Belmont Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • sharpening leaders’ monitoring of pupils’ progress by checking more rigorously the progress made by pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, the most able pupils and the most able disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that there is a planned programme of professional development for staff to improve the teaching of mathematics
  • continuing to improve middle leadership, particularly of mathematics, to check more closely that pupils are being taught well and pupils’ misconceptions are being corrected quickly
  • providing more opportunities for pupils to write across the curriculum to build their breadth of skill in writing
  • the governing body holding leaders to account more robustly by following up their questions to ensure that pupils are making better progress.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in key stage 2, by:
  • ensuring that teachers hold high expectations for all pupils, particularly the most able pupils so they can achieve highly at the end of both key stages 1 and 2
  • quickly correcting pupils’ misconceptions in mathematics to enable them to make faster progress
  • developing pupils’ mathematical skills to reason and problem solve
  • improving the pupils’ ability to compose their own pieces of writing across the curriculum.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour and pupils personal development and welfare by:
  • working more closely with the parents of disadvantaged pupils to ensure that the attendance of this group of pupils increases
  • encouraging more pupils to take pride in their work and to present their work as neatly as they can. An external review of the school’s use of pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Senior leaders have not ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently good for all pupils, particularly in key stage 2. Consequently, outcomes at the end of key stage 2 for all subjects have been significantly below the national averages in 2014 and 2015. Outcomes in 2016 were still below the national average.
• Middle leadership has not improved the quality of teaching, particularly in mathematics. The training for teachers to improve their teaching of mathematics has not been effective. Teachers do not plan to extend pupils’ thinking well enough and the most able pupils are not challenged to deepen their knowledge. Not enough pupils attain highly across the curriculum at the end of key stages 1 and 2.
• The curriculum has not been planned well enough to enable pupils to develop their writing abilities. Pupils have not been asked to compose enough pieces of writing across the curriculum to develop their breadth of skill in writing. Consequently, pupils progress in writing is not as good as it could be.
• The progress and outcomes of disadvantaged pupils through the school require improvement. In addition, the most able disadvantaged pupils also underachieve. Leaders have not used the pupil premium funding well enough to enable this group of pupils to make accelerated progress by the end of key stage 2 and therefore their outcomes are below other pupils nationally.
• The headteacher, and the acting deputy headteacher, are developing a positive ethos to enable pupils to make faster progress. Staff appreciate the changes the headteacher is making and morale is good.
• Leaders have set performance management targets which promote pupils’ achievements. Teachers are now held more accountable for the progress of all the pupils in their class and this is reviewed more regularly. Consequently, pupils’ progress in reading increased last year in key stage 2.
• In addition, the proportion of pupils who met the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 was broadly in line with the national averages. Previously, outcomes at the end of key stage 1 had been significantly below the national averages for all subjects in 2014 and 2015.
• The school reorganised how the special educational needs funding was used to improve the progress of this group of pupils. Teams of teachers and teaching assistants work together to provide bespoke teaching to pupils to address their specific learning needs. Consequently, this group of pupils are now making better progress.
• The school offers a broad range of extra-curricular activities which are popular with the pupils. Pupils participate in a wide range of clubs: art, science, computing and various sporting clubs. This promotes pupils’ enjoyment of school and their progress in these subjects. There is some impressive artwork on display through the school.
• The school has used its sports premium funding well to improve the quality of teaching for physical education (PE). Sports coaches have led PE sessions to develop the skills of the pupils and the teaching skills of the staff. Consequently, the quality of PE lessons delivered by staff have improved.
• The school provides well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and emotional development. Pupils carry out a range of responsible roles well, such as serving at breakfast club, operating a healthy tuck shop, writing reports on the school’s website and being a student librarian. Pupils have learnt about different religions such as Sikhism and Buddhism and visited a mosque. This prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils have gained a better understanding of cultures outside of Britain through the school’s international link with a school in Uganda.
• Pupils respond well to the star achievers assemblies on Fridays. One pupil used a visualiser to explain to the audience how he completed his mathematics calculations. Parents also have the opportunity to attend the assembly. Most parents who spoke to the inspector were very positive about the school and welcomed the changes that the headteacher has introduced.
• The local authority has provided good support for the school. The adviser recognised that teaching was not good and has challenged school leaders to improve teaching. The school’s progress is being closely monitored to ensure that pupils make better progress.

Governance of the school

• The governors are highly committed to the school. The chair and the vice-chair of the governing body are very knowledgeable about the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They regularly visit to challenge and support school leaders.
• Scrutiny of the governing body minutes show that governors challenge school leaders about how well the school is performing and what it needs to do to improve. Governors monitor the implementation of the school improvement plan by visiting the school and reporting back their findings. Governors do suggest useful next steps but these are not consistently followed up to check that the school is improving quickly enough.
• Governors check how the pupil premium funding is being used to improve the progress and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. The governors are well aware that the outcomes for this group of pupils need to improve.
• The safeguarding governor is very knowledgeable and has reviewed safeguarding procedures with school leaders to ensure that they are robust. She has attended training with staff to ensure that her knowledge is current. This has helped to ensure that the school’s safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders take swift action if they have any concerns over the welfare of a child. They work well with a range of external agencies, including social care, the local authority and health professionals. If the provision to support families is not working well, the school leaders escalate their concerns to ensure that new arrangements are put in place to meet the needs of the child.
• Staff receive updates about the latest guidance for safeguarding and all have completed the ‘Prevent’ duty training to protect pupils from the risks of extremism and radicalisation. All staff have also had training about e-safety to help keep pupils safe on the internet. The school has worked with some parents to help them alter settings on computer devices at home to further protect pupils from the potential dangers online.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers have not had high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly for the most able pupils and the most able disadvantaged pupils. Consequently pupils’ progress has been too slow.
• Close scrutiny of pupils’ work across the curriculum shows that pupils do not have enough opportunities to compose their own writing and build up their breadth of skill for writing. In addition, too many pupils do not use initial capital letters for proper nouns correctly. Pupils do not make as much progress in their writing as they should, particularly in key stage 2.
• The teaching of mathematics does not extend pupils’ thinking well enough for them to gain a deeper understanding of mathematics. Pupils’ ability to reason mathematically is underdeveloped.
• Pupils’ misconceptions in mathematics are not addressed quickly enough. For example, some pupils were struggling to complete column subtraction calculations in key stage 2 and were making the same mistakes repeatedly. Pupils were not making the progress that they should have done.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Pupils are encouraged to sound out the letters and blend them to make new words. They do this with enthusiasm. Younger pupils use their phonics well to help them read.
• Pupils learn some good geographical knowledge in their topics. The pupils started to gain a good understand of places in the United Kingdom when they plotted the route of evacuees in World War 2 from London to Pickering on a map.
• The teaching of art is good. Pupils have developed a range of skills, including weaving, sculpture, print-making and line drawing. They have studied a range of artists, such as Henri Rousseau, and studied art from around the world, including aboriginal art.
• The teaching in the early years is good. Children are enthused by their learning and focus for relatively long periods of time to make good progress from their starting points.
• The teaching assistants support pupils’ learning well. They work closely with the class teachers to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that the learning they do in class is reinforced in small-group work. This group of pupils are now making better progress.
• The teaching of science has been enhanced through the development of the wildlife garden. Pupils have been able to use the area to research about mini-beasts and increase their scientific knowledge.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils do not always demonstrate pride in their work. Pupils’ books can be untidy. For example, though it would have been appropriate to do so, they do not always use a ruler to underline dates and titles and their handwriting is not consistently joined.
• Pupils do not take responsibility for their learning well enough in class. Some pupils do not focus on their learning as well as they could and therefore do not make as much progress as they are capable of.
• Pupils are encouraged to be active. Sports ambassadors from each class lead activities to increase pupil participation in sport. The school recently finished runners-up in a local netball competition against other schools.
• The school’s work to keep pupils safe online is comprehensive. Pupils are encouraged to report any concerns over e-safety to a pupil representative. Pupils have a good knowledge of how to stay safe online.
• The school’s record shows incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils cooperate well with each other at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Some pupils do not conduct themselves as well as they could in lessons. Pupils can shout out and not start tasks as quickly as they should. Consequently, pupils do not make as much progress as they could.
• The attendance of all pupils is higher than the national average. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average for all pupils in 2015. Leaders have not checked the attendance of this group of pupils well enough through the year to reduce the absence rate.
• Pupils from different year groups cooperate well at breaktimes and lunchtimes. They use the play equipment well and design their own games.
• The learning mentor has worked successfully with some pupils to improve their behaviour at school. She has supported pupils within the classroom and provided more specific support on a one-to-one basis. However, school leaders have not fully analysed the impact of this work on raising pupils’ achievement.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes at the end of key stage 2 for reading, writing and mathematics are below the national averages in 2016. The progress made by pupils from their starting points for each subject was below the national average, particularly in writing.
• Disadvantaged outcomes are also below the national average for all pupils, particularly in mathematics and writing in 2016 at the end of key stage 2. However, the large majority of disadvantaged pupils did make better progress in reading and mathematics from their starting points than in writing.
• School tracking information shows that the difference between disadvantaged pupils and others in key stage 1 is diminishing quickly. However, the difference widens again in Years 3 and 5 because disadvantaged pupils do not make as much progress as they should. The pupil premium funding has not been used as well as it could to accelerate the performance of this group of pupils.
• Not enough most-able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, achieve highly at the end of key stages 1 and 2 because this group of pupils are not challenged well enough in lessons. The proportions of pupils who attain highly in reading, writing and mathematics are below the national averages.
• The outcomes at the end of key stage 2 for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities were low in 2016 compared to the national average for all pupils. Current school information indicates that this group of pupils have recently made better progress because the teaching assistants and teachers are working more closely to ensure that pupils’ learning in small groups supports their learning back in the class.
• Pupils’ progress in reading improved last year. The school focused on developing pupils’ inference skills from text to develop their comprehension skills. Older pupils listened to younger pupils read. In addition, new books were bought for the library and an author visited the school to enthuse pupils to read. Pupils could name a variety of books by different authors that they enjoy to read.
• Outcomes at the end of key stage 1 improved in 2016. The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was broadly in line with the national average.
• Outcomes in the phonic check are high. The proportion of pupils who met the expected standard in phonics was above the national average for the fourth consecutive year. There is no difference in the outcomes between disadvantaged pupils and others in 2016.

Early years provision Good

• Children thrive in the early years and make good progress from their starting points. Assessments on entry show many children have weak speech and language skills. However, through good questioning by adults, children are encouraged to talk about their learning and make good progress from their starting points.
• The indoor and outdoor learning environment is very well resourced and children can access a range of activities to promote their learning. Outdoors, children were writing using paintbrushes on a large blackboard. Inside, some children were making hedgehogs out of playdough and counting matchsticks for the spikes.
• The children show good attitudes to learning and can concentrate for extended periods of time on activities without the need of adult supervision. The children were observed building a tall tower cooperatively, while others stepped onto number mats and counted to the number 10 independently. In the book corner, children were observed sharing stories with each other. The children are highly engaged in their learning and make good progress.
• Pupils’ misconceptions are corrected quickly. If a child does not count correctly, they are guided to repeat the task successfully. Consequently, the children make good progress.
• The early years leader is very knowledgeable and has developed good links with pre-school providers. She visits the providers before the children start at school to meet the children and their key workers. This ensures that there is a smooth transition into school.
• Parents are closely involved in their child’s learning. They can contribute to their child’s learning journey through completing ‘wow’ slips for achievements that their child has completed at home. These achievements are celebrated at school as well. Parents can also look at their child’s ongoing achievements at school through the online learning journal and add their comments. This promotes the children’s progress in their learning.
• The most able children are encouraged to write at length using high-frequency words.
• The early years leader works closely with the Year 1 teacher to ensure that the children are prepared for key stage 1.
• In 2015, disadvantaged pupils achieved outcomes at the end of the early years that were much higher than other pupils nationally. However, the outcomes of this group of pupils decreased in 2016. Nonetheless, the progress made by this group of pupils from their starting points continued to be good.
• The school has successfully worked with a range of external agencies to meet the complex needs of some children. Consequently, this group of pupils have made good progress from their starting points.
• Although children do make good progress, the outcomes at the end of the early years for all children continue to be just below the national average for all children.

School details

Unique reference number 120401 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 10019127 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 203 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr John Horan Headteacher Mr Matthew Davidson Telephone number 01476567939 Website www.belmontprimary.com Email address Matthew.Davidson@belmont.lincs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18–19 October 2011

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• In the last three years the school had an acting headteacher for one year before the current substantive headteacher was appointed to start in September 2014. There is currently an acting deputy headteacher. There has been a high staff turnover in recent years. There is currently a vacancy for a Year 5 teacher.
• The governing body manages the breakfast club.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, for whom the pupil premium funding provides support, is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils who have English as an additional language is below the national average.
• In 2015 the school met the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ outcomes and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed parts of 14 lessons, some jointly with the headteacher. The inspectors also observed an assembly and the breakfast club.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in a range of subjects.
• The inspector met a group of pupils from key stages 1 and 2. The inspectors also observed pupils at breaktimes and at lunchtime, and listened to pupils read.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, the leader of the early years, the PE subject leader, the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and the learning mentor.
• The inspectors spoke informally to over 20 parents informally at the start of the school day. The inspector also considered the 16 responses to the online Ofsted questionnaire Parent View, and the 13 text messages sent to the Ofsted free-text service.
• The inspector also considered the responses on questionnaires completed by seven members of staff and by one pupil.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documentation including: the school’s self-evaluation; the school improvement plan; the headteachers’ reports to the governing body; the minutes of governing body meetings; records of governors’ visits to the school; the school’s most recent information on pupils’ achievement; and information relating to teaching, performance management, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

Inspection team

Martin Finch, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Christopher Wheatley Ofsted Inspector Emma Hollis-Brown Ofsted Inspector