Bilingual Primary School - Brighton & Hove Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Senior leaders should sustain the improvement in the school by ensuring that all teaching and learning match the quality of the best in the school and pupils make the best possible progress by:
  • making sure that work is pitched at exactly the right level for pupils of all abilities
  • successfully embedding the new curriculum
  • building on the strong partnerships with parents to continue with their work to improve the attendance of those pupils who have higher rates of absence so that they do not miss out on important learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher provides highly effective leadership that has resulted in improvements in all aspects of the school’s work since the previous inspection. One parent commented, ‘The school is well led and managed by the new headteacher who is friendly, approachable and caring yet absolutely professional.’
• The headteacher has motivated, inspired and energised staff, pupils and parents and morale is high as a result. One parent wrote, ‘The headteacher has totally transformed the morale of the teachers, the behaviour of pupils and the attitude of parents for the better.’
• The headteacher is very well supported by the deputy headteacher. They, along with other leaders including governors, share the vision, determination and ambition to provide the best possible learning and personal experiences for pupils.
• Support and regular training are carefully matched to whole-school priorities and individual development needs, particularly for those teachers who are at the early stage of their teaching career. As a result, staff have become more skilful, and provision and outcomes for pupils have improved.
• Middle leaders have developed their role and have an increasingly positive impact on school improvement, the quality of teaching and learning and outcomes for pupils.
• Senior leaders and governors rigorously check pupils’ progress, the quality of teaching and learning and all aspects of the school’s work. If any weaknesses in the quality of teaching and learning are identified, support is given, action points are followed up and improvement is expected. There is a clear, shared understanding of the strengths of the school and the key priorities for further development, which informs the school’s improvement plan. Senior leaders are correctly aware that to improve teaching to outstanding, work should be consistently pitched at the right level for all abilities.
• Leaders carefully monitor the progress and provision for different groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, the most able disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Additional support is quickly provided for individuals and groups where appropriate.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively to help reduce barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils including those who are most-able. The main focus for the funding has been to ensure that every pupil benefits from high-quality teaching in the classroom. Additional support, where needed, has included one-to-one and small-group tuition and nurture groups and clubs to support pupils’ social and emotional development. This enables disadvantaged pupils to be successful and participate in all aspects of school life.
• The school makes good use of the primary physical education and sport funding. Revised plans for the current year’s spending have been drawn up following monitoring of the impact on outcomes for pupils last year. This year, funding is being used for a specialist to draw up a bespoke curriculum which recognises and responds to the demands of space in the school.
• From the beginning of this school year, pupils are learning through a newly designed curriculum, which is based on four principles of fostering curiosity, collaboration, perseverance and autonomy. It is broad and balanced and covers all aspects of the English national curriculum as well as the Spanish curriculum. Pupils’ bilingual learning is promoted very effectively through all aspects of the curriculum. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development underpins all that the school does.
• Learning is planned through topic-based enquiry themes that make meaningful links across a range of subjects. These motivate and inspire pupils and, although just recently introduced, are already increasing pupils’ enjoyment and engagement in learning. It is too soon, however, to see the full impact of the school’s new curriculum on pupils’ outcomes and personal development, as it is not yet fully embedded.
• Learning is enriched by a range of extra activities including visits linked to topic themes and visitors to school.
• Pupils learn about different cultures and customs through the global dimension of the curriculum. The school’s values, assemblies and the subjects taught foster pupils’ understanding and respect for people from different backgrounds and faith communities. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain because staff and pupils demonstrate fundamental British values in all areas across the school. Pupils have a strong sense of community and democracy and understand the need for rules within the school and the wider society.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They have every confidence in the leadership and the teachers. They support the school very effectively in a range of ways including fund-raising. There were many very supportive comments made to inspectors and the following is typical of many: ‘The [headteacher] is a fantastic leader and is always at the school gates to greet parents and to speak to them about their children. The school is constantly in contact with parents, keeping them up to date on the curriculum and has provided parents with information on how to assist with learning at home.’

Governance of the school

• As a result of a review of its work and the appointment of a skilled, experienced chair of the governing body, governance has improved significantly since the previous inspection and now the governing body:
  • uses a range of relevant skills and experiences to good effect
  • provides a good level of challenge and support which has helped to secure improvements in pupils’ achievements and the quality of teaching and learning
  • holds leaders to account effectively for the school’s performance
  • shares the ambition and aspirations of the headteacher to ensure that the school continues to improve
  • ensures that additional funding is used effectively to determine that it is making a difference for pupils
  • provides strategic direction, which has helped to promote a culture of learning, and decision making, for example agreeing on spending for good-quality texts to support improvements in reading.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders are scrupulous in ensuring that all staff know and carry out their safeguarding responsibilities. The culture within the school is safe, supportive and caring for pupils and staff. Leaders ensure that everyone is vigilant in promoting pupils’ safeguarding and welfare. In addition, effective and robust safeguarding is addressed through the four principles that underpin the new curriculum. Rigorous systems and procedures are in place and record-keeping of any concerns or referrals to external agencies is detailed and well organised. The appropriate checks relating to the safe recruitment of staff are carried out. Up-to-date and appropriate training is undertaken and is regularly revisited. As a result of the school’s work, pupils said that they feel safe in school and parents are fully confident that the school keeps their children safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Senior leaders have worked successfully to improve the quality of teaching and learning since the previous inspection and it is now good. Professional development for teachers and teaching assistants and accurate guidance from senior leaders have contributed to this improvement. As a result, pupils make good progress.
• Teachers and teaching assistants work very well together. All teaching assistants are Spanish language speakers and along with other staff make a significant contribution to pupils’ bilingual learning.
• Staff are good role models for pupils’ learning and behaviour. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere within the school that promotes learning well. Pupils enjoy their learning and said that teachers make it fun as well as challenging. A group agreed with one pupil who said, ‘Some learning is really hard but the teachers explain and then you can do it.’
• There are good relationships between pupils and adults and as a result, pupils have the confidence to try things out and become resilient learners. This is because they know that their efforts will be valued, particularly when working on challenging activities. This is having a positive impact on the progress pupils make as they show positive attitudes towards demanding tasks.
• Pupils understand that making mistakes and giving incorrect answers sometimes, helps them to learn. A group of pupils agreed with one who said, ‘The important thing is to keep trying even if we get something wrong at first.’
• Pupils learn well together and learn to negotiate and collaborate. They listen well and are respectful of other’s ideas and opinions even if they do not always agree with them.
• Teachers provide learning challenges for pupils of different abilities. Teachers are generally skilful in questioning pupils to check on learning and pick up on any misunderstandings as well as extending pupils’ thinking and depth of learning. As a result, the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are making good and often greater than expected progress, which was an area for improvement in the previous inspection.
• On a few occasions, however, work is not always pitched at exactly the right level to provide challenge or to support pupils of different abilities or move them on rapidly to the next steps in their learning. This means that sometimes pupils do not always make the progress of which they are capable.
• The school’s policy for marking and feedback is generally used well across the school. Pupils said that teachers’ comments help them know how to improve their work.
• There is an appropriate emphasis on teaching reading, writing, mathematics and Spanish and increasingly good opportunities to develop these skills in other subjects, particularly writing. All social and organisational language throughout the school day is in Spanish, which very effectively enhances pupils’ bilingual skills.
• Reading is promoted well across the school. Small-group reading sessions in class effectively develop pupils’ skills, particularly in comprehension. Phonics teaching is good and pupils in key stage 1 use their phonics skills well to help them read and write unfamiliar words.
• In mathematics, pupils are given increasingly good learning opportunities that develop their mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. Effective training has helped to enhance teachers’ subject knowledge.
• Pupils currently in the school who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well in their learning. Senior leaders had correctly identified that this group had not always been making the progress of which they were capable and looked carefully at the provision. Swift action has been taken, including specific training for a team of teaching assistants who are providing appropriate and specific support where necessary. The learning of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is, rightly, a continuing focus for the school.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Staff and governors ensure that pupils thrive and develop as confident, articulate individuals who are thoughtful and caring citizens and who are excited by all that the school offers. Staff work relentlessly with pupils and their families to help reduce any barriers to learning particularly for those who may be vulnerable. Pupils are prepared well for the next stage of their education.
• The school is fully inclusive and pupils are valued and taught to value others. Adults are good role models for the pupils in the way they engage with pupils and they treat pupils with consideration and respect. A comment from a parent which was echoed by many was, ‘It is such an inspiring school, I love how inclusive it is, how they encourage children to think outside of the box and how multicultural it is.’
• Pupils enjoy the responsibilities they are given and take them seriously, including as school council and Spanish council members. Others appreciate what they do and said, ‘They work to improve the school even more.’
• Pupils were happy to talk to inspectors about their school and their learning. They are friendly, polite and welcoming to visitors.
• Parents strongly agree that their children are happy at school, feel safe and are well looked after.
• Pupils said that they feel safe in school and in discussions demonstrated that they know how to keep safe on the internet and when using any social media.
• Pupils reported that any incidents of bullying were very rare. Groups of pupils agreed that children were kind to each other. They said that in the playground, ‘it can sometimes be a little bit rough and if that happens they can have time out but nobody is rough on purpose.’ They understand about different types of bullying and are confident to talk to adults should any problems arise.
• Pupils who attend the breakfast club get a safe, healthy and sociable start to the day.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• School records show that there has been a marked improvement in behaviour over the past year as pupils now take greater responsibility for their own conduct and the number of incidents has reduced.
• Staff and parents agree that the school makes sure that pupils behave well.
• Pupils generally behave well in lessons and mostly listen well to their teachers, which helps them to make good progress. On a very few occasions when work does not fully engage pupils, some can become quietly distracted and lose their focus on learning.
• Pupils behave and play together well in the playground and conduct themselves well around the school. Pupils are caring and considerate of the needs of others.
• Attendance is below the national average despite leaders’ best efforts to improve it. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is above average. Leaders carefully check on the attendance of different groups and work hard to promote regular attendance. Most pupils attend regularly but the attendance figure remains below average, mainly as a result of pupils who have unauthorised absences.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ achievement has improved since the previous inspection and is now good. Pupils’ work in their books and the school’s information about progress show that pupils currently in the school made at least good progress last year from their different starting points across a range of subjects including reading, writing, mathematics and Spanish.
• In 2015, there was a dip from the previous year in attainment at the end of Year 2, most notably in reading. This dip can be attributed mainly to turbulence in leadership and staffing which had a negative impact on the school’s performance. Leaders have been diligent in ensuring that those pupils who were in Year 2 were supported very effectively to catch up in their learning.
• When the headteacher was appointed in September 2015, she rapidly identified the key weaknesses in the school. The current leadership including the governing body has worked tirelessly and with great determination to forge the improvements seen. Expectations have been raised for pupils and staff.
• In 2016, at the end of key stage 1, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard and the proportion working at a greater depth were higher than the, as yet unvalidated and provisional figures, found nationally.
• In all year groups, most pupils made good and some made outstanding progress from their starting points. There is a little variation across the school, which is linked to a few inconsistencies within the overall picture of typically good teaching and learning.
• Over the last three years, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check has been above the national figure. Pupils use their phonics skills well to help them read unfamiliar words. The teaching of phonics is consistent and leads to a good development of reading skills. Pupils enjoy reading and talk with enthusiasm about their favourite authors and styles of writing. Any pupil who struggles with reading receives good support to practise and improve.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils. As a result, they make good progress in all year groups. The most able disadvantaged pupils make at least good progress. Disadvantaged pupils including the most able are supported well in their learning. Most teachers have high expectations and set them more challenging tasks. Work in the pupils’ books indicates that the most able pupils are now making rapid progress across a range of subjects.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress from their starting points. This is an improvement as there is now more rigour in identifying needs at an early stage and quickly providing appropriate support.

Early years provision Good

• Children start in the early years with skills and knowledge that are generally typical for their age. They make good and sometimes very rapid progress in the Reception classes and are well prepared to continue with their learning in Year 1.
• In 2015, the proportion of children that reached a good level of development was below that found nationally. There have been notable improvements in children’s achievements over the past year. In 2016, the proportion that reached a good level of development was above that found nationally. However, there remained considerable gaps between the achievement of boys and girls as boys lagged behind girls. Topics, role play and resources are provided to appeal to all children and boys in particular to help improve their achievement to be more in line with that of girls. Leaders have correctly identified that this is a continuing focus.
• Children benefit from a vibrant and stimulating environment in which to learn, both inside and in the well-resourced and exciting outdoor area. Adults have high expectations to make sure that children thrive, enjoy their learning and have a very positive start to school life.
• Strong and very effective leadership of the early years has a very positive impact on the improving outcomes and the quality of the provision. Leadership has been developed well with support from the senior leaders and an external consultant. There is a clear view about the strengths and areas to improve in the provision. Actions taken, including a complete review of the provision and good-quality training and development of staff, have been successful. This has ensured that adults are skilled and confident to get the best learning from children.
• Teaching, learning and assessment in the early years are good. Activities are planned that capture the interest and imagination of the children. They develop enquiring minds and show a high level of engagement in their learning and play.
• Adults usually promote children’s independence very effectively. Children are settled and happy, and showed outstanding levels of engagement and confidence. They behave exceptionally well and quickly learn to share and cooperate with each other. One child was observed, without any adult prompting, rushing to help another who was trying to tidy away a large construction block and said, ‘I’ll help you, that’s too heavy for you to carry on your own.’
• Adults provide lots of opportunities for children to write and a group was totally absorbed in writing their own ‘Elmer’ books and could tell me the story. Children are also encouraged to find their own reasons for writing. One child was happily covering a sheet of paper with all the letters he knew how to write, and others were writing prescriptions and notes on their patients in the doctor’s surgery.
• Adults interact well with children, asking good questions that develop children’s thinking and problem-solving skills as well as their language skills, in English and Spanish. They also have the confidence to observe children leading their own learning from their own interests and explorations and leaders have identified, correctly, that there is even more scope for children to initiate their own learning.
• Staff ensure that all safeguarding and welfare requirements appropriate to this age group are met. They ensure that children are kept safe and learn how to keep themselves safe. All the necessary actions are taken to support any child whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, including disadvantaged children, the most able disadvantaged children and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Parents are very positive about the start their children receive. One comment, typical of many was, ‘My child started in Reception in September and has made a wonderful start to school life. The teachers are great and I am really impressed with the headteacher.’

School details

Unique reference number 138261 Local authority Brighton and Hove Inspection number 10012322 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy free school 4–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 338 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Maggie Carroll Wendy King 01273 916212 www.bilingualprimaryschool.org.uk info@bilingualprimaryschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection 18–19 June 2014

Information about this school

• The school is not yet up to full capacity but is larger than the average-sized primary school. Currently there are three Reception classes, two classes in each of Years 1, 2, 3 and 4 and one class in Year 5.
• Around one fifth of the pupils are from bilingual homes and Spanish is spoken in the home for around half of these pupils.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above that found nationally. Around two thirds of these pupils are fluent or competent speakers of English. In Years 1 to 5, very few pupils are new to English or at the early stage of English language acquisition.
• The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage and the next largest group of pupils are from other White backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium funding is below average.
• The school teaches a Spanish curriculum alongside the English national curriculum. Spanish and English are used for learning throughout the school.
• The school provides a daily breakfast club.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school moved to its purpose-built accommodation in February 2016.
• The headteacher started at the school in September 2015.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classes across the school. Several of these observations were conducted jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors talked to pupils about their work and looked at work in pupils’ books.
• Inspectors observed pupils at playtime and lunchtime and in assemblies and asked them for their views on the school. They also talked to pupils about reading and listened to some pupils read.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other staff with key leadership responsibilities.
• Discussions were held with governors.
• Inspectors looked at a wide range of documents including: the school’s own check on its performance and the quality of teaching; the school improvement plan; information on pupils’ progress; and records relating to attendance, behaviour and safeguarding.
• Inspectors looked at 268 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, which included 26 written comments. They spoke with some parents at the start of the school day and received one letter from a parent. Inspectors also took account of 23 questionnaires returned by staff.

Inspection team

Margaret Coussins, lead inspector Clementina Aina Rosie Beattie

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector