Henbury Court Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that there is an accurate evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses in the quality of teaching and learning
  • sharpening school improvement planning so that the key priorities are identified and the impact these improvements will have on pupils’ outcomes is clear
  • ensuring that subject leaders, including those responsible for early years, develop the skills they need to be able to check on the progress of pupils and groups of pupils accurately.
• Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by reducing rates of absence, especially for disadvantaged pupils, so that no groups of pupils do less well because of poor attendance.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in early years so that children are better prepared for Year 1 by:
  • planning activities in lessons to meet the precise learning needs of children, particularly boys, so that they make good progress
  • improving the quality of the teaching of phonics, reading, writing and mathematics so that it is at least consistently good
  • improving the learning environments both inside and outside so that children, particularly boys, behave well and are more engaged in their learning
  • providing the most able children with the challenge they need to reach higher levels.
• Improve the quality of teaching and progress for pupils so that outcomes are consistently at least good across the school in reading, writing and mathematics by:
  • planning activities in lessons to meet the learning needs of pupils so that they can build on what they already know, understand and can do
  • ensuring that teachers’ subject knowledge is secure and they are able to provide precise guidance during lessons.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders’ improvement planning lacks focus. The school improvement plan describes numerous areas for the school to work on but it is not clear which are the most important. There is no description of the impact improvements should have on outcomes. Leaders are not always accurate in their evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the quality of teaching and learning, sometimes giving an over-generous view. As a result, some significant areas have not moved forward since the last inspection.
• The curriculum is organised into common themes across the school each term, each with a particular focus in different subject areas. Inspectors saw lessons in design and technology and in science that link to the current school theme of ‘What a load of junk’. While whole-school planning of the curriculum supports a wide, rich range of experiences, the planning of learning needs further development. In some lessons, pupils are not clear about what they are actually learning.
• Leaders ensure that additional funding provides a variety of sporting activities both during and after the school day. Pupils appreciate the football, netball, gymnastics and hoop clubs. Teachers have had extra professional development to support sports teaching, but the leader has not yet checked to see whether this has made a difference to the quality of teaching. All pupils and staff run a mile each school day, which pupils are enthusiastic about. Leaders do not evaluate the difference these initiatives are making to outcomes for pupils.
• The curriculum contributes well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Leaders ensure that there is a strong focus on British values in order to prepare pupils well for their future lives. For example, pupils talk with knowledge and empathy about the challenges refugees face, following assemblies on this theme. Pupils learn about different religions and cultures. They show respect for one another and for new pupils who arrive at the school. Leaders prepare pupils well for the world of work. On ‘takeover day’, pupils apply for adult jobs in school in order to experience them for a day.
• Leader and managers, including governors, maintain a clear oversight of additional funding and how well it is used to secure the progress of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Consequently, these groups of pupils achieve well.
• Leaders are unafraid to tackle weaknesses and robustly hold teachers to account for the progress of pupils. They give strong guidance to teachers through a programme of professional development that is personalised to teachers’ needs. As a result, pupils’ outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics, particularly in Year 2 and Year 6, have improved.
• New teachers receive strong support and personalised professional development from leaders, which gives them a solid start to their careers.
• New subject leaders have introduced a number of initiatives to improve the quality of teaching in mathematics and English. They are starting to evaluate the impact these have on pupils’ progress.
• There is a strong culture of equality throughout the school. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including pupils who attend the hearing resource base, are included successfully in lessons.
• The headteacher is relentless in her desire to encourage more families to come into school to see the learning that takes place. Parents come to class assemblies where pupils all have a part to play. There are also ‘demonstration lessons’ held in classrooms, led by teachers, where parents can see teaching and learning. Parents appreciate these and many attend.
• The school receives support and challenge from the executive headteacher of the trust to which the school belongs. She produces a termly review of the school’s progress and oversees a range of partnership working across the trust. This includes the sharing and checking of the assessments made of pupils’ progress and of teaching and learning strategies. Despite this challenge and support, the school is not yet good. Very recently, the executive headteacher has increased the time she has to support the school. The headteacher values this additional leadership support.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective.
• Governors visit often and know the school well. They have a wide range of skills that they use to support the leaders of the school. Training, especially in safeguarding, is a high priority. Minutes of meetings show that governors provide a good level of challenge to the school’s leadership. Governors have overseen a period of rapid changes in staff and now, along with the leaders, are determined to see outcomes improve. They are optimistic and ambitious for the pupils and the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and there is a strong culture of keeping safe.
• The designated lead for safeguarding ensures that training for staff is of high quality and covers a wide range of safeguarding areas, including keeping children safe from radicalisation and exploitation. Safeguarding records are well organised and there are strong links with a range of agencies offering support. Adults in the school are aware of signs of abuse and whom to go to if they need to report a concern. Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching varies too much across the school. As a result, pupils do not make consistently good progress.
• Where teaching is weaker, the focus for learning can be confused and pupils do not know what is expected of them or exactly what it is they are learning. As a result, pupils lose interest and the work in their books is of a poorer standard.
• Effective teaching, however, promotes excellent attitudes to learning. Pupils benefit from effective questioning from teachers and interesting discussions that help to deepen their thinking. Pupils take pride in their work and presentation in books is of a high standard. In mathematics, pupils are generally working at the appropriate level for their age. In some year groups, pupils apply the skills they learn to solve problems, which helps to deepen their understanding of key concepts. This is not consistent across the school.
• There are similar inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning in writing. Where there are high expectations, books show a wide range of writing and pupils understand how to improve their work. Some books show, however, that writing skills are not well developed. Pupils are not given precise guidance on what they need to do to improve and do not make the progress they could.
• There is a wide and interesting curriculum. However, some teachers’ lack of subject knowledge in some subjects leads to pupils becoming confused about learning concepts. This means that pupils’ misconceptions are not corrected and pupils are not given precise guidance about how to move their learning forward.
• Pupils particularly enjoy their reading and benefit from having plenty of high-quality books to read, explore and enjoy together in class. Pupils know that they are expected to read every day. Some pupils in Year 1 do not use phonics skills well to work out words they do not know. This is holding back their progress.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils receive carefully planned additional teaching that targets learning needs. As a result, these pupils make consistently good progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. Attendance remains too low. It is well below the national average for overall attendance. It is also well below the national average for the number of pupils who have very low attendance. Despite many pupils now having improved attendance and many coming into school every day, there are still significant numbers of pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, who do not attend school often enough or arrive late. This affects pupils’ personal development as well as their learning outcomes. Leaders work with an education welfare officer to support families who need it and this is starting to show an improvement in rates of attendance.
• A recent focus on reaching ‘gold standards’ motivates pupils to do the best they can. Pupils talk enthusiastically about what ‘gold standards’ mean and work hard to achieve them. There is a strong focus on developing habits to become successful learners. This supports pupils’ confidence and contributes well to pupils’ achieving success in the next stages of their education.
• Pupils in many year groups agree that any bullying gets tackled quickly. Some parents feel that cases of bullying are sometimes not dealt with well. Inspectors did not find evidence of this.
• Pupils’ moral development is supported effectively. For example, pupils could discuss their feelings towards disabilities. They showed well-developed empathy and an ability to consider the feelings of others.
• Pupils are rightly proud of their school council, an active group which contributes well to leaders’ and governors’ plans for the school by representing the views of their classmates.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils conduct themselves well as they move about the school. Behaviour outside during playtimes is good. The school provides plenty for pupils to do, including ‘safe scrap’ materials that allow pupils to create their own play opportunities.
• Adults around the school show high expectations of behaviour and, overall, pupils respond well to this. Teachers have had professional development on managing behaviour and this is evident in the calm and positive approaches seen towards any challenging behaviour. Assemblies support the strong expectations of behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ books show that progress across the school requires improvement. The stronger teaching in Year 2 and Year 6 helps pupils to be prepared for the tests and assessments and to catch up. However, progress across the school is inconsistent. Books show that pupils across the school make varying progress depending on their year group and class.
• Progress in early years requires improvement. Children, especially boys and the most able, do not make the progress they should and not enough reach levels to match national averages.
• By the end of Year 6, pupils’ progress from their starting points is at least at the national average for all pupils, including most-able pupils, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. In writing, the same number of pupils attained at least the expected level as the national average, with more than the average attaining higher levels. In reading and mathematics, pupils achieving higher levels matched the national averages also. Pupils are generally well prepared, therefore, for the next stage in their education.
• In Year 2 in reading, writing and in mathematics, pupils attain levels that match those of others nationally, including those who achieve higher levels. Disadvantaged pupils do well, with some achieving more than others achieve nationally.
• Phonics outcomes in Year 1, although still below the national average, have improved slightly each year as the teaching of phonics becomes more effective and more targeted to the needs of pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress and this is consistent across the school. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who attend the hearing resource base, have well-targeted support and extra teaching. These pupils make good progress, as seen in the outcomes in Year 2 and Year 6.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The early years provision requires improvement. Leaders have an over-generous view of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. They have not ensured that the issues raised in the last inspection have improved enough so that more children have the skills they need as they enter Year 1.
• Children come to school with skills that are below those typical for their age. Over the past three years, the numbers of children reaching a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year have risen little by little. However, outcomes are still below the national average for children moving into Year 1. Boys do less well than girls, especially in reading, where less than half of the boys in 2016 reached the expected level for reading.
• Children get off to a strong start in the Nursery class. Routines are well established. Children settle quickly and rise to the high expectations. There is a strong focus on language and children enjoy the rhyme- and story-times on offer throughout the day.
• In the Reception classes, teaching requires improvement. Expectations are not high and children do not have activities that motivate or interest them. They lose interest and poor behaviour can be the result. The most able children do not receive the additional challenge they need and therefore do not make the progress they could.
• The learning environments inside and outside require improvement. There are too few resources or activities to interest or motivate children to explore, discover and develop their learning.
• Parents are invited to come into school each morning and many do so. Parents are positive about the support they receive from adults in the early years provision.
• Additional adults provide targeted support for disadvantaged children. This helps these children to make at least expected progress.
• Safeguarding is effective and welfare requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number 139116 Local authority City of Bristol Inspection number 10024927 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 385 Appropriate authority Academy trust Chair Alan Edwards Headteacher Jo Rice Telephone number 0117 377 2196 Website www.henburycourt.bristol.sch.uk Email address headhenburycourtp@bristol-schools.uk Date of previous inspection 10–11 February 2015

Information about this school

• The school did not meet requirements on the publication of specified information on its website but rectified this by the end of the inspection.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• This school is larger than the average primary school.
• The majority of pupils are White British.
• The school runs its own Nursery provision and breakfast club on site.
• Children in the Reception classes attend full time and children in Nursery attend part time.
• The school is sponsored by the Endeavour Academy Trust.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average. The proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans is also above the national average.
• There is a hearing resource base at the school, which 11 pupils currently attend and who are integrated and supported in mainstream classes.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in all classes, often jointly with senior leaders.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, other leaders, five members of the governing body and the executive headteacher of the Little Mead Academy Trust.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised during the inspection. This included the improvement plan, the school’s self-evaluation of its performance, the single central record and information related to safeguarding, and pupils’ progress and attendance.
• Inspectors talked to pupils throughout the inspection and met with the school council. Inspectors looked at pupils’ books and heard some pupils read.
• Discussions with parents were held throughout the inspection and the 31 responses to the online survey, Parent View, were taken into account.
• A meeting was held with newly qualified teachers at the school. The 29 completed staff questionnaires were also taken into consideration.

Inspection team

Tonwen Empson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Jonathan Dyer Her Majesty’s Inspector Claire Mirams Ofsted Inspector Rowena Green Ofsted Inspector