Botley School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a rapidly improving school. Recent work to improve the curriculum, supported by the trust, is having a positive impact.

However, the quality of teaching in essential areas, such as reading, writing, and mathematics, still needs to improve as reflected in the published low outcomes for pupils.

Positive relationships between pupils and staff are very important here. Staff often go to great lengths to support pupils and their families.

Pupils speak highly of the adults and show great respect towards them. Any unkind behaviour, such as bullying, is dealt with quickly and sensitively. As a result, pupils are happy at this welcoming school, where difference...s between people are valued and nurtured.

They feel safe and have confidence in staff to address any concerns on the rare occasions this is needed.

Personal development is a particular strength of the school's offer. The school's values of inclusivity, teamwork, kindness, respect, resilience, and creativity run through everything it does.

Pupils are taught how to work and play together nicely. They behave well and take pride in their work. Pupils are given a wide range of opportunities to develop talents and interests.

They are also encouraged to take on positions of responsibility to support their school community.

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

This school is well led. Decisive leadership within the school and unwavering support from the trust have brought stability.

Staff and those responsible for governance are united around a shared vision and are working together effectively to drive improvements. As a result, the school environment is calm, purposeful, and welcoming to all. A well-thought-out curriculum is in place.

This is ambitious and sets out the essential knowledge pupils should learn from early years to the end of key stage 2. However, despite these significant improvements, the quality of education is not yet good enough.

The curriculum is not taught consistently well.

Despite evidence of strong leadership across many aspects of the provision on offer, the school has not yet carefully checked or evaluated the delivery of the curriculum with enough rigour. This means that, at times, weaknesses in how well some staff deliver the curriculum, including in writing, mathematics and phonics, are not identified or addressed. This includes pupils' misconceptions in mathematics and basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors in their writing.

Over time, this has meant pupils have gaps in their knowledge, and are not achieving as well as they could. This is reflected in the results of 2023 national tests. Conversely, in some subjects in the wider curriculum, teaching is better and enables the pupils to achieve well.

Leaders know that they need to address inconsistencies in the quality of teaching in order to improve how well pupils learn across the curriculum.

The school's phonics programme is not delivered consistently well. Not all staff have had the training they need to deliver it confidently and with expertise.

This can mean that the weakest readers do not always get the support they need, and children do not always read books that are well matched to their level of learning. As a result, some pupils do not get the support and practise they need to become fluent readers as quickly as they could.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported.

Teachers have clear plans to help them meet their pupils' needs and implement a range of strategies to help pupils access the curriculum.

The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour and the pastoral care on offer is a strength. Many pupils show positive attitudes to their learning, including in social situations.

When pupils demonstrate challenging behaviour, staff take effective and supportive action to enable pupils to re-engage in their learning.

In the early years, the curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, to ensure children's knowledge builds from Nursery and into Reception. Activities are well planned by knowledgeable staff and learning is engaging and purposeful.

The environment is rich with opportunities for children to deepen their understanding of the curriculum. The high expectations of staff ensure routines are well established, meaning children know what is expected of them each day.

The personal development curriculum is a strength.

Pupils can confidently talk about different cultures and religions. They celebrate and welcome each other's views and beliefs and have a secure knowledge of fundamental British values. The school goes the extra mile to ensure all pupils can access and benefit from various opportunities to develop different talents and interests.

Pupil leadership opportunities allow them to develop important life skills and enable them to contribute actively to their schooling.

Local governors and trustees know the school's strengths and weaknesses and provide particularly effective support and challenge to the school. Close regard is paid to the impact of improvements on staff workload and well-being.

As a result, staff feel valued and supported in their roles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Although curriculum planning is now secure, the teaching of the curriculum is inconsistent.

This means that the quality of pupils' learning in different subjects varies, so they do not reach their full potential. The school should build on and strengthen the implementation of the curriculum so that gaps in pupils' learning are closed and their outcomes continue to improve in all subjects. ? In many subjects, the school is not yet effective in evaluating the delivery and impact of the curriculum.

This means that some weaknesses are not identified and acted on in a timely manner. This hinders pupils' achievement in these subjects. The school should ensure that it has the processes and actions in place to further improve the quality of education.

• The school has not provided some staff with the training they need to expertly support pupils at the earlier stages of learning to read. As a result, these pupils do not consistently benefit from the high-quality teaching that they need to rapidly become fluent readers. The school should ensure that all staff supporting the phonics programme have the skills and expertise they need to deliver the phonics programme effectively and with confidence.

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