Beaufort Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Beaufort Community Primary is a good school.

The headteacher has a well-judged approach to leadership, and has developed a strong team spirit among the staff, with good support from the assistant headteachers. Most members of staff who completed the questionnaire agreed that they were proud of the school, and that their contribution was valued. This results in the strongly positive ethos, which is praised by parents and carers.

Almost all of those who returned a questionnaire agreed that their children enjoy school, and the very great majority were happy with their children's experience. One delighted parent wrote that, 'The headteacher has done a fabulous job at Beaufort. Beaufort staff valu...e every child.'

Another described it as a 'fantastic school that has improved month by month', while a third commented that, 'Beaufort Primary has improved greatly in the last three or four years'. Members of the teaching and support staff share the headteacher's inclusive vision, and this leads to their close, trusting relationships with the pupils. The positive atmosphere is well set with the children in the Reception classes, and pervades the whole school.

Staff are particularly good at identifying and supporting pupils' needs. Pupils' good personal development is the result of the strong emphasis on pastoral care. Pupils' attendance is low, but is rapidly improving as a result of the range of measures taken by the school.

Children get off to a satisfactory start in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Although children's achievement in most aspects of learning in this Stage reaches expectations, their achievement in reading and writing is markedly lower. Staff assess children's progress carefully, but do not always make full use of this information in planning the next steps in their learning in these subjects.

Pupils' achievement is good by the end of Key Stage 2. Over the last three years, attainment has been broadly average by the end of Year 6. However, attainment is higher and progress is better in English than in mathematics.

Pupils' good progress is the result of good teaching. The senior leadership team provides strong ambition and drive, leading to the secure climate for learning. Leaders collaborate well to evaluate outcomes and provision.

Weaknesses that were identified at the last inspection have been successfully addressed. For instance, teaching now involves better challenge because of improved lesson planning and the more consistent match of tasks to pupils of different levels of ability. Behaviour and attentiveness are now good.

The use of data to track attainment and progress has improved. There are well-developed arrangements to monitor the effectiveness of teaching through regular observations, and scrutiny of teachers' planning and of pupils' work, resulting in robust self-evaluation. Given these developments, the school has a good capacity to sustain improvement.

Information about the school

Beaufort Community Primary School is located on the outskirts of Woking and is of a similar size to the average primary school. The large majority of pupils are of White British or of Other White heritage, and others are from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds. The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is broadly average.

The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average. The number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, principally moderate learning difficulties, is broadly average. The Early Years Foundation Stage provision consists of two Reception classes.

The breakfast club and the after-school club, which are managed by the governing body, were also included in this inspection. The school has achieved national accreditations including the Healthy Schools and Activemark awards and the Basic Skills Quality Mark. It is also an Investor in People.