultures living in modern Britain. These activities contribute well to the pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• The curriculum also provides the pupils with a good understanding of British values. Assemblies and displays promote the values of tolerance and respect. Pupils learn about democracy in action because they have a good number of opportunities to shape school decisions through their votes. Quite recently, a visit by the British Legion helped the pupils understand the significance of Remembrance Day.
• School leaders have been successful in changing practice in the early years and in the teaching of phonics. These have led to much better outcomes than in the past. Equally positive are the impact of a new behaviour policy and changes to the school curriculum. These have been instrumental in improving both the pupils’ behaviour and their personal development since the previous inspection.
• The local authority has provided enhanced support since the school was judged to require improvement. The school has valued this support and the links that the local authority has helped forge with nearby effective schools. However, a work scrutiny recently undertaken by the local authority failed to identify weaknesses in practice and the underachievement of some groups. It was not sufficiently rigorous to help drive urgently needed improvement.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the general strengths and weaknesses of the school. They recognise that teaching and outcomes for pupils, though improving, are not yet good enough.
• Governors have not ensured that the school’s website publishes all the information for parents that is required.
• Governors have a good understanding how performance management is used to reward and tackle weaker teaching. However, the targets they set for the headteacher have not brought about the improvement needed to secure better outcomes for all groups of pupils.
• Governors are committed to improving their ability to hold senior leaders to account. They attend regular training on a range of areas to enable them to fulfil the wide range of their responsibilities.
• The governor with responsibility for safeguarding has appropriate expertise and visits the school monthly to monitor the school’s work in this key area.
• Governors make regular visits to see the school at work. They recently undertook a thorough review of how effectively the school promotes the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The headteacher also serves as the designated safeguarding leader. She works closely with all staff to ensure that they are alert to any signs that may suggest possible neglect or abuse. The school has successfully fostered a culture that ensures that pupils are comfortable seeking support from a range of staff. The headteacher works effectively with families and other agencies to ensure the well-being of children whose circumstances may make them particularly vulnerable. She is unswerving in her commitment to the safety of children and resilient when dealing with the challenges that are often faced by those working to protect young children.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is not consistently effective in key stage 1. It does not ensure that disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils achieve as well as they should in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Work set for the most able pupils does not challenge them sufficiently to reach their potential. In subjects other than in reading, writing or mathematics, they almost always complete exactly the same activities as other pupils. This limits their ability to gain the subject-specific skills and knowledge of which they are capable.
• The progress of lower-attaining pupils, many of whom are disadvantaged, slows when teachers do not identify that they are making errors or are struggling to follow the lesson. For example, in a mathematics lesson, adults marked as correct the work of a pupil who had drawn his number line incorrectly and so was making mistakes putting numbers in the right places. Similarly, in a different lesson, when one pupil showed he was confused by the ‘greater than’ symbol, the teacher did not respond promptly to correct his misunderstanding.
• In written work, a minority of pupils continually make the same basic punctuation and spelling errors. Teachers do not have effective strategies to ensure that pupils learn from their mistakes. Occasionally, pupils who are asked to correct their spelling spend time copying out incorrectly spelled words. This reinforces errors, rather than improving their skills.
• In mathematics, topics are not covered in sufficient detail. Pupils move too quickly from one topic to the next. This means that pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop and apply their reasoning skills to solve challenging problems. This aspect of teaching results in very few pupils exceeding the expected standard at the end of Year 2.
• Teachers miss opportunities to deepen learning by asking questions that require the pupils to explain their ideas or make connections with earlier learning. Too often, the questions asked require just a short response that is either right or wrong. This is another reason why, across the curriculum, very few pupils achieve higher than the expected standard.
• There is inconsistency between classes in how closely teachers monitor pupils’ reading and encourage them to read widely. Discussions with most-able readers identified that very few could name a favourite author. Because teaching is not fostering a love for reading, few pupils achieve higher than the expected standard at the end of Year 2.
• The teaching provided for individual pupils who require intensive additional support is effective and enables them to make good progress towards their individual targets. However, the progress of most pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is no stronger than for other pupils.
• The teaching of phonics has improved since the previous inspection. Teachers and teaching assistants are confident and model effectively how sounds are blended into words for reading. This good teaching has led to substantial improvements in pupils’ early reading skills.
• The management of pupils’ behaviour throughout the school is good and ensures that lessons run smoothly. Other features of strong practice seen in lessons included the effective use of resources, such as number mats and posters on display, to support learning and embed understanding.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The pupils are knowledgeable about how to keep safe. They learn about personal safety throughout the year. For example, pupils enjoy online safety dramas and visits from the police community support officer.
• The warm and trustful relationships with staff mean that pupils are confident to share their feelings and anxieties. These relationships help ensure that the school can provide necessary support to secure the pupils’ emotional and mental well-being.
• Pupils understand that there are many different cultures living and working together in modern Britain. Through the curriculum, including visits to a range of places of worship, they gain knowledge and appreciation of world religions and of people from a range of backgrounds.
• Pupils take pride in the jobs they do to help the school run smoothly. These include taking care of the school environment, serving as lunchtime buddies and contributing to the school council. They have plenty of opportunities to influence decisions in school, such as voting for the name of their class.
• Pupils are kind and friendly. They feel safe at school. A handful of pupils can be troublesome, but the pupils stressed that adults deal with any instances of bullying or poor behaviour promptly and effectively. Clear messages about why bullying and prejudiced behaviour are unacceptable are delivered throughout the year.
• The school manages the personal development of pupils with particularly challenging behaviour effectively through one-to-one support and through a nurture class. The nurture class helps up to five pupils at any one time. There are many instances where this support has helped pupils overcome barriers that were preventing them from working and playing happily alongside their peers.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Staff implement the school’s behaviour management strategies consistently and this has led to pupils conducting themselves better than at the time of the previous inspection.

• During lessons and at breaktimes the school is orderly and calm. Pupils are keen to learn. Motivated by their learning hero, ‘Fabulous Fox’, they know the importance of having positive attitudes and believing that ‘I can do it!’ When they are working, pupils show good levels of concentration and incidents of low-level disruption are rare.
• The school works effectively with parents and outside agencies to support pupils who have behavioural and emotional difficulties. A small number of pupils are closely monitored and supported to ensure their own and others’ safety. The school is generally successful in helping these children improve their behaviour.
• The school has introduced new systems to promote good attendance. These include rewards for high attendance and intensive work with parents whose children are poor attenders. Attendance for all pupils is at the national average, but disadvantaged pupils do not come to school as regularly as other pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are well below the national averages. In 2016 assessments, at the end of Year 2, fewer than half of the disadvantaged pupils reached the expected standard in mathematics and less than a third reached the expected standard in writing. Just over half of disadvantaged pupils reached the expected standard in reading.
• The proportions of other pupils attaining the expected standard were close to the national averages in reading and mathematics. The proportion attaining the expected standard was below average in writing.
• In 2016 assessments, very few pupils exceeded the expected standard. No disadvantaged pupils exceeded the expected standard in reading, writing or mathematics. These outcomes reflect the weaknesses in teaching for the most able pupils.
• The progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities requires improvement. The individual termly targets set for these pupils are too broad and the impact of the additional help given to the pupils is often difficult to measure. There is little evidence that the pupils are catching up with their peers.
• Performance information about pupils currently in the school shows that more pupils are on track to reach the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics than in the last school year. However, disadvantaged pupils are still lagging behind other pupils.
• Work in pupils’ writing books indicates that, while increasing, there are still relatively few pupils in Year 2 demonstrating writing skills that are above the expected standard. Just one disadvantaged pupil is on track to exceed the expected standard.
• In 2016, the impact of a new strategy to teach phonics skills was very positive. The proportion of pupils in Year 1 who reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check increased significantly and was above the national average. Boys and disadvantaged pupils attained much more highly than in the past.

Early years provision Good

• In 2016, the proportion of children who attained a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year was close to the national average. All groups made good progress. The attainment of disadvantaged children and boys, groups who at the time of the previous inspection attained well below others, was also in line with the national average.
• Children enjoy their learning. Inside and outdoors, they cheerfully joined in seasonal activities such as building and driving Santa’s sledge, wrapping presents and writing Christmas cards. Adults watch carefully as the children work and spot opportunities where they can encourage the children to talk about their activities and so improve their language skills.

• When children start the school, their personal, social and emotional skills are below those that are typical for their age. The curriculum in the autumn term provides a rich range of activities which help the children to become confident in a group, make friendships with others and grow in their understanding of what is right and wrong. Throughout the inspection, the children showed that they could concentrate and listen when required. They worked together happily and showed good manners to adults and to each other.
• Transition arrangements are very effective. Even before the children start the Reception Year, staff have a good understanding of the needs of individual children. This means that right from the beginning additional support, such as Positive Play, helps any children at risk of underachievement make good progress.
• The children develop a good understanding of a range of cultures. Earlier in the term they learnt about Diwali and took an active part in Bollywood dance. Care is taken to ensure that they hear stories from around the world.
• Parents spoke very positively about the quality of teaching and care provided in the Reception Year. They receive high-quality information about their children’s progress. The ‘Bedroom Bags’, which include a range of resources to promote learning at home, are an excellent way of helping staff and parents work as partners in the children’s early education.
• Leadership of the early years is effective. It has successfully raised the quality of teaching and learning since the previous inspection. Leaders ensure that children are safe and that all staff are knowledgeable about best safeguarding practice.
• In the past, few children have exceeded the early learning goal in writing. Currently, most children are on track to have developed the skills expected by the start of Year 1. However, no children are demonstrating writing skills that indicate that they will exceed the expected standard by the end of the year.
• Since the previous inspection there have been many improvements to the outdoor learning area. Space remains limited, but children now are able to work together enthusiastically and imaginatively on a wide range of activities. However, the indoor area is not as well equipped to encourage the children to develop their skills through creative activities.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 112623 Derbyshire 10023097 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 4 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 156 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mel Cooke Alison Spencer 01773 811317

www.brigg.derbyshire.sch.uk enquiries@brigg.derbyshire.sch.uk

Date of previous inspection 21–22 January 2015

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the pupil premium and the school curriculum on its website.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.

• Children in the early years are taught in two classes and attend full time.
• The large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• At 19%, the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is close to the national average.
• There is currently a temporary deputy headteacher in place.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classes to observe teaching. Some of these visits took place with school leaders.
• Inspectors asked pupils about their learning and what it is like to be a pupil at the school.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ workbooks and heard pupils read.
• Inspectors took account of 63 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and had discussions with parents at the beginning and end of the school day.
• Eighteen responses to the staff questionnaire were received and analysed. There were no responses to the pupils’ online questionnaire.
• Discussions took place with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, teachers, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• Documents were analysed, including the school’s self-evaluation statement, school development plan, minutes of governing body meetings and information about pupils’ achievement.
• Records relating to behaviour and safeguarding were scrutinised.

Inspection team

Anthony O’Malley, lead inspector Heidi Malliff

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector