Brookwood Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ outcomes by:
  • ensuring that a higher proportion of the most able pupils achieve at the higher standard, particularly in mathematics, by the end of key stage 2
  • ensuring that the higher-than-average number of pupils who join the school other than at the beginning of the school year, throughout key stages 1 and 2, make faster progress so that they catch up with others.
• Strengthen the good leadership and management of the school by:
  • developing the effectiveness of newly appointed subject leaders in improving teaching and pupils’ outcomes further.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher’s clear vision and determined ambition to provide ‘a great education for every child’ is shared by staff. Her mission to create a successful, welcoming community school is central to the school’s improvements. Pupils, staff and most parents are highly appreciative of the school. A parent explained: ‘Brookwood is a really supportive and stimulating environment for children to learn in.’
• Leaders’ clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the school has led to all staff members receiving helpful training and support, including that offered through the Bourne Education Trust. The impact of this can be seen in the consistent teaching approaches across the school. Staff are very appreciative of the support that they receive from senior leaders. A staff member commented: ‘Leaders do all they can to help with workload and relieve unnecessary stress.’
• The curriculum is wide and varied. Pupils successfully develop their skills and knowledge across a broad range of subjects. Interesting topics and focused themed days inspire pupils’ learning. Leaders ensure that the curriculum is relevant to the school community. For example, there are many opportunities for pupils to learn about other countries and customs, reflecting the school’s cultural diversity.
• Most middle leaders are newly appointed to their roles and are new to leadership. They receive proficient support and direction from senior leaders. Middle leaders are knowledgeable about the school’s priorities for improvement and how their work must contribute to these. However, their effectiveness as subject leaders is, as yet, limited.
• Leaders make judicious use of additional funding to provide targeted support to disadvantaged pupils. Leaders use their secure knowledge of pupils’ individual needs to ensure that support is effective. Additional funding for pupils who join the school later during the school year is sensibly focused on providing them with successful social and emotional support. However, the support that these pupils receive is not focused precisely enough on their learning needs to reliably improve the progress that they make in English and mathematics.
• Leaders use the national sports premium funding well. Pupils benefit from a wide range of sporting activities and clubs. These activities successfully develop pupils’ skills and contribute to their overall sense of achievement. Pupils have enjoyed success in local competitive events and are rightly proud of their accomplishments.
• Leaders ensure that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive effective help and support. Accurate identification of pupils’ individual needs means that pupils are well supported in both their academic learning and their personal development. Leaders carefully evaluate the impact of the support that pupils receive and make adjustments if required.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. Pupils develop tolerance and respect as they compare different faiths, identifying similarities and differences. The school’s ‘aspirations week’ introduces pupils to visitors with interesting jobs, such as a sports journalist and a forensic scientist, to extend pupils’ awareness of possible future careers. British values are successfully promoted. For example, during the inspection, pupils were enthusiastically participating in the hustings for the election of house captains for the year.

Governance of the school

• Governors have high aspirations for the school and want pupils to do well. They carry out their statutory duties diligently. For example, they ensure that the school site and premises are safe by routinely carrying out health and safety audits. A governor with responsibility for safeguarding regularly checks the school’s recruitment records. Following these checks, sensible recommendations for improvement are implemented.
• Governors are knowledgeable and skilled. They monitor the school’s budget effectively. Through judicious strategic planning, governors have successfully ensured that the school is financially secure.
• Governors know the school well and have an accurate overview of how well the school is doing. Governors make frequent informal visits to the school and provide verbal feedback to the full governing body. However, governors are keen to re-establish a more strategic approach to school visits and to strengthen their ability to hold school leaders to account.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders, including governors, ensure that recruitment processes are fit for purpose. Appropriate staff employment checks are carried out and accurately recorded.
• Pupils are safe and well cared for at school. When responding to Ofsted’s online surveys, parents, staff and pupils overwhelmingly agreed that pupils are safe at the school. Leaders ensure that staff are well informed and keep up to date with their safeguarding training. For example, staff understand the recent changes to safeguarding requirements. Staff are vigilant in their responsibilities and know what to do if they have any safeguarding concerns.
• Leaders make sure that help from outside agencies is accessed promptly for pupils who need it. Staff work effectively with other professionals to help pupils and their families who need some extra support.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers are ambitious for pupils to achieve well. They typically motivate pupils to try as hard as they can. Across the curriculum, including in English and mathematics, teachers thoughtfully plan stimulating activities to capture pupils’ interests.
• Teaching is effective in helping pupils to grasp new concepts and ideas. Teachers use secure subject knowledge and proficient questioning to develop pupils’ understanding in English and mathematics. For example, in mathematics, adept questioning enables teachers to check and clarify pupils’ misconceptions.
• Most teaching provides tasks that are carefully matched to pupils’ learning needs. However, this is not reliably the case for the most able pupils, particularly in mathematics. Sometimes work is not challenging enough, and these pupils do not consistently achieve the higher standards of which they are capable.
• Reading is taught well. Proficient teaching ensures that the youngest pupils quickly learn good phonics skills. Pupils make expert use of these skills to identify and blend letter sounds when they read. Across the school, pupils read widely and often. Most pupils competently read a broad range of books with enjoyment and expression.
• Skilful teaching enables pupils to improve the quality of their writing. For example, pupils in key stage 2 were carefully considering how to improve their descriptive writing with more adventurous word choices. Teachers provide pupils with a wide variety of interesting experiences to motivate them to write.
• Teaching in subjects other than English and mathematics provides a wealth of opportunities for pupils to develop good skills and knowledge in a broad range of subjects. For example, in key stage 1, pupils enjoyed a topic about ‘island life’. In geography, they considered the type of food a pirate might eat and identified where in the world the food came from. In key stage 2, pupils worked collaboratively to solve a problem to design a new village. They used a range of skills, across the curriculum, tackling the challenge enthusiastically.
• Teaching is effective in meeting the needs of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, as well as those of disadvantaged pupils. Teachers competently use their assessments of pupils’ individual needs to fine-tune their learning and support. Additional adults provide effective support to these pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• School leaders know their pupils extremely well. They understand when pupils may need some additional help. Positive links with outside agencies enable leaders to ensure that pupils get the help that they need. The higher-than-average number of pupils who join the school, throughout key stages 1 and 2, are well supported to quickly settle in. A parent responding to Ofsted’s online survey explained: ‘The staff are friendly and approachable and know the children inside and out.’
• The ‘Brookwood 6’ values are of high importance to staff and pupils. The values are readily displayed around the school, and pupils show a deep understanding of them. For example, pupils across the school impressively demonstrate these values in the respect and courtesy that they show towards each other, staff and visitors.
• Pupils have an excellent understanding of bullying and are confident that school staff always sort this out on the rare occasion it happens. Pupils explained how some older pupils take responsibility as ‘play leaders’ and help to ensure that playtimes are positive, sociable occasions. As a result, across the school, pupils take care of each other, and pupils of all ages mix happily and play together at breaktimes.
• Parents and pupils are highly appreciative of the positive ethos that leaders have created. Many parents and pupils describe the school as feeling like a ‘big family’. Equality and diversity is successfully promoted. Pupils eloquently explained how they respect everyone individually and that they value each other’s differences. A pupil commented: ‘We are all different and that is ok.’ As a result, pupils flourish in a safe and nurturing environment.
• Pupils feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe. All the pupils who responded to Ofsted’s online survey said that they enjoy school and feel safe. They like and trust the staff. Pupils know how to stay safe when they are out in the community, for example they talk confidently about road safety. Pupils are taught to use the internet safely.
• Leaders’ strong commitment to pupils’ personal development can be seen in the wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities that are on offer. Pupils talk with great enthusiasm about the activities that they have attended, for example chess, netball and American football. Pupils’ achievement and participation is successfully celebrated in the annual ‘sports personality of the year’ awards.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils’ conduct in and around the school is impeccable. Pupils’ ability to regulate their own behaviour is impressive. Pupils fully understand the school’s behaviour code and know what is expected of them through the ‘traffic light system’. As a result, incidents of misbehaviour are extremely rare and very few need to be escalated to senior leaders. All staff responding to the online staff survey agreed that behaviour is well managed.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school and rarely miss a day. Leaders’ proactive approach to promoting good attendance has led to an impressive reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently absent.
• Pupils are extremely positive about their learning. In lessons, they concentrate hard and complete their work with notable determination. Classrooms are calm and purposeful. Pupils show great pride in their work and want to try their best.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In 2017, at the end of key stage 1, the proportion of pupils achieving age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. The school’s own assessment information for 2018 indicates that pupils have continued to achieve well in reading and writing. However, there has been a slight decline in the proportion of pupils achieving as well as they should in mathematics.
• Pupils achieve well in phonics. The proportion of pupils in Year 1 reaching the expected standard in the national phonics screening check is consistently above the national average. Pupils make proficient use of their phonics knowledge when they read and write.
• By the end of key stage 2, pupils achieve well in a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. The school’s own assessment information for 2018 shows that, by the end of key stage 2, the proportion of pupils achieving age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. Pupils also acquire good skills and achieve well in punctuation, grammar and spelling. Overall, pupils make average progress in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, pupils are well prepared for their move to secondary school.
• The school’s own assessment information for 2018 shows that by the end of key stage 2 the proportion of the most able pupils achieving at the higher standard is above the national average for reading and writing. However, fewer pupils achieved the higher standard in mathematics than seen nationally.
• The school’s own assessment information, and work seen in pupils’ books, shows that most disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities make good and often rapid progress from their typically lower starting points.
• The higher-than-average proportion of pupils who join the school, throughout key stages 1 and 2, make broadly the same rates of progress as others across the school. However, the school’s own assessment information, and work seen in current pupils’ books, shows that the proportion of these pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics is below that seen nationally. This is because they are not reliably making fast enough progress to catch up with others if they need to.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children get a superb start to school in the early years setting. Leaders are highly ambitious for children to achieve the best possible outcomes. The well-planned environment is keenly focused on promoting learning through a wealth of experiences, both inside and outdoors.
• Leaders ensure that children’s starting points are quickly and accurately identified. Skilful evaluation of this information is used effectively to plan for children’s next learning steps. As a result, children make fast progress, and those with starting points lower than those typical for children of similar ages catch up quickly.
• Children enjoy many opportunities to learn to read, write and use their mathematical skills through stimulating activities. For example, children confidently count, recognise and sequence numbers from zero to 20 as they play. Adults promptly identify pupils ready to start on some early addition. Adults use questioning proficiently to challenge children to think hard.
• The teaching of phonics is highly effective. Children swiftly learn to read and write, making efficient use of their securely established phonics skills. Children who need extra help are identified without delay and given the support that they need. As a result, most children make good and often rapid progress in reading and writing, throughout their Reception Year.
• Outcomes are improving in the early years, and children achieve well. The school’s own assessment information shows that by the end of the 2017/2018 academic year the proportion of children achieving a good level of development had improved since the previous year. Consequently, children are very well prepared for Year 1.
• Transition arrangements for children starting school are highly effective. Sensitive, well-planned support enables staff, parents and children to build trusting relationships before they arrive in the setting. Positive links are made with external support services and pre-school providers to understand children’s needs early on. As a result, children start school with extremely happy and confident attitudes.
• Safeguarding is effective. Adults ensure that the environment is safe and secure. They vigilantly undertake daily risk assessments in the setting. Adults provide expert support to encourage children to keep themselves safe and manage risks, such as when using climbing equipment.
• Children’s behaviour is impeccable. Adept adult support encourages children to share equipment and take turns. Routines and expectations for behaviour are sensitively established. Right from their first day, children quickly learn to take responsibility and become independent, for example by learning how to hang up an apron after using it for water play.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 142084 Surrey 10053431 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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 170 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Graeme Anderson Jo Green 01483 473 315 www.brookwood.surrey.sch.uk Email address admin@brookwood.surrey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is broadly average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is broadly average.
• Brookwood Primary School converted to become an academy school on 1 December 2015. When its predecessor school, also called Brookwood Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be good overall.
• There is a breakfast club that is managed by the school.
• There is a neighbouring children’s centre that is managed by the school.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning throughout the school. All observations were carried out with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. A sample of pupils’ workbooks was also examined.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, subject leaders and a group of staff.
• Inspectors met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.
• Inspectors met with pupils to discuss their views about the school and heard some of them read. The views of 46 pupils who responded to Ofsted’s online pupil survey were also considered.
• The lead inspector met with representatives of the Bourne Education Trust (BET).
• The views of 27 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and 15 additional free-text comments, were considered. Inspectors also spoke informally with parents at the start of the second day of the inspection.
• Inspectors considered the views of 17 staff who responded to Ofsted’s staff survey.
• Inspectors scrutinised documentation, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s effectiveness, minutes of governing body meetings and notes of BET monitoring visits.
• Safeguarding procedures were also reviewed.

Inspection team

Claire Prince, lead inspector Christopher Crouch

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector