Broom Cottages Primary & Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning to secure better outcomes for pupils by ensuring that:
  • in all subjects teachers use the information that they know about pupils to plan lessons that effectively challenge them all
  • leaders ensure that all teachers follow consistently the school’s best practice to develop pupils’ skills, especially in reading and mathematics.
• Improve the quality of the teaching of reading in key stage 2 by making sure that teachers:
  • take pupils’ prior learning into account when planning tasks
  • effectively plan activities that develop pupils’ understanding of what they are reading.
• Improve the quality of teaching in mathematics by ensuring that:
  • teachers take into account information on pupils’ starting points so that they plan learning that meets pupils’ needs well
  • all staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, especially for disadvantaged pupils in mathematics
  • pupils are given sufficient opportunities to demonstrate their understanding by applying skills through problem-solving and reasoning
  • leaders monitor the progress of disadvantaged pupils across year groups in mathematics.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and his leadership team have been successful in developing a caring and nurturing culture, which ensures that pupils are happy to learn and behave well.
• The leadership team demonstrates a significant dedication to improve the school. The deputy headteacher supports the headteacher very effectively. Their priorities are clear. As a result, the focus of their activities remains strongly on improving teaching. Leadership in the early years provision is strong.
• Subject leaders have determinedly supported teachers to develop their knowledge and expertise. As a result, teachers have benefited from training opportunities and built on their knowledge and skills. This is helping to improve the quality of teaching. However, it has not yet had time to have full impact.
• Senior leaders have planned a well-balanced curriculum that provides pupils with experiences across a wide range of subjects. This curriculum is enhanced by a variety of special events, for example Mini Olympics and the Goblin Kart Project. Pupils explore other countries and cultures, such as China and Australia. As a result, they have many opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world.
• At the school’s last inspection, although there was information on pupil performance, this information lacked effective analysis. Since then, leaders have put in place progress meetings to discuss pupils’ attainment and progress. Leaders are using this information to identify pupils who fall behind and those pupils who could achieve more. A very clear programme of interventions for pupils ensures that those who need to catch up receive good support. However, the school’s information is less effective for disadvantaged pupils in mathematics.
• Leaders’ interventions to raise standards in reading, writing and mathematics across school have resulted in improved standards in early years, Year 1 phonics and in the combined expected standard, and above, at the end of key stage 2. However, the school’s information shows a variation in the progress across some year groups. Leaders acknowledge that this is related to the quality of teaching. While teaching is improving, it is not yet consistently good.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding effectively. They are determined to provide the best support for disadvantaged pupils across the school. The school’s approach to considering pupils’ learning and pastoral needs has led to disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and disabilities making better progress than in the past. However, progress by the end of key stage 2 in mathematics in 2018 was below the average for disadvantaged pupils.
• As a result of leaders’ effective use of the sports premium funding, teachers’ expertise in teaching sport is developing well. Pupils are increasing their participation in sport and tournaments. Leaders evaluate and scrutinise the impact of this funding well.
• Parents who spoke with inspectors were very supportive of the school and the improvements that they have seen. A small number of parents made their views clear by responding to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View. All were very positive about the progress that their children made, though a few commented on some negative pupil behaviour.

Governance of the school

• The records of governors’ meetings show that governors challenge leaders and contribute to the school’s improvement planning. They continue to develop their capacity and expertise to enable them to be even more effective in their roles.
• Governors meet regularly and use their individual skills to support the headteacher. For example, one of the governors was the previous deputy headteacher, and now supports the headteacher well and contributes to discussions on teaching and learning.
• Governors make recommendations and ask challenging questions about pupils’ progress and attendance. Governors, subsequently, identified funding to appoint a member of staff for raising attendance.
• Governors monitor closely how additional funding is used, and they ask leaders to show the impact of this expenditure on pupils’ outcomes.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Safeguarding policies and procedures are effective. Any accidents or behavioural incidents are carefully recorded and followed up efficiently by staff.
• Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. They do not feel that bullying or bad behaviour is an issue in their school.
• Staff, including those new to the school, are fully trained about potential risks to pupils and are clear about what to do if they have concerns about a pupil.
• Pupils, especially vulnerable pupils, are supported well. Leaders work with a range of external agencies to follow up concerns and put in place effective support for vulnerable pupils.
• Detailed checks are made on all adults who work or volunteer in the school, and visitors are supervised at all times. Appropriate procedures are followed to recruit staff safely.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching is variable and, because it is not consistently good, requires improvement. Not all adults have high enough expectations of what pupils can do and achieve. Pupils’ rates of progress and learning across different year groups are also, as a result, variable over time.
• The teaching of reading is not consistently effective across key stage 2. Although leaders have reading as a school action for improvement and there is some strong teaching, it is not having a strong enough impact in all year groups. In some weaker reading sessions, pupils read without a good understanding of the words in the text.
• The teaching of phonics is effective because of the structured approach applied by staff. Teachers are confident in their subject knowledge, and they accurately model sounds. There is a consistent approach to this when children transfer from early years into Year 1.
• There is an increased focus in mathematics on problem-solving and reasoning. Teachers are also providing more opportunities for pupils to apply their skills in different contexts. This year’s practice, though new, is helping to bring about improvements in pupils’ work. However, the practice is not yet consistently applied across school to ensure that pupils in all year groups, and especially disadvantaged pupils, make consistently strong progress.
• Writing is taught well. Handwriting and presentation of work have improved since the last inspection. Pupils’ books show that they are building on previous learning and acquiring new skills. They have opportunities to write at length regularly, and across a range of genres.
• Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities benefit from good support with their learning. Skilled help ensures that most individual pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make positive progress from their starting points.
• Teachers set homework regularly, in line with the school policy, to promote home learning. Most parents say that the work given is helpful for their child.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Senior leaders and staff understand the needs of pupils and their families and provide effective care and support for them. The special educational needs co-ordinator and parent support adviser have developed a consistent and coordinated approach to supporting vulnerable pupils. The school’s work with external agencies is highly effective in identifying pupils’ needs and in offering appropriate support when required.
• Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy school and feel safe. They say that staff are available to deal with any concerns or worries that they may have. In lessons, pupils learn about how to stay safe. They told the inspector that they know how to stay safe online.
• Pupils say that bullying is rare. They are aware of the different forms it can take and who to report bullying to should it occur. During the inspection, Year 5 pupils said that they enjoy being a buddy to help other children with their worries.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through lessons and assemblies. Pupils are engaged in a number of fundraising activities, including ‘The Great North Ambulance’, where they met ‘Miles the Bear’.
• Pupils spoke positively about their school community saying, ‘We are all a family.’
• The breakfast club provides a positive start to pupils’ school day. The school provides healthy snacks and a friendly space for pupils to meet at the start of the day.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school. They respond well in lessons and are enthusiastic about their learning. Pupils and staff treat each other respectfully and enjoy positive relationships. This helps lessons to flow smoothly, and pupils remain focused on their tasks.
• Even in instances where tasks are undemanding or too difficult, pupils behave well. Inspectors did not observe any incidents of misbehaviour or low-level disruption during visits in class, and this is reflected in pupils’ typical experiences.
• Vulnerable pupils are supported well. The school works effectively with a range of agencies to ensure that additional support is put in place quickly.
• Pupils have a good understanding of the behaviour system. They understand the rewards and sanctions in place to support positive conduct. They believe the system is effective in ensuring that there is good behaviour in school.
• Pupils behave well around the school. They have polite, purposeful conversations with their peers in lessons and behave well when they are supervised. On occasion, a very small proportion of pupils’ behaviour falls below the school’s high standard.
• Leaders monitor attendance rigorously. The vast majority of pupils attend regularly. The school has effective and rigorous systems in place to work with families to improve attendance. It makes considerable efforts to improve the attendance of those pupils who are persistently absent.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Work in pupils’ books shows that not all teachers set tasks to move pupils’ learning forward from their starting points. This limits learning for pupils.
• The proportion of Year 6 pupils who reached the expected standard for reading, writing and mathematics in 2018, though increased, was below national averages. This meant a significant number were not suitably prepared for secondary school. While there is evidence that current pupils’ attainment across the years is rising, pupils are not making good overall progress across school. This is confirmed in the work of pupils.
• A greater proportion of the most able pupils achieved greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics in 2018 than the previous year. Teachers plan activities that stretch and challenge pupils, and in lessons pupils relish the opportunity to go beyond what is typically expected.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils is too slow in mathematics.
• While there has been a school-wide focus on developing reading skills, this is not consistently effective across school. Some pupils’ comprehension skills are not well enough developed in key stage 2.
• Pupils’ basic number skills are developing well. They learn to use formal methods of calculation and their mental recall of number facts is accurate. Their application of these skills to solve problems, undertake practical work or investigate ideas is less well developed. This means they do not deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts as well as they could.
• The quality of pupils’ writing has improved. In 2017, though attainment was lower than the national average in writing by the end of key stage 2, the progress that the pupils made from key stage 1 was above the national average of those pupils with similar prior attainment.
• In key stage 1, in 2017 the proportion of pupils achieving at the expected standard was at or above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. The school’s own assessment information shows that this is likely to be so again in 2018.
• Pupils make good progress in developing their phonics skills as a result of systematic teaching. Consequently, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 is near to the national average.
• Support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is helping some individual pupils to make good progress.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader provides strong leadership of this provision. She has a thorough understanding of the strengths in the early years, and also where further development is needed.
• Children are happy and well cared for in the early years. They behave well because adults have consistently high expectations and are excellent role models. Children are friendly with each other and have polite, purposeful conversations.
• Teachers accurately model letter sounds and allow children to practise these in lessons. Children read regularly in small groups and teachers ask them questions to check their understanding of what they have read. Children demonstrate high levels of engagement and determination with learning activities.
• The indoor area is of high quality. The outdoor area, though in need of some improvement, provides a suitable range of opportunities for children to explore and develop their physical skills. Children share resources and take turns. They are cooperative with each other.
• Leaders have ensured that effective safety and supervision arrangements are in place, both indoors and outdoors. As a result, adults know where children are and if anyone needs help. The early years leader has identified that the outdoor environment needs further development to enhance children’s learning experience.
• Early years assessment and monitoring are accurate. Teaching staff focus on individual children and design activities around the children’s needs and interests. Children show a high level of engagement and can concentrate for lengthy periods because activities are matched well to their needs.
• The school has been proactive in improving provision to address identified priorities for the early years, namely, speech and writing. As a result, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development has consistently increased and is in line with the national average.
• Disadvantaged children make good progress because leaders ensure that additional funding is used effectively on additional staffing.
• Parents and carers receive regular information about their children’s life at school. However, the school acknowledges that more could be done to develop parental engagement.

School details

Unique reference number 114096 Local authority Durham Inspection number 10053679 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Nursery/Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 307 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr S. Ali Khan Headteacher Mr Sean Kavanagh Telephone number 01740 651 363 Website www.broomcottages-pri.durham.sch.uk Email address broomcottages@durhamlearning.net Date of previous inspection 5–6 October 2016

Information about this school

• Broom Cottages Primary and Nursery is an average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is above the national average. However, the number of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.
• The school has a breakfast club.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all year groups. Some of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books with subject leaders.
• Inspectors reviewed attendance procedures and behaviour systems and spoke with leaders about systems to safeguard pupils.
• Inspectors met with pupils, heard pupils read in lessons and observed pupils starting the school day and at breaktimes.
• Inspectors observed phonics sessions in the early years and in key stage 1 classes.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, safeguarding lead, special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders, teaching staff and pupil representatives.
• The lead inspector had discussions with governors and reviewed the minutes of the governing body meetings.
• The lead inspector spoke with a local authority representative.
• Inspectors spoke with a number of parents at the school. They took account of the 22 responses to Parent View.

Inspection team

Ann Muxworthy, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Alexa O’Gara Ofsted Inspector Kate Byrne Ofsted Inspector