Drapers' Brookside Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and reduce inconsistencies by:
  • making effective use of sharing good practice from within the school
  • reinforcing high expectations for presentation and promptly addressing pupils’ misunderstandings
  • ensuring that teachers set tasks which accurately meet the needs of all learners
  • ensuring that time is always used productively in lessons.
• Accelerate pupils’ progress in key stage 1 reading, writing and mathematics, and in phonics, so that they achieve in line with national expected standards.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the school converted to an academy, it has had to deal with a number of difficulties. The most devastating was a major flood which damaged teaching resources and caused the school to move into temporary accommodation. Also, there was resistance to necessary change from some staff. A combination of these factors contributed to a decline in outcomes and standards in 2017 were well below the national average. Effective, strong leadership at all levels and decisive action by the headteacher has led the school in its recovery. Last year, standards improved although they remained below average and this is still the case.
• Significant changes have been made to staffing and to the curriculum since the school converted to an academy. Changes have been made to the reading and mathematics schemes of work. A greater emphasis has been placed upon developing language because of pupils’ low standards of communication on arrival at school. Leaders recognise the benefits of working with families, especially by supporting parents in how to read with their children. However, leaders accept that changes in approach – for example, to the teaching of phonics – have not yet had impact on achievement.
• Leaders review and analyse all aspects of the school’s performance regularly. They endeavour to ensure that everything they do has a positive impact. Leaders have high expectations of themselves and others, and pinpoint clear priorities for the school. They are reflective and seek improvement. They set challenging targets which focus on improving pupils’ progress.
• Teachers attend regular training sessions. This has enabled them to be confident in delivering recently introduced changes to the curriculum. Leaders ensure that performance management targets are specific and focus on pupils’ learning. However, follow-up from their monitoring of teaching is sometimes too slow and good practice is not always shared effectively. As a result, the quality of teaching is not consistently good and pupils do not achieve as well as they should.
• Subject leaders know what the end-of-year expectations are for each cohort and plan accordingly. Senior leaders work closely with subject leaders to review pupils’ progress. They plan a range of actions to address underachievement of specific groups - for example, white British pupils. ‘Catch up’ programmes are provided, including one to one support for identified pupils. Progress is systematically monitored and evaluated. There is evidence that this has improved, but too many inconsistencies remain in the quality of teaching for outcomes to yet be good.
• Leaders review the curriculum constantly with a view to it meeting the needs of all pupils. The school seeks to enthuse pupils and provide them with meaningful experiences. A range of wider learning opportunities is provided, including through visits and visitors. The local community is used effectively as a resource; for example, forest walks and the local library are used to support learning across a full range of subjects.
• Relationships with parents are strong. The school encourages them to follow up on their children’s learning. For example, parents are made aware of how to use social media to help with learning at home. There is a reading group to support parents to read with their children.
• The school’s values and curriculum support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well. School displays show information about other religions and faiths. Assemblies, and personal, social and health education help to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain and reinforce fundamental British values.
• Leaders evaluate the use of funding for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and check if it is spent effectively. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) provides strong strategic leadership. Staff are experienced and knowledgeable about all aspects of SEND provision.
• Leaders analyse and review the use of pupil premium funding to check if it is making a difference to the pupils it is meant to support. Personalised support is provided in and outside of lessons, and the funding also provides for a breakfast club.
• Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. Parents of children with SEND speak very positively about the support they have received.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a good understanding of the needs of the pupils, the improvements necessary and the next steps that need to be taken. They appreciate that outcomes are not as they would wish. They play a strategic role in the development of the school. They check on performance and are analytical in the questions they pose to challenge the school’s leaders. This is helped by their links to specific aspects of the school’s work. Finances are closely monitored, deployed carefully and their impact evaluated. Governors ensure that they hold leaders to account for the way they manage the performance of staff. They appreciate that continued improvement is necessary and are not complacent in their role.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have ensured that there is a strong culture of vigilance within the school. Robust systems enable the school to have accurate oversight of all their vulnerable pupils.
• Leaders work well with other agencies to ensure that pupils access the right services to support their needs. The high level of safeguarding work undertaken by the school is due to leaders being very knowledgeable about the specific needs of their community.
• Leaders ensure that all staff, including lunchtime supervisors, have regular training to enable them to spot any pupils at risk of potential harm. This includes how to keep pupils safe from radicalisation and female genital mutilation. All concerns are reported to the appropriate authorities. This includes appropriate contact with the counter-terrorism team.
• Leaders and governors have received training in the safer recruitment of staff. Checks on all staff appointed to the school are comprehensive and well recorded.
• Pupils said that they feel safe in school. Parents agreed that their children are kept safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Although some improvements have been made since the school became an academy, there are still too many inconsistencies in the quality of teaching at key stage 1. This leads to variability in the progress that pupils make.
• The school has implemented a new mathematics scheme. This is helping to ensure that a higher proportion of pupils reach the expected standard in the subject. However, planned activities do not always meet pupils’ needs. For example, some of the most-able pupils are set extension tasks but do not understand what is expected of them. When work for the least able is too difficult, teachers sometimes fail to recognise this and do not address their misconceptions or difficulties.
• A new and more consistent approach to the teaching of phonics is reflected in well-established routines in each class. Nevertheless, this approach has yet to show the desired impact across the curriculum, for example in the writing activities included in phonics sessions.
• Teachers are aware of the needs of different groups of pupils and endeavour to ensure that their needs are met. The school has a number of pupils who have complex learning and behavioural needs. Teachers provide appropriate additional support so that pupils with SEND can fully engage in lessons. For example, teachers work closely with the SENCo to plan specific programmes. Teachers have ensured that there are positive relationships with all pupils. Nevertheless, the impact of his work has yet to lead to good progress for these pupils.
• Teachers are consistent in ensuring that pupils concentrate in class. Pupils understand how they are expected to behave in lessons. Lessons are not disrupted by poor behaviour because pupils know what learning behaviours are required.
• ‘Learning intentions’ are shared with pupils, which they are required to copy into their books. However, many are copied inaccurately; consequently, this is not an effective use of time. Expectations of the presentation of work are inconsistent. This sometimes leads to a lack of progress. For example, pupils do not always use squares correctly in their mathematics books, which leads to inaccurate calculations.
• Teachers check pupils’ work regularly to monitor their progress. However, pupils’ misconceptions are not addressed quickly enough and the next steps in their learning are not made clear. This restricts pupils’ progress, as teachers do not move them on consistently in their learning.
• Pupils enjoy reading. They use their knowledge of phonics to try to sound out unfamiliar words. However, too often, the texts chosen are too challenging. Their limited vocabulary does not always enable them to be successful.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are happy and polite. They enjoy school and after-school clubs. Pupils learn key skills which prepare them well for life in 21st-century Britain. For example, Year 2 pupils learn about how to become employable in their ‘enterprise club’.
• Pupils speak enthusiastically about their work. They know that sometimes learning is hard, but they can ‘try, try and try again’. Comments such as ‘I love learning, so I can get smart’ and ‘I can do lots of things’ are typical of their views.
• Members of the school council enjoy their role and say that the school listens to their views. For example, they are raising money to improve the playground environment following their proposal.
• Pupils are respectful of each other. They are kind and look after one another. Pupils with SEND and those from deprived backgrounds are integrated well into the school. Pupils talk enthusiastically about making friends.
• The school’s values and the curriculum support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils talk about people in need and how they can help, for example through charities. They demonstrate an increasing understanding of fundamental British values. For example, they were able to explain about the remembrance commemoration. They are well prepared for life in 21st-century Britain.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils said that they have seen the school improve because of a focus on behaviour.
• Behaviour around the school is calm. During the inspection, behaviour in classrooms, in the playground and in corridors, was never less than good. Leaders stated that this is typical and this is confirmed by school documentation. Pupils respond promptly to teachers’ instructions.
• Pupils fully understand the high expectations on behaviour. Rewards and sanctions are applied consistently, in line with school policy. Pupils talk positively about behaviour strategies, including the ‘class dojo’, which, through rewarding pupils, has helped to improve behaviour throughout the school.
• Attendance, although below the national average, is improving. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent remains too high but is reducing. Effective systems are in place to follow up absence. Attendance is seen as a key factor in promoting good progress and sustaining positive relationships with parents. Pupils said that teachers care for their well-being and will help if they have any problems.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• After the disappointment of 2017, the 2018 key stage 1 outcomes improved in all subjects. However, standards remained below the national average, especially for white British pupils.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard increased in each subject. More pupils achieved the higher standard, especially in mathematics. However, while recognising that current pupils started school with low starting points, work in their books shows that their progress is still not strong enough for them to attain in line with expected standards. Consequently, most pupils start key stage 2 underprepared in the core skills of reading, writing and mathematics.
• Outcomes in the phonics screening check also remain below the national averages. Recent changes in the teaching of phonics suggest that these are beginning to improve.
• Subject leaders have an accurate and detailed understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in each year group. They are well aware of the need to improve progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics for disadvantaged pupils. The school’s assessment information suggests that their plans are having some impact in both the early years and in key stage 1.
• More targeted interventions are accelerating progress, but the overall progress of pupils with SEND is less than it should be.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the Nursery with starting points well below age-related skills, especially in speech and language. Good progress is made in the Nursery. Nevertheless, on entry to the Reception Year, children still have skills and knowledge which are typically below those seen nationally. As a result of good teaching, children make good progress in all areas of learning. Although most children did not reach the standard expected by the end of Reception. Significant improvement was made in the proportion of children reaching a good level of development in the 2018 assessments.
• Key leadership actions have been a major factor in improving provision and outcomes. For example, leaders have ensured that there are experienced practitioners in both the Nursery and Reception years. Both provide strong leadership. They are enthusiastic and proactive. The school is part of a national pilot for the early years and leaders are taking this opportunity to prepare children better for future developments nationally.
• The school has led an initiative to improve the health of children. They identified that the diet of young children contained too much sugar which was decaying their teeth. Working closely with the National Health Service, toothbrushes and toothpaste have been provided. Children have been taught to use their toothbrushes and clean their teeth regularly at school. A display in the entrance to the Nursery provides information for parents about the amount of sugar in drinks and how to find a dentist.
• Leaders have a good understanding of the main strengths and areas to develop. Adults plan well for the range of needs. The school reports that many children enter the Nursery not toilet trained. Leaders identify differences in learning and ways to diminish them. They pay particular attention to language and communication and the personal and social aspects of learning. For example, role play using a café helps Reception children make healthy choices and promotes independence. Adults model language well and encourage children to talk with one another.
• Teachers assess children’s progress accurately through observations and discussions about their work. In the Reception Year, the school’s ‘planning in the moment’ initiative has helped to improve children’s self-confidence and learning behaviour. It has also provided good support for conversations with parents. Adults identify successes and provide opportunities for future learning.
• Teachers provide a full range of activities to develop children’s skills. For example, the recently introduced assessment of children’s drawing skills is helping to improve their writing because children are practising their fine-motor skills.
• Children behave well. They demonstrate increasing confidence, independence and perseverance, listen well and take part cooperatively in all activities.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 142966 Havering 10058858 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 3 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 220 Appropriate authority Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Board of trustees Stephen Foakes Angela Winch 01708 343066 www.drapersbrookside.com infantadmin@drapersbrookside.com Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Brookside Infant is a two-form entry school with Nursery provision.
• The school is part of a multi-academy trust of five schools.
• Each school in the trust has its own governing body, with delegated powers.
• The majority of pupils are from a white British background.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is high and above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is in the top 20% nationally.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in parts of 36 lessons.
• Senior leaders accompanied inspectors to the majority of these. They looked at work in pupils’ books and listened to key stage 1 pupils reading.
• Meetings were held with groups of pupils, school staff, six members of the governing body and two members of the multi-academy trust. A phone call was made with the school’s improvement partner.
• Inspectors took account of the written contributions from 44 parents and two anonymous complaints. Inspectors also talked with parents as they brought their children to school at the start of the day.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including planning and monitoring documentation, records related to behaviour and attendance, and documents related to safeguarding.
• Inspectors took into consideration the 18 responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Rick Barnes, lead inspector Laura Pease

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector

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