Barncroft Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Barncroft Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a nurturing and inclusive school that welcomes pupils into its caring community. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. They are based on mutual respect and trust.

Pupils know that dedicated staff are there to help them if they are worried about anything. As a result, pupils feel safe and happy. The majority of pupils work hard to meet the school's high expectations for achievement and behaviour.

From the youngest children to the oldest pupils, staff notice and praise positive actions and attitudes. ...This helps build a harmonious ethos. Published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 are positive, with pupils achieving well.

The school encourages pupils to develop a sense of responsibility. Pupils are proud to take on a range of leadership roles, such as house captains and head boy or girl, as well as being members of the elected school council. Each part of the school day, from breakfast club to after-school clubs, has a clear purpose to build pupils' character and confidence.

Pupils embrace all that the school has to offer. The school provides an exciting array of experiences. These include residential trips, visitors and sporting occasions.

These wider opportunities not only build on pupils' learning but also help to foster a sense of belonging and increase self-esteem. The values of the school are lived and breathed by pupils and adults alike.

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

The school has identified the right areas to focus on for school improvement.

In the majority of subjects, the school has identified exactly what pupils should learn and the order in which they should learn it. This helps teachers build on previous learning securely before moving the learning on. Teachers also keep a close eye on what must be remembered over time to help spot gaps in knowledge or misconceptions.

For some subjects in the wider curriculum, teaching does not always focus on the essential knowledge pupils must routinely learn well. The school has not yet identified exactly what pupils should learn and in what order. This means that pupils do not build on prior knowledge securely in these areas.

As a result, in these aspects of their learning, pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

Reading is a top priority. Teachers have secure subject knowledge and benefit from skilful coaching.

Staff ensure that swift interventions help pupils keep up with the phonics programme. The school makes sure that pupils read books that help them to practise the sounds they know. The sharp focus on those at the early stages of reading helps pupils gain the fluency and confidence they need to succeed.

Staff identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly. The school has the required expertise to adapt learning for pupils with SEND. For example, targeted speech and language work identifies the support younger children with communication and language issues may need before they join in the early years.

Most pupils with SEND are supported to access the same curriculum as other pupils. Some pupils need more targeted support, including for their behaviour. These pupils receive personalised help that ensures they learn effectively.

The school environment is generally calm and purposeful. Most pupils are polite and well behaved, as their teachers expect them to be. When reminders are necessary, adults help pupils to make positive choices and learn from their mistakes.

Leaders have recently changed their approach to managing pupils' behaviour. This is to provide more support for those pupils who struggle to manage their emotions. However, it is too early to see the impact of this work.

While attendance is not yet high, it is improving for many pupils. The school works exceptionally well with others to find solutions when pupils find it hard to go to school. The robust systems are firmly established and make a difference.

Where attendance remains a concern, the school works diligently with families to offer them the help they need, but also to hold them to account.

The personal development programme successfully promotes the school's ethos of acceptance and inclusion. The well-planned provision helps pupils to become kind, thoughtful young people who respect and appreciate the diversity of the world they live in.

This strong aspect of the school prepares pupils very well for life in modern Britain.

Leaders and governors work with determination to secure improvements in the daily experience of pupils. Governors provide effective oversight of the school's work.

They have robust systems in place to assure themselves that actions are taken in the best interests of pupils. Staff appreciate the opportunities for professional development and leaders' concern for their well-being. They feel valued and are very proud to work at the school.

Since the last inspection, the governors now manage a pre-school provision following an amalgamation, widening the school's offer.

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 foundation subjects, the curriculum design and assessment are not as refined as they should be.

As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school should identify the key knowledge and skills it intends pupils to learn and remember. This will help teachers check pupils' understanding, build on pupils' prior knowledge and inform future teaching.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2020.

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