Bailey’s Court Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Bailey's Court Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Bailey's Court Primary is a warm and welcoming school. It celebrates the variety of cultures and languages in its community at every opportunity. Pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, benefit from the support they receive and achieve well.

Pupils enjoy school, are understanding of others and develop a mature understanding of the world around them.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils behave well.

They are polite and well mannered. Children in the early years sustain their attention and respond enthusiastically... to the routines that are in place. Pupils of all ages play well together during social times.

They enjoy using the materials from the 'pod' to create games or make dens.

Relationships are strong across the school. Staff know the pupils well.

Pupils feel safe and say they are listened to. This helps them to have confidence to share any worries or concerns they may have.

Pupils enjoy a range of clubs on offer to them such as drama, tag rugby, and skipping.

They talk with pride about their roles as buddies or members of the consultation group. Pupils understand how these roles help them to set a positive example to others.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has a clear vision for what it wants all pupils to achieve.

It accurately understands what it does well and where is needs to improve. The curriculum is designed well. It identifies the important knowledge and skills that pupils must learn.

Reading is central to the school's work. Pupils understand the importance of reading and talk about the way in which reading takes them away to different places. Children begin learning phonics as soon as they start school.

They learn and remember new sounds well. Staff have the expertise to teach the phonics curriculum effectively. They provide additional support for pupils who fall behind with their reading.

This helps these pupils to catch up quickly. As pupils move through the school, they read with increasing accuracy, fluency and expression.

The mathematics curriculum is designed and sequenced well.

In the early years, teachers use songs and rhymes to develop children's early mathematical understanding. Children respond well to this, confidently describing patterns in number. Teachers model mathematical concepts and routinely check on pupils' understanding.

Pupils build their understanding well because of this. For example, older pupils can use their mathematical knowledge when interpreting line graphs.

Pupils build their knowledge well in most wider curriculum subjects.

However, in a minority subjects, pupils' knowledge is less secure. In geography, for example, the curriculum is new. The checks the school makes on pupils' learning are not yet used well enough to ensure that pupils remember the most important knowledge over time.

While some pupils confidently talk about concepts such as land use or renewable energy, others struggle. Some pupils find it difficult to make links to what they have learned before about different places and apply this knowledge to their current learning. This hampers the progress that some pupils make.

The school knows the needs of an increasing number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. It identifies these needs promptly. Staff adapt learning to meet the individual needs of pupils with an educational health care plan (EHCP).

Across the school, most pupils progress as well as their peers through the school's curriculum.

Pupils develop positive attitudes towards school. This starts in the early years where children follow instructions, are eager to share their learning and work well with one another.

The school takes appropriate steps to work with parents and external agencies to promote the importance of regular attendance. As a result, its work is helping to improve attendance for many pupils, particularly those whose attendance has been low in the past.

The school provides an excellent range of opportunities that enhance pupils' personal development.

Pupils develop their character by working with local industries and raising money for foodbanks. They enjoy learning in a forest setting about the environment around them. Pupils talk confidently about British values such as democracy and individual liberty.

They show high levels of respect and understanding to different faiths and beliefs. Consequently, they are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Governors provide effective support and challenge to the school.

They know the school well. Staff appreciate the team spirit that exists in the school. They value the training they receive which helps them to strengthen their expertise.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some subject curriculums are new. Where this is the case, assessment is not yet used well enough to check that pupils have remembered the knowledge they have been taught and to decide next steps in learning.

As a result, some pupils do not build their knowledge well enough over time. The school needs to ensure that assessment is used effectively to check on what pupils know and can do, so that they are well prepared for their next stage.

Background

When we have judged good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2017.