Braywick Court School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to implement school plans to develop the skills of teaching assistants.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher’s quietly inspirational leadership has created a culture of high aspiration that runs through the school. Pupils, staff, governors and parents work well together to achieve the best possible academic and personal outcomes for all pupils.
• The headteacher’s use of the traditional proverb that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ is fully adopted by all staff. Its effect can be seen in the exceptional work that staff undertake with parents. The vast range of workshops, drop-in sessions and written support and guidance help parents to support their children’s learning and development. Parents are highly supportive of the school and they appreciate the time freely given by staff.
• Effective collaboration between the trust, the local governing body and school leaders has created a vibrant culture of ongoing learning and development for all. Leaders’ self-evaluation demonstrates commitment to continual improvement. Leaders welcome the governors’ rigorous monitoring and tracking and work well with the trust and external advisers to measure progress accurately. They have created appropriate plans for the school’s growth over the next four years, for example the need to develop middle leadership further.
• Teachers are supported very well through ongoing professional development. High-quality support is provided for those who are new to the profession. Leaders’ commitment to develop teachers and teaching assistants has led to a highly motivated staff team. Teachers at all levels speak with knowledge and passion about their work. Teaching assistants are equally committed, although school leaders recognise the need to further develop their skills, for example in questioning.
• Pupils benefit from a creative curriculum that successfully balances a wide range of subjects and promotes a love of learning. Pupils develop creative skills alongside securing high academic achievement. The trust’s motto ‘Learn. Enjoy. Succeed.’ can be seen through the carefully planned sequences of lessons. Pupils particularly enjoy being able to discuss and decide on the themes of each half term’s programme of work. Pupils display a love of reading and are proud of the new reading corner that they have helped to design. As part of this curriculum, all pupils learn Spanish and a musical instrument in order to fully prepare them for success in key stage 2 and beyond.
• The very wide range of extra-curricular opportunities enhances pupils’ learning and development. For example, visits to national museums and local places of worship support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values is promoted well, for example when considering what the voting age should be. The vast majority of pupils attend school clubs. Pupils speak with enthusiasm about these opportunities, which include eco-warriors, football and cooking.
• Leaders track pupils’ progress carefully, discussing each individual with teachers and teaching assistants to ensure that each pupil is supported to succeed across the whole curriculum. The school’s assessment tracking system is rigorous and moderated by external advisers to ensure that it is accurate. Leaders make effective use of all external support, including that provided by the trust.
• Leaders use additional funding effectively. Primary sports funding is used well to provide specialist instructors for pupils and to develop the skills of staff. The use of pupil premium funding is thoughtful and has successfully improved pupils’ outcomes by removing barriers to learning.
• Leaders also use funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities very effectively. This has a positive impact on pupils’ learning and progress.

