Barnfields Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

The school successfully builds on the excellent start children make in Nursery and Reception. Progress is good throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. Reading is a particular strength.

Currently, pupils are achieving well. Year 6 pupils are on track to leave the school with standards in English and mathematics that are high, and much better than those achieved last year. Teaching is good and some is outstanding.

Activities are usually interesting and challenging. Teaching assistants know the pupils they work with well, and do a good job in helping them make progress. Pupils' attitudes to learning and their behaviour are excellent.
...r/>Pupils feel very safe and happy at school. Their attendance is above average. Senior leaders and the governing body have successfully improved teaching and achievement in Key Stage 2, following a dip in results last year.

The wide range of subjects and other activities routinely offered to pupils contribute very well to pupils' personal skills as well as enriching their overall learning. Links with parents are very strong. The school has their confidence.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teachers do not consistently set work that demands enough of all pupils. Marking of pupils' written work and checks made during lessons are not always sufficiently precise to help pupils to do better. Some pupils do not spell or use grammar well enough.

The checks made by senior and subject leaders do not focus enough on the progress different groups of pupils make in lessons and in their written work.

Information about this school

This is a larger-than-average primary school. There is a part-time nursery for mornings only.

There is another pre-school nursery class, as well as before- and after-school clubs, on the school site, but these facilities are not managed by the governing body and were not part of this inspection. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is average.

The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is below average. This is extra funding provided by the government to support pupils who are known to be or have been eligible for free school meals, and those cared for by the local authority. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.

A very small minority are from a range of minority ethnic groups, a few of whom speak English as an additional language. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in Year 6. The headteacher is a local leader of education and has provided support to a school causing concern within the local authority.

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