Butlers Court School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Butlers Court School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be at this school. Many pupils take on volunteering roles as buddies and ambassadors.

This is because they want to give something back to the school by helping other pupils. They feel a keen sense of belonging, which is aided by well-judged assemblies and clear expectations for all.

Pupils feel well supported.

Staff take time to get to know each individual well. This gives pupils confidence to try hard in their lessons and the activities they undertake. They know that they will receive help if needed.

Pupils are taught to be resilient. They are w...illing to persevere to master difficult tasks. Pupils of all ages learn and remember more because of the high-quality teaching they receive.

As a result, pupils achieve well and are prepared for their next stage.

Pupils' behaviour is very good. They are taught to be respectful and caring towards each other.

Pupils strive to meet the school's values and enjoy singing each value's theme during assembly. This helps them to remember their shared values and strengthens the school community. The few pupils who find maintaining positive behaviour more difficult are sensitively aided to improve.

Rewards systems encourage pupils to recognise and develop their own highly positive attitudes to learning.

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

Leaders have continued to focus on making improvements to the school since the last inspection. Recent curriculum developments are helping pupils build their knowledge in a deliberate and consistent way.

Subject vocabulary has been prioritised. This gives pupils the words they need to describe and explore their learning more clearly. Pupils often have the chance to discuss their work with each other.

This practice helps them develop precise understanding of each topic.

The quality of education at the school is good. Pupils enjoy their lessons and are positive about their learning.

Teachers use a variety of techniques to help pupils learn. As such, pupils benefit from a calm, focused learning environment. The targeted questioning of teachers helps pupils to make links with previous learning.

Because of this, pupils are confident in applying what they already know to the interesting new topics they explore.

Teachers' subject knowledge is strong in many of the subjects they teach. Where curriculum development is ongoing, leaders have not yet ensured that all teachers have the depth of subject knowledge that they need.

As a result, opportunities to teach pupils important knowledge and skills are sometimes missed. Consequently, pupils do not learn as much as they could.

In most lessons, teachers help pupils recap and recall what has previously been taught.

Teachers are careful to ensure that lesson activities meet the differing needs of the pupils they teach. This is particularly evident for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Time is taken to identify the needs of these pupils and to consider what extra support they might require to achieve well.

Consequently, pupils with SEND confidently and eagerly learn the same curriculum as their classmates.

Reading is a central part of everything the school does. Year 6 pupils delight in the way they have been encouraged to read throughout their time in the school.

They work as library and reading ambassadors and encourage others to become passionate readers. Early reading has been recently redeveloped to strengthen the school's already effective practice further. Therefore, phonics teaching in Reception ensures that pupils quickly become confident and fluent readers who enjoy the books they explore.

Pupils recognise and value that their teachers know them well. Pupils recognise how the positive relationships with teachers help them to learn. Pupils take great pride in their work.

Children in Reception are keen to practise their reading and writing within a wide range of activities. Reception staff are diligent in encouraging children to develop their communication skills through describing and discussing their learning.

The majority of pupils attend school regularly.

For those who find this more difficult, the school provides targeted help. As a result, pupils with previously low attendance now attend well.

Pupils' wider development is a strength of the school.

All staff, including governors, have a deep commitment to ensuring that pupils receive an enriched education. The school carefully considers the opportunities given to disadvantaged pupils, to make sure they benefit as much as possible from the experiences on offer. Pupils talk with excitement about the trips and activities they have undertaken, and they speak with anticipation of those to come.

Parents also highly value their child's school experiences and were overwhelmingly positive in their responses to Ofsted's Parent View questionnaire.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, not all staff have the subject knowledge they need to deliver the curriculum as confidently as they do in other areas.

Because of this, not all pupils get the support they need to learn as much as they could. The school should continue to develop staff's subject knowledge so they can deliver all subjects with assurance.

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 October 2013.

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