Barnack CofE (Controlled) Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders sharpen their processes for checking the impact of their actions and evaluate their findings to determine whether or not they are securing the improvements intended
  • leaders’ monitoring is used to inform and revise improvement plans in a swift and timely manner.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, so that all pupils make good progress across a range of subjects and in all year groups, by ensuring that:
  • all teachers routinely use assessment information to plan activities that are well matched to pupils’ needs and abilities
  • all teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and how they present their work
  • teaching across key stage 2 enables pupils in all classes to make strong progress in a range of subjects, including English and mathematics
  • adults in the early years use assessment to plan activities that help all children, particularly the most able, to make strong gains in their learning and development.
• Improve behaviour and attendance by ensuring that:
  • all pupils attend school regularly, especially disadvantaged pupils, so that attendance improves and is at least in line with the national average
  • teachers’ high expectations result in all pupils taking pride in their work and demonstrating consistently positive attitudes to learning. 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

• Leaders and governors have not maintained the outstanding quality of education identified at the previous inspection. Leaders and governors were distracted by a process to become an academy that was not completed. As a result, they did not act swiftly to address a decline in attendance or to ensure that all pupils make strong and sustained progress in a range of subjects and across all year groups, especially in key stage 2.
• Leaders have accurately identified the priorities for improvement and have put appropriate actions in place. However, they have not precisely evaluated how effective some of these actions have been. Systems for identifying priorities and monitoring progress towards improvement targets are not sharp enough. As a result, leaders’ actions have not ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently good, including in the early years.
• A significant minority of parents and carers who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, indicated concerns about the quality of teaching, pupils’ progress and behaviour, and the leadership and management of the school. These reflect the decline in the quality of provision since the school was judged to be outstanding. However, the school’s own survey of parents, and almost all parents who spoke to inspectors during the inspection, were positive about all aspects of the school.
• Subject leaders have an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses of their areas of responsibility. They have appropriate plans in place to address the areas for improvement and know how these plans will make the school better. However, subject leaders do not systematically monitor and evaluate the impact that their actions have on improving pupils’ achievement. Additionally, some leaders have only recently taken on their roles and have not yet had the time to demonstrate that their actions are making a difference.
• Leaders provide regular training and development opportunities to staff. They use external support from the local authority and other schools to ensure that teachers’ assessments are accurate. Leaders also use external support, for example from a local teaching school, to provide training and development for subject leaders and teachers. However, this has not yet ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently good.
• The local authority identified that there was a decline in the quality of education provided by the school. A local authority adviser has provided support and challenge to school leaders, including a useful, external view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Leaders have used this support to contribute to planning their actions and priorities for improvement.
• Additional funding is not having the impact that it should on improving disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and attendance. Leaders use funding to provide additional support for individual pupils, fund literacy, phonics and mathematics intervention programmes, support pupils’ participation in activities and visits, and partly cover the costs of the inclusion team. However, leaders have not evaluated which of these actions have been most effective.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has an accurate view of the progress that pupils with SEND make and a clear vision for the curriculum and teaching for pupils with SEND. The SENCo has regular discussions with class teachers to ensure that barriers to pupils’ learning are accurately identified. Support plans and education, health and care (EHC) plans are well managed so that they provide the help that pupils need. Provision for pupils with SEND has improved, but due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, the progress of pupils with SEND currently in the school, as with all pupils, is variable.
• Leaders ensure that pupils experience a broad curriculum in all year groups. Where teaching is effective, pupils make good gains in their knowledge, skills and understanding in a range of subjects. Leaders have ensured that extra-curricular activities allow pupils to experience a range of activities, including sports, music, dance and drama. Leaders have been successful in promoting pupils’ enjoyment of reading.
• The sports premium is used well. Leaders have purchased additional equipment and provided professional development for teachers, so that they have greater confidence and can teach a wider range of activities in physical education (PE) lessons. Leaders have also provided a wide range of sports activities, some of which are led by specialist coaches, at lunchtimes and after school. Leaders have provided increased opportunities for pupils to participate in competitive sport and learn about healthy lifestyles.
• Leaders have built upon the school’s strong ethos to promote pupils’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. They have been particularly successful in promoting equality, respect and tolerance. Pupils respect one another and understand that people are different but equal. Consequently, pupils who spoke with inspectors were confident that everyone is treated the same and commented on the school being a friendly and supportive environment. Governance of the school

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is variable across classes and subjects. This is particularly the case in key stage 2. As a result, pupils do not make consistently strong progress across year groups and in a range of subjects.
• Not all teachers make good use of assessment information to provide pupils with work that provides the right level of support and challenge. This means that activities do not routinely help all pupils, including the most able, those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, to make the progress of which they are capable because the work is too easy or too hard. Pupils tend to lose focus on their learning when it does not provide the right level of challenge.
• There are inconsistencies in how well teachers and additional adults adapt tasks for different pupils to overcome barriers to learning. As a result, progress for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils is variable.
• Some teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve and their standards of presentation are not high enough. This means that errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar are not always corrected and that some pupils make errors in mathematics due to poor presentation of their work. Pupils are not expected to demonstrate pride in their work. This makes it hard to revisit and understand previous work and hinders pupils’ progress.
• There is an increased focus on developing pupils’ mathematical reasoning. While this has yet to be consistent across different classes, there are signs that this is improving the achievement of some pupils in mathematics. However, some teachers do not ensure that pupils, particularly the most able, move on to more challenging questions or require them to use this skill quickly enough.
• Pupils learn how to organise their writing for different purposes and audiences and use appropriate grammar and punctuation. However, pupils’ application of this knowledge is not consistent. The transfer of these writing skills is not always evident in other subjects. Additionally, some teachers’ expectations of the quality of writing in curriculum subjects are not high enough. Consequently, pupils’ progress in writing is not consistently strong across the school.
• Many pupils in early years and key stage 1 use their understanding of letters and the sounds that they make to accurately work out unfamiliar words. However, some pupils do not apply these skills consistently well. Some pupils have not developed skills and strategies to help them fully understand the texts that they are reading.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils achieve in subjects other than mathematics and English are inconsistent. As a result, the quality of teaching and learning in subjects other than English and mathematics is too varied. Some pupils are not being given maximum opportunities to apply their knowledge and understanding to show that they can achieve well throughout the wider curriculum.
• Teachers promote and encourage pupils’ enjoyment of reading for pleasure effectively. Pupils spoken to over the course of the inspection said that they enjoy reading and do so regularly at home.
• Where teaching is effective, teachers plan work that interests pupils and that is well matched to pupils’ abilities. Teachers make effective use of questions to check and develop pupils’ understanding. Pupils respond well, work diligently, share their ideas with the class and listen to other pupils’ ideas and the teacher’s guidance.
• Teachers promote positive relationships well. Pupils work well together, support one another and show respect for others.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Requires improvement

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils have not achieved as well as they should have at the end of key stage 2 over the past three years. The most able pupils, pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils have not made the progress that they should have in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportions of Year 6 pupils attaining the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics improved in 2018, and were in line with the national average. Even so, pupils made slow progress from key stage 1 to key stage 2 in writing and have done so in each of the last three years. This is because the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in key stage 2 is not consistently good.
• Current pupils’ progress is inconsistent across year groups and subjects due to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment being uneven.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND currently in the school is not consistently strong. The gaps in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally have not diminished. Variations in progress for these groups are, as for other pupils, a consequence of the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
• Pupils’ achievement in the Year 1 phonics screening check dipped in 2018, having previously increased each year since 2015. The reason for this dip was partly due to staff absence, but leaders have not used this as an excuse. They have used assessment information to carefully target support for those pupils who did not achieve the expected standard at the end of Year 1. The school’s assessment information indicates that almost all have made strong progress this year. Although there are some inconsistencies, most pupils in key stage 1 are making progress in developing and using their phonic skills.
• Progress is stronger for most pupils in key stage 1. Attainment at the end of key stage 1 is typically at or above the national average in reading, writing, mathematics and science.
• Pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar are typically weak. This is particularly true for boys, who make up the majority of the school population.
• Where teaching is more effective, pupils make good progress. For example, pupils in some key stage 2 classes have well-developed reasoning and arithmetic skills. Some higher-attaining pupils are supported well to develop their writing skills and are making strong progress as a result.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The high-quality provision and standard of teaching identified at the previous inspection has not been maintained.
• Adults do not consistently use assessment well to plan and provide activities and opportunities that develop learning to the full. This is particularly the case for activities that are not adult-led and for the more able children. As a result, children do not routinely make good progress.
• The indoor and outside environment potentially provide a wide range of independent and directed activities to enable children to develop and practise their skills, knowledge and understanding. However, the activities planned are not specific enough to consistently meet children’s needs and their different starting points.
• Children typically join the early years with skills and abilities that are at, or above, those typical for their age. Inspection evidence confirms that this is the case. The proportion attaining a good level of development at the end of Reception is usually above the national average. However, inspection evidence does not indicate that children make good progress from their different starting points, especially the most able children.
• Children are well supported in developing early phonic skills. The links between phonics and writing are less well developed because when planning activities, adults do not consistently make the best use of what they know about children’s previous learning.
• Routines are well established and children typically behave appropriately. They respond well to adults. This contributes to ensuring that children feel happy and confident. Children play and learn well together. Leaders ensure that the curriculum provides a broad range of experiences in different areas of learning.
• Safeguarding is effective and early years welfare requirements are met. Staff receive appropriate training, and the environment is safe and secure.

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School details

Unique reference number Local authority 110823 Peterborough Inspection number 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 10083921 Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 189 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Clare Duffy Neil Fowkes Telephone number 01780 740265 Website Email address www.barnackprimaryschool.co.uk office@barnack.peterborough.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 July 2011

Information about this school

• Barnack Church of England (Controlled) Primary School is an average-sized primary school. It is part of the Diocese of Peterborough. The most recent inspection of the school’s religious character under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 was carried out on 20 September 2016.
• The proportion of boys in the school is higher than typically found in primary schools. The very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is below the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly average and the number of pupils with an EHC plan is increasing.
• The headteacher has been in post for six years. There have been a number of changes in teaching staff since the school’s previous inspection.
• The school has received support from a standards and effectiveness adviser from the local authority. The local authority has also provided support for the governing body through a clerk to the governing body and access to governor support services. The school participates in local arrangements to check the accuracy of teacher assessments.
• Leaders have used links with local schools, the Cambridge mathematics hub and a local teaching school to support the accuracy of teachers’ assessments and to provide professional development.

Information about this inspection

• This inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector had concerns about the quality of education that the school was providing. The initial one-day inspection carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 converted to a full inspection carried out over two days.
• Inspectors observed learning in all classes. Some of these observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inspectors also observed an assembly, listened to pupils read and held a discussion with a group of pupils from key stage 1 and key stage 2.
• Inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ work in lessons, and a further selection of pupils’ books were scrutinised. Pupils’ behaviour was observed in lessons and around the school, including at breaktimes and before school.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and subject leaders. Inspectors also held discussions with teachers. The lead inspector met with three members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. The lead inspector also held a telephone conversation with a representative of the diocese.
• The inspection team reviewed a range of school documents and policies, including behaviour and attendance information, records of visits carried out by a local authority adviser, minutes of governing body meetings and documentation relating to the safeguarding of pupils.
• Inspectors met parents at the beginning of both days of the inspection to gather their views of the school. Inspectors also took account of the 47 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and responses to a parental questionnaire carried out by the school.

Inspection team

Paul Wilson, lead inspector Sean Powell Steve Mellors

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector