Bradley Barton Primary School and Nursery Unit

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Bradley Barton Primary School and Nursery Unit continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Bradley Barton Primary is an inclusive school. Relationships between staff and pupils are positive. Leaders have high expectations for behaviour.

Pupils are kind and friendly and play well together.

Pupils are keen to learn. They are encouraged to see failure as a stepping stone in their education.

Pupils relish the opportunities planned as part of the curriculum 'vehicles'. They enjoy the trips, such as the Year 1 trip to Babbacombe Model Village, that help them learn in different ways. As a result, pupils achieve well in most subjects.

Pu...pils say that their 'class commitments' and 'playground promises' help them understand right and wrong. From early years onwards, children learn about the impact of their actions. Bullying is rare.

Adults take any worries about unkindness seriously and swiftly act to address it. Participation in the range of clubs, such as those for gymnastics, model-making and cheerleading, is high. Pupils proudly represent their school in a range of sporting competitions.

Many parents and carers praise the school's work. They talk positively about the ways in which the staff help their children to thrive. One parent said that the school is a 'nurturing community that holds the interests of each of the children at the centre of everything that they do'.

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

Leaders ensure that there is high ambition for children right from Nursery through to the end of Year 6. They have developed a well-thought-out curriculum that inspires pupils with interesting activities. In most subjects, they have ensured that pupils' understanding builds step by step.

Teachers' checks are effective. At the beginning of each lesson, they use retrieval tasks such as 'remembering activities' to ensure that pupils are able to recall important information. However, in a small number of subjects, this work is still ongoing.

Leaders have not yet identified all the essential knowledge that pupils are to learn. This means that pupils can be introduced to new ideas before they are ready. As a result, in these subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they could.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They accurately identify pupils' needs and put appropriate support in place. In class, adults skilfully adapt activities to ensure that pupils with SEND learn alongside their peers.

As a result, pupils with SEND progress well across the curriculum.

The culture of reading is evident in every corner of this school. Pupils are taught the necessary skills to read fluently and with understanding.

This starts from Nursery. Children learn sounds quickly and practise these by reading carefully selected books. If pupils find reading hard as they get older, teachers prioritise their support.

Pupils enjoy listening to the range of exciting stories read to them by their teachers. This opens new worlds of genres and authors for the pupils to explore.

Leaders have worked hard to raise expectations in mathematics.

The new curriculum is well planned and carefully sequenced. This starts from early years, where children have frequent opportunities to explore number. Older pupils' workbooks contain high-quality work and evidence of reasoning, where pupils explain and justify their answers to problems.

Leaders ensure those pupils at risk of falling behind are given the support they need to catch up.

The provision for pupils' personal development is a strength. Leaders place a strong emphasis on supporting pupils' social and emotional well-being.

As part of an exciting outdoor curriculum, pupils learn to care for the environment. They grow plants from seed, and then harvest and sell their produce to parents. Pupils are keen to take on responsibility.

This starts in early years with the 'learning detectives'. Older pupils delight in the opportunities to lead as house captains or digital leaders. They learn about democracy through the school council.

These pupils take an active role in the school, including by interviewing potential headteacher candidates. Pupils are taught about a range of religions as part of the curriculum. As a result, pupils respect the fact that others may have views and beliefs that are different from their own.

Pupils behave consistently well. This begins in early years where children learn to play alongside each other in the well-planned areas. Children share toys and work cooperatively to solve tasks.

Older pupils enjoy answering questions and working together to solve problems. Pupils are quick to praise their friends. They delight in celebrating each other's accomplishments.

Governors know their school well. They ask challenging questions to hold leaders to account. Staff and leaders work well together.

Staff appreciate the way in which leaders consider their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Pupils understand road safety and how to keep safe when using computers.

They also know that they can talk to any adult in school if they are upset or worried. Leaders write to parents weekly with the e-safety 'tip of the week'.

The safeguarding culture is strong because staff know pupils and their families very well.

Staff are trained to spot any concerns and report any issue promptly. Safeguarding leaders deal with matters quickly, liaising well with external agencies if needed. Leaders make all the required safety checks on new staff, volunteers and visitors.

These checks are recorded meticulously.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, the curriculum does not set out in enough detail the small steps that must be taught. This means that staff do not always know the key knowledge that pupils need to learn.

As a result, pupils do not build on what they already know. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is well planned from Nursery to Year 6.

Background

When we have judged a school to be 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 February 2012.