Burnhope Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• In early years, improve the progress children make in reading and writing, by providing a wide range of opportunities and resources for children to write confidently and independently, using the sounds they have learned.
• Improve pupils’ progress in mathematics by giving all pupils, especially the most able, more opportunities to use and apply the number and calculation skills they have learned to investigative tasks that require reasoning and explanation.
• Strengthen leadership further by: making sure that leaders’ plans for improvement are specific about what needs to improve, based on precise analysis of information about pupils’ progress ensuring that governors use these sharpened plans to fulfil their strategic responsibility in checking the effects of leaders’ actions.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have been successful in uniting the school team in improving the school. Their actions, strengthened by the appointment of a new deputy headteacher in September 2017, have resulted in improvements in the quality of teaching and learning that have led to good outcomes for pupils.
• The headteacher, along with her team, shows dedication to preparing pupils well for the next stage of their education and beyond. The curriculum is designed to build pupils’ knowledge and skills through a wide range of learning and experiences. This includes a strong emphasis on skills for life such as learning how to keep safe and become a good citizen.
• Leaders have a comprehensive overview of the progress each child is making, drawn from carefully designed assessment systems. They have used this information to put support in place for key stage 1 and 2 pupils who are working below age-related expectations or not making strong enough progress: pupils’ progress has improved as a result.
• Leaders use additional funding well to ensure that disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress from their different starting points.
• The primary school physical education and sport funding is also used effectively. This spending provides pupils with access to competitive sports, swimming sessions each year from the end of key stage 1 and through key stage 2, and a wide range of engaging outdoor play and learning opportunities.
• A team of teachers and support staff leads areas of the curriculum with clear vision and commitment. While they describe the school curriculum as ‘work in progress’, their plans and pupils’ work clearly demonstrate the knowledge and skills that pupils are developing as they progress through the school.
• A new programme of work to support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development has started in earnest. It is reflected in pupils’ positive attitudes towards each other and a growing sense of their responsibilities as good citizens. Leaders bravely challenge any stereotypical views they encounter, to widen pupils’ knowledge and understanding of different religions and beliefs.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses through their monitoring of teaching and the thorough systems they have in place to check on pupils’ learning progress. However, plans for improvement often highlight activities that will take place rather than the detail of what most needs to improve.

Governance of the school

• Governors have embraced the agenda of school improvement, making frequent visits to work enthusiastically alongside leaders and the local authority. However, because the school improvement plan lacks precision about specific priority aspects, governors find it difficult to evaluate the progress that is being made and operate on a fully strategic level.
• Governors have a good understanding of the way that additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used. They, with school leaders, have carefully considered how funding can be used successfully to support pupils in mixed-age classes and with different starting points.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have ensured that effective recruitment procedures are in place, with induction processes that highlight the safeguarding of pupils as a priority. Staff are well trained in how to recognise and report any worries about a pupil’s well-being. Records of concerns and details of involvement with external agencies are thorough. Actions are followed up quickly and individual cases are closely monitored.
• Teaching pupils how to keep themselves and others safe has a high profile in the school curriculum. Pupils speak confidently about the many ways they are taught about safety, including how to manage potential risks well. Messages about keeping safe are constantly reiterated and thus pupils’ understanding is deepened.
• Pupils look out for each other. During the lunchtime play and learning activities on the second day of the inspection, this was exemplified when pupils invited the inspector to see the building they had created in the large sandpit. One said to the inspector, ‘You should really have wellies and waterproofs on to go down there. What about your shoes? Do you feel safe?’

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The staff team has high expectations of pupils across a broad curriculum. Good relationships between pupils and adults support positive attitudes to learning and a strong work ethic. Pupils enjoy their learning and make good progress overall.
• An improved school assessment system helps teachers make sure that they identify next steps in learning for pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants work in excellent partnership to ensure that each pupil receives appropriate guidance and makes good progress. They strive to make the best use of learning time by working flexibly with different age and ability groups.
• Pupils’ work demonstrates the improvements that have taken place, and continue to be refined, in writing. Where leaders identified that the quality of pupils’ presentation was inconsistent across classes, books show a marked difference at the point that expectations were raised. Pupils are given clear direction in how to improve their writing, and the positive changes can be seen in their subsequent work.
• Most pupils say that they enjoy reading. They have frequent opportunities to read aloud in school and are encouraged to do so at home. Pupils in key stage 2 in particular talk confidently about the different authors and books they enjoy. They read widely and often as part of their work in other subjects. Leaders rightly emphasise the importance of deepening pupils’ understanding of unfamiliar words from a range of texts.
• The new programme for mathematics is supporting teachers in planning and delivering lessons that focus on pupils practising age-appropriate number skills. Pupils are productive in lessons and respond well to the structure this new strategy brings. However, there are limited opportunities for pupils to apply these number and calculation skills to a wide range of problem-solving activities. This means that the challenge for pupils, especially the most able, is variable.
• The staff team has a good understanding of the different needs of pupils and the barriers to learning that face some pupils. They plan work carefully to ensure that pupils with lower starting points are given the right support to catch up quickly.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The vast majority of pupils are industrious in class and speak positively about their learning. Most take pride in their work.
• Pupils describe how work in personal, social and health education is preparing them well for life. For example, one pupil explained how discussions and debates, led by staff and external agencies, help them to build self-esteem and cope with peer pressure they may encounter.
• Lunchtimes and breaktimes are, pupils say, an enjoyable time of the day. The opportunities for pupils to deepen their learning and play well alongside each other are planned carefully at these less structured times of the day, just as they are in lesson time. A wide range of activities is on offer, which pupils keenly engage in together.
• The majority of parents and carers have a positive view of the school and say that their children enjoy coming to school. Some highlight improvements made recently, in pupils’ behaviour and how the school addresses any instances of bullying. Where any concerns are raised, leaders and staff are keen to work with parents and do their best to make sure that issues are resolved.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Leaders keep a close eye on pupils’ behaviour. They, and pupils, speak confidently about the revised behaviour policy and how this has helped everyone to know exactly what is expected of them. Leaders’ detailed records of pupils’ behaviour help them to identify where any additional support may be needed, and this is quickly put in place.
• Pupils rise to the challenge of being buddies and enjoy this role of helping others at lunch and breaktimes. Pupils know that adults are always on hand to listen and help when needed.
• Pupils’ attendance has improved and is now similar to the national average. The headteacher and attendance officer work closely together to identify pupils who are persistently absent from school and the reasons for this, working with families to ensure that attendance improves. Leaders have seen attendance fluctuate over the past few years. They are clear that there is no room for complacency and will rightly continue to keep it high on the school’s agenda.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Effective leadership and improvements in the quality of teaching and learning have resulted in good outcomes for pupils. Pupils leave school well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• The 2018 outcomes for pupils at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 show improvement in comparison to recent years. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standards in Year 2 and Year 6 is now in line with the national average.
• The most able pupils get off to a strong start in key stage 1. However, leaders have identified that, for some pupils, this progress has slowed through key stage 2. Pupils’ current work and school assessment systems indicate better progress in writing, but more work is required to ensure that the most able pupils make strong progress in mathematics.
• Support and clear direction to improve the teaching of phonics have resulted in a steady rise in the proportion of pupils achieving the Year 1 phonics standard. Results in phonics are now just above the national average.
• The school receives additional pupil premium funding for almost half of the pupils. As a result of the effective use of pupil premium funding, the historical differences between these pupils and other pupils is diminishing: most pupils make good progress.
• Well-planned intervention teaching and appropriate use of additional funds ensure that pupils with SEND make good progress from their different starting points.

Early years provision Good

• From generally typical starting points, children make good progress overall through early years. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development at the end of Reception has increased over time and is now higher than the national average.
• As in other areas of school, being safe and keeping safe are high on the agenda in early years. Welfare requirements are met. Children are encouraged to try new things and take well-managed risks. For example, during the inspection, children were balancing carefully on large tyres, helping each other across the bridge they had created. They called instructions to each other, such as, ‘Hold tightly,’ and ‘Make it flat so it doesn’t wobble.’
• Adults model good behaviours and give calm and gentle reminders about being kind and helpful to each other when these prompts are needed. As a result, children work well together and respond quickly and positively to adults’ requests.
• Leaders, with close support from the local authority, have developed accurate assessment systems that provide a comprehensive view of children’s progress across the curriculum. However, the areas that most need improvement are not explicit in the school improvement plan. Leaders can talk about and demonstrate the improvements introduced to encourage children to develop their mathematical and technology skills, but they have not given the same attention to improving children’s progress in writing.
• Parents welcome the opportunity to be involved in their child’s learning. They contribute to books about their child’s world, with information about the activities and learning their child is involved in at home. This supports staff in building a clear picture of children’s abilities across the curriculum, and helps them to plan what children need to learn next.
• Adults articulate sounds clearly and have established routines in phonics lessons. However, teaching in phonics lessons is not used to support teaching in writing. Children are encouraged to use word banks and copy letters and words rather than using their knowledge of phonics when writing. Therefore, they rely on adults being close by, or words being available, rather than becoming independent and confident in using sounds to write new words.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 114041 Durham 10059045 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 95 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Alan Gibson Lyn Adamson 01207 520243 www.burnhope.durham.sch.uk burnhope@durhamlearning.net Date of previous inspection 1–2 November 2016

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• A breakfast club and after-school club are run by the school.
• The early years consists of a Nursery and a Reception class.
• About half of pupils are eligible for the additional pupil premium funding, which is double the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan for SEND is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who receive support for SEND is just above the national average.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• There are no pupils who speak English as an additional language.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching across a range of subjects in all classes. These observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher.
• During visits to classes, the inspector spoke with pupils and looked at their work to find out more about how well they are learning.
• The inspector held meetings with pupils and talked informally with pupils around the school. She listened to pupils read and talked with them about reading. She observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school.
• The inspector met regularly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Meetings also took place with the early years leader, curriculum leaders and the attendance officer. The inspector met with members of the local governing body, including the chair, and the Durham education development partner for the school.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised, including leaders’ evaluation of school performance, school development planning, and records relating to pupils’ behaviour and the quality of teaching and learning. The inspector also reviewed information relating to safeguarding and attendance.
• The inspector met with parents before school and took into account the 12 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. The views expressed by staff and pupils in Ofsted’s online questionnaires were also considered.

Inspection team

Kate Rowley, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector