Bishop Tufnell CofE Primary School, Felpham Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Eliminate low-level disruption in classrooms, so that pupils can concentrate more readily on their learning.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across all phases of the school, so that pupils, and especially boys, make better progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Increase the expectations of staff for the most able, so that these pupils are challenged more appropriately to make the progress of which they are capable.
• Improve all aspects of the school’s provision for disadvantaged pupils, so that this vulnerable group’s outcomes improve rapidly to match those of other pupils.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• The new headteacher has quickly come to terms with the school’s strengths and weaknesses. He knows that rapid improvement in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is required if pupils’ outcomes are to improve.
• The headteacher’s partnership with the interim deputy headteacher is strong. Their key priorities for improvement are the correct ones. Early gains have already been made, with improving pupils’ behaviour for instance, but they know that much more needs to be done before the school can be judged to be good.
• Middle leadership is effective but needs to be further developed. Key leadership appointments are about to be made. Although some aspects of the school are led well, senior leaders are aware that the quality of middle leaders will be crucial in further improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
• Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds have not been served well in the recent past. Muddled leadership, unclear roles and lack of communication meant that the focus on this vulnerable group was not strong enough. Current leaders are keenly aware that this situation needs to change and have already made this a priority for improvement.
• Leaders have ensured that the provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is an emerging strength. An important aspect of this has been specialist training for staff and positive relationships with outside agencies. As a result, pupils from this group are supported well and are making good progress that is commensurate with their specific needs.
• The curriculum is fit for purpose. Despite weaknesses in the quality of teaching and learning over time, pupils enjoy coming to school because the topics and themes they learn about interest and engage them. Educational outings linked to curriculum topics are the norm. Visits, such as that by an imam to help pupils with their studies about other faiths and religions, further enrich the curriculum and bring learning to life.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported well by the curriculum. The school’s values-based culture is underpinned by its Christian ethos. It also encourages pupils to be tolerant, think independently, and respect the cultures and faiths of others. Pupils told an inspector that, ‘All faiths are equally important’, and that it was, ‘Perfectly fine for people to have no faith at all’.
• The school’s extra-curricular offer is strong. Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs and additional activities during and after school. Pupils talked with enthusiasm about the go-kart club, explaining how different aspects of a kart’s weight and aerodynamics affect its performance.
• Pupils also benefit from a very wide range of sports clubs and have enjoyed success in local inter-school sporting competitions. Additional government funding is used well in this respect, with physical education and sports being strengths of the school.
• Although a minority of parents expressed negative views in their online questionnaire, parents are increasingly positive about the school and the way it is led and managed. Staff are also very positive about recent changes in leadership and management, with high levels of endorsement for recent changes noted in the online staff questionnaire.

Governance of the school

• Changes in the way the governing body is structured and operates have only just come into effect. New members with a wide range of experience and skills have recently joined or are about to join. Relevant training has taken place. More is planned.
• The new governing body is very much a fledgling entity. Key members remain from the previous federated governing body. The value of their work to stabilise the school through the recent turbulence caused by changes in leadership and management should not be underestimated.
• Governors are aware of their statutory duties. They know that the quality of education provided by the school needs to be better. Their recent appointment of an experienced, substantive headteacher is already having a positive impact on improving all aspects of the school.
• Governors know that the quality of their partnership with the headteacher and other school leaders is crucial to the future success of the school. Early indications are positive.
• Governors are keenly aware that their role is a strategic one. They also know that holding leaders to account for the rapid progress that is now required will be an important aspect of their contribution to improving the school.
• Advice from the local authority and diocese has been useful to governors in the recent past. This is particularly the case with finance and human resource issues, as well as in making interim leadership arrangements. However, it is not clear what impact their support has had on improving the overall quality of education at the school, nor how the governing body has been supported by either the local authority or diocese to hold leaders to account in the past.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders actively promote a very strong culture in the school to safeguard children. Staff fully understand their collective and individual responsibility to keep children safe. They know what to do if they have concerns. Their training is appropriate for the different levels of responsibility that they hold. Record keeping is meticulous. The safety of the site and routines at the start and finish of the school day are managed well.
• Pupils feel safe at the school. They told inspectors that they know whom to talk to if they have problems or are worried. All parents who spoke to inspectors during the inspection expressed their confidence in staff to keep their children safe. A large majority of parents who replied to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, expressed the view that their children feel safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has been inconsistent over time. This is still the case in key stages 1 and 2. This means that pupils do not make the progress they should, and that their outcomes are not as strong as they could be.
• Teachers and support staff do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ behaviour or attitudes to learning. Too often, they do not insist that pupils listen to instructions or focus enough on the task in hand.
• Classroom visits showed an inconsistent picture about how teachers engage pupils in learning. For instance, some teachers are skilled at using questioning to confirm understanding and develop and deepen pupils’ learning further. However, in some classrooms, pupils are unclear about what they are learning, and why, because staff do not make their intentions clear enough. Consequently, pupils are unable to make connections with prior learning and their progress slows.
• Levels of challenge are too variable across a range of subjects and within year groups. This is particularly the case for the most able pupils, who, too often, are given work that does not stimulate or challenge. When this is the case, pupils disengage, and their learning slows.
• Relationships are pleasant within classrooms. Teachers and support staff use praise effectively to boost pupils’ confidence. This has a particularly positive impact on pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, who thrive as a result of the support they receive.
• Teachers use resources effectively to engage pupils and bring learning to life. Staff also put their own subject knowledge to good use. This is especially the case with science and topic work, where inspectors saw better levels of pupil participation and enthusiasm for learning.

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’ attitudes to learning are not as strong as they could be. Their understanding of what constitutes successful learning is underdeveloped. Aspirations are not high enough, particularly those of older pupils. As a result, their achievements are not as strong as they might be.
• The school’s curriculum promotes pupils’ social and emotional development well. Pupils learn about how to stay safe online and develop healthy lifestyles as part of their day-to-day learning. Pupils in Year 6 were pleased to be undertaking cycle safety training at the time of the inspection.
• Pupils say that bullying is not a problem at the school. Although behaviour in the past had been worrying for some, they told an inspector that they do not believe bullying happens any more. Younger pupils said that they knew what to do and whom to talk to if they were worried or felt unsafe in and out of school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Classroom visits confirmed that low-level disruption and off-task behaviour are a constant feature in many classrooms, having a negative impact on learning.
• Pupils told inspectors that they think behaviour is improving since a new behaviour policy was recently introduced. They said that ‘terrible’ behaviour was now a thing of the past. However, they think that ‘silly’ behaviour stops them concentrating and still interrupts their learning too often.
• Leaders monitor the attendance of pupils well. This is particularly the case for pupils from vulnerable groups, or pupils who are at risk of non-attendance due to specific family circumstances. As a result, rates of attendance compare favourably with those of other schools nationally.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Owing to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment over time, not enough pupils make the progress they should. Evidence gathered during the inspection, including from classroom visits, scrutiny of pupils’ work, and the school’s own progress and attainment data, showed this to be the case across all year groups in key stages 1 and 2.
• Levels of challenge are often not high enough for the most able. This is particularly the case in key stages 1 and 2. Staff do not have high enough expectations of what most-able pupils can achieve. As a result, not enough of these pupils achieve as well as they might.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not do as well as they should. The gap between the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and those of other pupils remains too wide.
• Boys do not make as much progress as girls across the school, including in early years. As a result, the proportion of boys achieving at expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics is below that of girls across the school.
• Phonics provision is sound. The proportion of pupils achieving at expected standards in phonics at the end of Years 1 and 2 broadly matches that seen in other schools nationally. Pupils enjoy reading and are able to rely on their phonics skills when they need to. However, boys’ phonics skills are not as well developed as girls’, and this has a negative impact on boys’ literacy skills.
• Children who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress appropriate to their individual needs and starting points.
• Outcomes for children in early years are good.

Early years provision Good

• Children in early years benefit from a good and improving quality of education. Leadership of early years is sound. Priorities for improvement have been identified and are being acted upon. As a result, children who have recently joined the school are thriving and already making strong progress in all areas of their learning.
• Relationships are good. Children have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Teachers and support staff are effective at providing the correct balance of support and gentle encouragement that children require to make new discoveries and build confidence and independence.
• Staff know children well, despite it being so early in the school year. Classroom visits showed that teachers already plan opportunities that move children’s learning forward, in some cases rapidly. This includes for the most able children, which has not been the case in the recent past.
• The learning environment engages children well and stimulates their curiosity. A wide range of activities and experiences is available to them, helping them to engage in all areas of learning in the early years curriculum.
• Children behave well because staff have high expectations. Classroom visits showed inspectors that children share well and are learning to take turns and learn together in a happy and caring environment. Boys are willing to share superhero figures with each other. Boys and girls play with trains together, discussing the timetable, and complaining when their trains are late!
• Provision for children who have SEN and/or disabilities is a strength of the early years. Staff have been trained appropriately to support individual children’s needs. Relationships with outside agencies are strong, helping the transition of vulnerable children into the school.
• Children are safe in early years. Parents who talked to inspectors were very positive in this respect. They told inspectors that their children are safe, and that staff care about their welfare.
• As in the rest of the school, girls do better than boys in early years. In the last two years, the proportions of boys reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception are lower than those of girls. Leaders are keenly aware of this and acting to address this imbalance as part of a whole-school focus on the outcomes of boys.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 126050 West Sussex 10040926 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 aided 5 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 580 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Jo Naylor Nick Sharp Telephone number 01243 584412 Website Email address www.btjs.wsussex.dbprimary.com Office@tufnell.org Date of previous inspection 3–4 March 2016

Information about this school

• The school has undergone several changes in the recent past. The most recent was the merger of the co-located Bishop Tufnell infant and junior schools to form one primary school with one headteacher as of September 2018.
• At its previous full inspection in March 2016, the infant school was judged to require improvement. The junior school, which was inspected in April 2017, was also found to require improvement.
• In August 2017, the schools federated under one governing body, although they remained separate schools. Between August 2017 and September 2018, there were several changes in leadership and management, including the appointment of an interim headteacher. The present headteacher took up his position in September 2018 and is currently supported by an interim deputy headteacher.
• This school is larger than the average-sized primary school. Most pupils are White British. There are small numbers of pupils from other ethnic backgrounds. A very small number of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is average.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out eight extended learning walks during the inspection, visiting every year group and class, most more than once. During classroom visits, inspectors observed teaching and learning, assessed the quality of pupils’ work, and talked to them about the progress they were making. Some classroom visits were accompanied by school leaders. The learning walks included attending acts of worship in key stages 1 and 2.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in classrooms and as they moved around the school, including during the lunchbreak and at the start and finish of the school day.
• Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, non-teaching support staff, the chair of governors accompanied by three other governors, as well as representative groups of pupils.
• Telephone conversations were held with representatives of the local authority and diocesan board.
• Inspectors met with parents at the start of both days of the inspection. Inspectors considered 72 replies to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as the accompanying free-text messages. Inspectors also took into account the 38 responses to the staff survey.
• A wide range of documents and policies was scrutinised, including those regarding the safety of pupils. As well as looking at pupils’ work in classrooms, a separate scrutiny of their work was held in the presence of the school’s leaders for English and mathematics.
• The school’s own self-evaluation, post-inspection improvement planning and information about pupils’ outcomes were considered. Documented evidence of the work of the governing body and a note of visit to the school made by the local authority were also considered.

Inspection team

Clive Close, lead inspector Maxine McDonald-Taylor James Munt

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector