St Bartholomew's Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that:
  • the teaching of mathematical skills improves so that pupils are able to calculate and solve arithmetical problems proficiently
  • teachers challenge incorrect work in English so that pupils do not continue to make the same mistakes in spelling and punctuation
  • the most able pupils in all year groups, including those who are disadvantaged, are provided with learning that is sufficiently challenging and deepens their thinking
  • more pupils in the early years foundation stage are ready for work in Year 1
  • middle leaders have the capacity and skills to monitor the work of teachers so that progress is more rapid and teaching is consistent.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The headteacher and deputy headteacher were appointed in September 2015. At this time, the school had high staff absenteeism for a range of reasons. Since then, senior leaders have put systems in place to track pupils’ progress and analyse why underachievement takes place. Interventions happen and there has been some improvement, but progress is not yet good in the core subjects of English and mathematics.
• The headteacher has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. He has introduced many important changes to teaching which are beginning to have an impact. They have been slow to develop because of fluctuation in staffing within the past two years.
• Middle leaders are not monitoring teaching effectively. They are not focused on individual teachers and their impact on pupil progress. As a consequence, progress for pupils is not rapid enough.
• The academy improvement director was appointed in September 2016 and has provided strong support to the school. She has initiated leadership support that has provided capacity for the headteacher and deputy headteacher to create the necessary procedures to ensure that teaching is effective. The systems in place are too recent to show a good level of impact yet.
• Leaders of the trust and the school are ambitious and eager for the school to make good progress in the very near future. They have developed a cohesive and inclusive approach. Staff are keen to do well and appreciate the training that is provided. This is evidenced in the way that recently qualified teachers are taking on positions of responsibility in the leadership of foundation subjects. They gain knowledge of the role from links with the trust’s other primary schools and the teaching school alliance. Most will begin their leadership in the new academic year.
• The targets set for managing the performance of staff are challenging and reflect the responsibilities of different posts. The process is overseen by the trust initially, and then devolved to the governing body. The systems are rigorous and managed well.
• The spending of pupil premium funding is done carefully. Many of the disadvantaged pupils have emotional issues and school leaders have provided one-to-one support that is having an impact. The achievement of these pupils is monitored very closely and progress is showing clear signs of improvement although it is not yet at the level of others nationally.
• The physical education and sports premium funding is used to employ expert practitioners who support pupils’ learning. However, it is not being spent on staff development to ensure that the provision remains sustainable.
• The curriculum has focused effectively on improving the culture of the school and making it a place where learning can take place without disruption. Foundation subjects are taught through termly topics. Assessment in the foundation subjects is not secure yet.
• There is a good range of extra-curricular clubs that cover musical and creative opportunities as well as sports. Pupils attend well.
• The spending of funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is managed well by the new special educational needs coordinator. She was appointed in February 2017. She has audited the registration of pupils and made sure that only those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are on the register. This has focused the use of funding on the particular needs of individuals in a way that helps them to achieve more effectively.
• The early help coordinator has made a substantial impact on the engagement of parents in recent times. She was appointed in September 2016 and has been successful, particularly in working with families that are less comfortable about engaging with school leaders. As a result, the number of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced significantly.
• Leaders have provided rich experiences to help pupils understand how democracy and other fundamental British values work. Prospective school council members prepare manifestos which they present to their peers before votes are cast for their election. Likewise, pupils who want to take on positions of responsibility, such as head boy and girl, write an application letter and are selected for interview before being chosen. This ensures that pupils have a realistic perspective on the purpose of democratic processes.

Governance of the school

• Governance is developing because the academy improvement director has initiated appropriate reviews, evaluation and training for governors, including the chair of governors. As a result, governors are challenging school leadership and understanding their strategic role better.
• Governors are, in the main, clear about funding and its purpose. They are able to focus on teaching and learning improvements because the trust oversees key policies and the maintenance of premises. Further rigour in monitoring planning and improvements is needed to ensure that pupils’ progress is in line with the national averages.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The safety of pupils is secure. The school’s deputy designated safeguarding lead oversees secure processes that are in place for monitoring and recording any safeguarding concerns. The checks undertaken on staff, visitors and recruitment are sound. The single central record manifests good practice. Staff are trained how to keep pupils safe from abuse, sexual exploitation and the influences of radicalisation and extremism. Staff work sensitively with parents and external agencies to monitor and support the more vulnerable pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Some teachers’ subject knowledge in mathematics is insecure. As a result, pupils are not taught the most efficient ways to solve problems. Not enough time is spent on helping pupils with mental arithmetic. This impedes pupils’ progress in mathematics in both key stages.
• Too often, teachers focus on the learning of a new aspect of language, such as frontal adverbials, and ignore the common errors that pupils are making. As a consequence, too many pupils are making basic spelling mistakes and writing with poor punctuation.
• Stepped challenges have been introduced into the planning of pupils’ work in order to raise expectations and test the most able, including the most able disadvantaged pupils. The most able pupils are asked on occasion to start from the middle level of challenge and work upwards unnecessarily. Some of the most able do start at the higher level but the approach is inconsistent among teachers. Where teachers are encouraging pupils to aim high, pupils worry about not doing the work correctly and opt for a level of task that is not demanding. This is slowing progress.
• The teaching of phonics is not making enough difference to reading and spelling. Although there are improvements in the end of year assessments between Years 1 and 2, the practices learned are not embedded as pupils go through the school. This hinders progress in both writing and reading for those less fluent in these areas.
• Pupils have a good understanding of mathematical language and can converse eloquently about reasoning and problem solving. However, their calculations are less secure, because of gaps in basic knowledge.
• There has been a focus on extended writing this year. Pupils are writing at length and showing good stamina in this from a young age. Pupils’ vocabulary is rich. They are developing their sentence structures and paragraphing well.
• The special educational needs coordinator has provided staff with clear guidelines on adapting their teaching and on providing appropriate support to ensure that pupils make good progress. Each pupil has a profile that explains how that pupil learns and what he or she likes to do or finds difficult or emotionally, physically or intellectually challenging. Through this, teachers and parents can be more responsive to the daily needs of the pupil. Pupils gain in confidence because their voices are being heard. As a result, they are making better progress.
• The disadvantaged pupils are improving and catching up with their peers. This is because of the change of leadership in overseeing the work of these pupils and the greater focus on their needs in teaching.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils have a good attitude to their learning and are ready and prepared at the start of lessons. They engage with activities without undue fuss and bother.
• There has been much valuable work done on ensuring that pupils understand e-safety. They spoke comprehensively about safe practices when using the internet.
• Pupils know about the different types of bullying. They say that teachers manage the few bullying incidents well.
• Pupils’ physical and emotional well-being is good. This is a strength of the school. Disadvantaged pupils are given one-to-one support, when necessary, to help them cope with the pressures they face. They are, however, not helped adequately to become resilient in learning. These pupils give up more easily than their peers. .

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are courteous to each other, staff and visitors. They are proud of their school and the ethos that underpins the school values. They are eager to share and participate in the main theme of caring for each other.
• Pupils behave well in lessons and in unstructured time. Successful evaluation of previously poor behaviour has led to more directed activities at lunchtime and the purchase of equipment that stimulates purposeful play. Pupils recognise the improvements at lunchtime with regard to activities and behaviour but feel that there is still more to do in this regard.
• The school is full of displays of pupils’ recent work. This celebration of successful accomplishments motivates pupils to do well and behave well.
• The early help coordinator has made a significant difference to the persistent absence of pupils. Her work with families has cut the number of absentees by over half. Overall attendance is in line with national averages.
• The strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of the curriculum that are based on the school’s Christian ethos provide pupils with a clear steer on behaviour for good citizenship. The school council has raised substantial sums of money for a range of causes at home and abroad and in ingenious ways promoted by the pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils come into the school with ability levels that are in line with the national average. However, attainment in English and mathematics is below national averages in the end-of-year tests in key stages 1 and 2 and has been so for the past three years. This is because teaching has not been ambitious enough nor focused on the different levels of ability within classes.
• The results in the end of year phonics screening check in Year 1 are below the national average. Pupils catch up in Year 2 but this progress is not maintained in the writing and reading tests at the end of key stage 2. The weaker teaching of phonics in the Reception class in past years has had an impact on this aspect of development.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making better progress because of the work of the new special educational needs coordinator. Pupils are still not doing as well as others nationally but they are progressing as well as their peers.
• The most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils are not making good progress. Although the majority are making age-related expectations, they are not working at great enough depth in English and mathematics. Teaching does not challenge them sufficiently.
• There is variability in the reading practices of pupils. Not enough monitoring and support is provided for those who are still weak readers in key stage 2. Pupils who are fluent readers are not encouraged to read daily or tackle more difficult texts.
• Pupils in key stage 1 are well prepared well for the work in key stage 2 but those in key stage 2 are not prepared well enough for their transition to secondary school.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• There has been intensive work to improve the outcomes in Reception. This was initiated by the academy improvement director. A specialist adviser for the early years foundation stage worked with the early years leader for several weeks in 2017. Improvements have been made but too few pupils are ready for work in Year 1. The most able, in particular, are not being stretched.
• Teaching assistants have been trained in purposeful ways to direct play both inside and outside. As a result, more children are able to count to 20 and the majority of children are moving from mark-making to letter formation. There is room for further rigour in this work as well as a need for recognition that praise without substance behind it is not productive.
• There are too few children for us to comment on the progress of disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They are, however, carefully monitored through the work of the special educational needs coordinator.
• Parental engagement is variable because there are only infrequent opportunities for parents to view the progress of their children. The early years leader encourages parents to share important learning milestones that happen at home but the response depends on the parent.
• There are strong links with the nursery provision based next door. Transition procedures take place over several months, which allow these children to move into Reception with ease. Parents of children from other local nursery providers commented, on Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, for this inspection, that not enough is done to support transition from these establishments.
• Children play well together and respond eagerly to adults. Their emotional and physical needs are understood and the leader, teacher and teaching assistants ensure that pupils progress well in these aspects of development.
• The outside area has been revamped. There is a larger area that is protected from the elements, so more children can engage in outdoor activities such as in more physically demanding exercise, in building and manipulating objects and in using water to gauge volume and balance.
• All safeguarding procedures are secure. Staff are trained in paediatric first aid and other statutory requirements.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141142 Wiltshire 10033180 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 Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 334 Appropriate authority Chair of Governors Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Academy trust Gareth Coomber Tony Cook 01793 853288 www.st-bartholomews.dsat.org.uk enquiries@st-bartholomews.dsat.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• Saint Bartholomew’s Primary Academy joined the Diocese of Salisbury Academy Trust in 2014.
• Saint Bartholomew’s Primary Academy is larger than the average primary school.
• The headteacher and deputy headteacher were appointed in September 2015. The proportions of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and who have education, health and care plans are above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is below the national average.
• The school met 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. The school meets the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on key stage 2 academic performance results in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited lessons jointly with senior leaders.
• A wide sample of pupils’ work, from all year groups, was scrutinised.
• Inspectors talked with groups of pupils from key stage 1 and 2 and from the school council, as well as with pupils informally across the site.
• Meetings were held with the trust’s chief executive officer, the academy improvement director, the headteacher, middle leaders and members of the governing body.
• Information and other documentary evidence were evaluated, including that relating to safeguarding, assessment, school evaluation and external reviews.
• The lead inspector took account of the 146 responses to and 65 comments in the online Parent View survey; the 26 responses to the online staff survey and the 13 responses to the online pupil survey.

Inspection team

Kathy Maddocks, lead inspector Andrew Lovett Faye Heming Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector