Burrough Green CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • leaders ensuring that all teachers have high expectations for all pupils to achieve well
  • governors holding leaders to account for the progress of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
  • subject leaders checking the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and taking timely action when standards are not high enough.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, so that pupils make good progress and attain highly by:
  • teachers planning and delivering sequences of learning that meet the needs of all pupils, including the most able, and build on what they have already learned
  • teachers checking what pupils know and understand and correcting inaccuracies in their thinking
  • teachers providing consistent and effective support for pupils with SEND
  • pupils learning subject-specific knowledge and skills across the whole curriculum, including in English and mathematics, so that attainment rises at the end of key stage 2. An external review of pupil premium should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• The headteacher has developed an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. She has implemented effective plans with urgency and has used a range of external specialists to provide training that have led to substantial improvements. There has been too little time for all the necessary improvements to be made.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is improving. However, some teachers do not put leaders’ high expectations into practice in the classroom. Consequently, pupils’ progress is not as consistently good as it should be.
• Leaders have recently implemented a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils told the inspector that they enjoy the new topics and the creative way in which they have started to learn. For example, pupils explained how they relished the opportunity to study the topic of ‘pestilence’ across the curriculum.
• Leaders have not yet ensured that the new curriculum is consistently taught well. Teachers do not teach all the skills of all subjects with equal depth and rigour. For example, pupils are not taught all the necessary skills for study in geography and history well enough.
• Subject leaders do not check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment sufficiently well. They do not identify and correct less-effective practices before pupils’ progress is negatively affected.
• Leaders’ use of pupil premium funding for disadvantaged pupils does not support these pupils consistently well. Teachers and leaders are aware of the barriers to learning that disadvantaged pupils face but have not been successful in helping them to overcome all these barriers. Leaders have not provided effective measures to help disadvantaged pupils consistently make good progress in all areas of learning.
• The provision for pupils with SEND does not help these pupils to achieve as well as they should. Leaders do not ensure that teachers plan learning with enough effectiveness to meet the needs of these pupils.
• Leaders ensure that pupils learn about the many cultures, beliefs and lifestyles in society. Leaders promote fundamental British values very well at the earliest opportunity within the curriculum. For example, children in the early years hold an annual parade to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Pupils are well prepared for life in contemporary Britain.
• Leaders are making progressively more effective use of the physical education (PE) and sport premium funding. With external support they effectively deliver well-considered plans to improve the quality of PE teaching and involve more pupils in sporting events. The number of pupils involved in competitive sport is increasing.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective.
• Governors aspire for pupils to reach the highest educational standards.
• Governors share with leaders an accurate understanding of many of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They contribute effectively towards leaders’ comprehensive improvement plans.
• Although the governing body follows the progress of pupils, they do not check carefully enough that the support plans in place for those falling behind are effective. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. Governors have not held leaders to account for the progress of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND sufficiently well.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are fit for purpose. School leaders and governors have ensured that the school is a safe place for pupils and staff.
• Staff are well trained and regularly updated with the most recent guidance. They are vigilant for signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm and act swiftly and appropriately when concerns arise.
• Records regarding vulnerable pupils are well kept. Leaders work closely with external agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils swiftly receive the support they need.
• Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe at school and are taught how to stay safe when not at school. The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire or contacted Ofsted during the inspection agreed that their children feel safe at this school.
• Leaders ensure that all required checks are carried out on adults working at the school. Governors and local authority representatives check these records carefully to ensure that leaders and staff carry out their duties effectively.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Some teachers have low expectations of what pupils can achieve and deliver sequences of learning and subsequent tasks for pupils that are too easy. When pupils, particularly the most able, need demanding work teachers do not routinely provide it. Consequently, pupils do not consistently make the progress they should.
• Teachers do not always adhere to leaders’ approach to assessing what pupils know and can do. As a result, some teachers do not always realise soon enough when pupils start to fall behind so that they can intervene and help them to catch up. This limits the progress of some pupils.
• In mathematics, leaders have introduced a new approach that is improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Teachers are providing pupils with regular opportunities to learn the range of mathematical skills in the curriculum. As a result, some pupils are able to solve complex mathematical problems and can discuss their thinking and reasoning well. This new approach, however, is not firmly established in all classes.
• Adults do not routinely correct mistakes in pupils’ handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Many pupils continue to make basic spelling errors without adults helping them improve their accuracy. Many pupils also do not improve their handwriting over time. This limits the progress that pupils make in writing.
• In subjects other than English and mathematics, teachers do not consistently teach the skills for each subject sufficiently well. As a result, pupils have made limited progress in subjects such as history and geography.
• Teachers do not consistently provide activities that meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Teachers’ support for these pupils does not help them to overcome their barriers to learning effectively. Work in books and school assessment information shows that many of these pupils do not make good progress.
• Teaching assistants are used effectively when working with individual pupils. However, some teachers do not deploy teaching assistants as well as they could be, and their impact varies.
• Leaders and teachers effectively communicate with parents about pupils’ learning. Nearly all parents who responded to the Ofsted’s online questionnaire reported that they receive valuable information from the school about their children’s progress.
• Teachers teach phonics well. Pupils develop the skills of reading confidently. As pupils mature as readers, pupils use phonics well to read tricky words.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school's work to promote pupils' personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders have created a culture where pupils are happy and enjoy school. Pupils told the inspector that they take pride in their school and their learning. Nearly all parents who responded to the online questionnaire agreed that their children are happy at the school.
• Pupils value each other’s differences. They talk about and demonstrate a mature comprehension of fundamental British values such as tolerance and mutual respect. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is provided for well.
• Pupils have a good understanding of what bullying is and know how to deal with it. Pupils were very clear with the inspector that on the very rare occasions when bullying happens, teachers act swiftly and effectively to ensure that it does not continue.
• Pupils benefit from the many opportunities to assume positions of responsibility. For example, older pupils learn how to care for others well when supporting younger pupils in house competitions. The vibrant displays from the World Book Day house competition show the care with which pupils of all ages worked together.
• Adults around the school effectively support pupils in developing healthy lifestyles and in looking after their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Adults provide helpful coaching and support so that pupils overcome SEMH challenges quickly should they arise. As a result, negative behaviours due to pupils’ difficulties with SEMH have substantially declined.
• Leaders ensure that e-safety is taught well and regularly across the school. Pupils show a detailed understanding of online risks and what to do to stay safe, including when playing video games.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are confident, polite and well mannered. They live up to the school values modelled by staff.
• Pupils are very well behaved in lessons, when moving around the school and on the playground. Teachers deal with the rare occurrences of poor behaviour effectively to ensure that it does not continue or get worse. School records show that the number of incidents of unacceptable behaviour has declined substantially and is now very low.
• Pupils enjoy their playtime and play well together. Adults teach pupils how to resolve their own disagreements. Consequently, pupils manage most friendship issues effectively on their own. Pupils report that adults support them well when they need help dealing with the actions of others. The school’s pupil questionnaire shows that nearly all pupils reported that there is an adult at school they can talk to if something is worrying them.
• Because pupils enjoy and value what they do at school, they attend school regularly. Leaders have successfully reduced the number of pupils who do not attend regularly.
• On the online parent questionnaire, nearly all parents agreed that the school makes sure pupils are well behaved. Inspection evidence confirms this to be the case.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ attainment is better in key stage 1 than in key stage 2. In key stage 1, in 2018, the proportions of pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics were above national averages. By contrast, in key stage 2, attainment in the same year was below average. Similarly, the progress of most groups of pupils is below average.
• The most able pupils do not excel. In 2018, no pupil in Year 6 reached the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined. School assessment information and work in pupils’ books show that the most able continue not to make the progress they should.
• The progress of pupils with SEND is too uneven. Teachers have been effective in supporting some pupils to overcome their barriers to learning, particularly regarding SEHM. However, many pupils with SEND do not make good progress from their individual starting points because teaching does not meet their needs.
• Too many disadvantaged pupils do not make the progress they should.
• Pupils’ progress in subjects other than English and mathematics is too patchy. This reflects the variability in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in subjects other than English and mathematics.
• Pupils’ progress in gaining knowledge and skills in phonics is good because staff teach it well. In 2018, nearly all Year 1 pupils achieved the expected standard in the phonics screening check. For those who did not, effective support has been put into place. Inspection evidence confirms that outcomes in phonics continue to be good.

Early years provision Good

• The headteacher and the early years leader have made impressive improvements to the quality of education in the early years. Leaders have used their accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the early years provision to build well-considered improvement plans. They used substantial external grants and the support of specialist advisers well to provide exciting and enriching provision for the children. Leaders’ actions have led to children, including disadvantaged children, making a good start to their education.
• Well-organised learning areas and good resources provide children with many opportunities to develop skills and knowledge across all areas of learning. Using leaders’ new curriculum planning, adults provide carefully considered activities that cater well for children’s needs. Consequently, children are suitably prepared for Year 1. In 2018, nearly all children achieved a good level of development and accurate school assessment information shows this is continuing.
• Children are curious and enjoy learning together. They behave well, enrich each other’s learning and engage enthusiastically with the activities adults provide. Children showed strong initiative and teamwork when they presented to the inspector a play that they made up on their own.
• Leaders create strong partnerships with parents and local childcare providers to ensure that the children settle well when they join the school. Children arrive at the start of their school journey familiar with the routines and ready to learn. Adults swiftly gain a good understanding of what the children can do and plan accordingly. As a result, the children make good progress in their learning.
• Parents reported to the inspector that they are involved in their children’s learning. Leaders provide families effective opportunities to extend their children’s learning at home. Samples of ‘home learning journals’ show that children benefit a great deal from this.
• Safeguarding is effective in the early years. Adults know the children very well and look for potential signs of harm. Children are well cared for in the early years and show that they feel safe.
• Teaching in the early years does not challenge the most able well enough. As a result, too few children exceed the early learning goals by the end of Reception.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 110783 Cambridgeshire 10054365 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 99 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Inger Anson Anna Hayesmore 01638507236 www.burroughgreen.cambs.sch.uk head@burroughgreen.cambs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6 March 2018

Information about this school

• Burrough Green Church of England Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• It is a voluntary controlled, Church of England primary school. Its previous section 48 inspection for schools of a religious character was in November 2015. The report for this inspection is available on the school’s website.
• The senior leadership team is made up of the headteacher, the assistant headteacher and the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator (SENCo).
• The headteacher was appointed in January 2018.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector met with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, SENCo and subject leaders. He also held meeting with members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.
• The inspector observed lessons across the school and carried out a scrutiny of pupils’ books with members of the senior leadership team.
• The inspector spoke with parents at the beginning of the school day and analysed and analysed 53 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View, 53 free-text responses, six responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire. The inspector also considered the responses to the school’s pupil questionnaire.
• The inspector spoke to teachers, support staff and pupils through the course of the inspection.
• The inspector took account of a wide range of information, including the school’s website, development plan, assessment information about pupils’ learning and leaders’ monitoring of teaching, learning and assessment. The inspector reviewed documentation relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Al Mistrano, lead inspector

Her Majesty's Inspector