Governance of the school

• Governors are dedicated and highly effective. They have an excellent understanding of their role and work extremely hard to support and challenge the work of senior leaders. The Bellevue Place Education Trust supports the local governing body well, providing training and guidance as required.
• Governors are well informed about the school and have an accurate understanding of its strengths and also those areas that need to be further developed as the school grows. They visit the school regularly and undertake useful research into aspects of the school’s work, for example the school’s anti-bullying programme.
• Governors’ records of meetings show that they ask very challenging questions in order to hold leaders to account. They keep close checks on the use of additional funding, including the pupil premium funding and the sports funding. These checks mean that they can demonstrate how these monies have been used to improve provision and outcomes for pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Safeguarding is a priority at Braywick Court. Staff are left in no doubt about their role in safeguarding pupils and they have a detailed understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures. They know exactly what to do if they ever have a concern.
• All staff and governors have completed high-quality training. They have current knowledge and understanding of matters such as the ‘Prevent’ duty, child sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation.
• The governor responsible for safeguarding regularly checks the school’s records and processes relating to safeguarding, including those regarding the recruitment of staff. These follow safer recruitment guidelines.
• Leaders regularly review the risk assessments for the temporary site and the school bus that transports pupils to and from this site. School staff are always on this bus and are fully trained to address any issue or concern that may arise.
• The designated safeguarding lead is highly reflective and works effectively with parents and external agencies to ensure that all concerns are acted on appropriately and that pupils are supported and safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teaching is highly effective. Teachers have high aspirations and expectations of themselves and of their pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants have established very positive relationships with pupils. Pupils trust teachers and attempt all the work presented, even if it appears to be challenging. Consequently, pupils make substantial and sustained progress.
• Teachers have excellent knowledge and understanding of their subjects and their pupils. They plan lessons carefully so that pupils build on their prior learning and develop skills rapidly. Teachers skilfully address pupils’ misconceptions and make sure that they understand the reasons for any errors. This helps pupils to secure their understanding and learning.
• Teachers and teaching assistants deliver lessons with energy and enthusiasm and display an infectious love of learning. Pupils are eager to discover what they will be learning in lessons and they speak with excitement of the time they discovered the ‘dinosaur egg’ and the visit by the planetarium to introduce them to the topic of ‘space’. During the inspection, Year 2 pupils were immediately engaged by the challenge to be ‘science detectives’ and discover facts about living things.
• The high-quality teaching of phonics throughout the school means that pupils make rapid progress with reading and writing. The school’s extensive work to support parents’ knowledge of phonics means that there is consistency for pupils when they read or write at home. The effect of this work was evident when the inspector listened to pupils reading. Pupils are able to work out unfamiliar words and they have a wide range of strategies to help them to understand their meaning.
• Pupils are confident writers and enjoy the wide variety of writing challenges throughout the curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to join their letters as soon as they are ready to do so. Their beautifully presented books show that they make rapid progress with their writing, including their handwriting and punctuation.
• Mathematics is taught very effectively and the most able pupils often work at a level higher than expected for their age. Pupils’ books show that the work provided is appropriately challenging and that most pupils make very rapid progress. Teachers make sure that pupils thoroughly understand a concept by setting increasingly challenging problems. Resources are very well used in lessons and are carefully matched to pupils’ needs.
• Teaching assistants are used well by teachers. Much of the time, teaching assistants work skilfully with pupils and have a positive impact in lessons. School leaders are aware that this support is not always as effective as they want it to be, and they are providing further training and development.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Leaders have created a happy and purposeful environment and pupils love coming to school. As a result of exceptional support by all staff, pupils are happy and successful learners. Many parents commented on how happy their children are at school, for example one parent said that their child is ‘thrilled’ to go to school every day.
• Staff have established very strong relationships with pupils and families. This helps pupils to feel safe and to trust staff. Pupils are confident that any adult at the school will listen to them and help them if they are ever worried about anything.
• The systematic and extensive programme of activities aimed at helping pupils to learn about staying safe, including when online, means that pupils are confident about how to keep themselves safe. Information that pupils receive about keeping safe is regularly shared with parents so that they can use the same language and strategies when talking with their children.
• Pupils are also confident when discussing how to deal with bullying and ‘mean behaviour’. They are adamant that if any such issues occur, their agreed school phrase of, ‘Stop it, I don’t like it’ will resolve these effectively, although they add that adults will support them if needed.
• Pupils are proud of their democratically elected school council, and are able to explain in detail why the rules of democracy are important. The school’s work to promote fundamental British values, such as democracy and the rule of law, successfully helps to prepare pupils to be active citizens around school and in wider society.
• The daily assembly promotes the school’s values successfully, for example through daily yoga and ‘mindfulness’, and creates a very positive, purposeful atmosphere. Pupils enjoy this time and join in well with the activities, including debates about whole-school decisions, such as determining the name of the new class for next year.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils are exceptionally well motivated and keen to learn. They display exemplary behaviour in lessons and around the school, including in the dining hall, where they use cutlery well and tidy up after themselves. In lessons, they move from one activity to the next swiftly and with an eagerness that means that they settle to learn very quickly. They play very well together, sharing the equipment provided and demonstrating respect for each other.
• Incidents of poor behaviour are rare. Pupils say that their lessons are never affected by disruptive behaviour. They believe that teachers would deal with any problem quickly.
• Attendance is excellent. Leaders keep a very close eye on any absence or lateness and provide high-quality support for families, when needed.
• Parents are confident that their children are safe. They particularly appreciate the steps that leaders have taken to make sure that the temporary school site and school bus are safe and carefully monitored.

Outcomes for pupils

• All pupils achieve highly and make substantial progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. This is due to the high expectations established by the headteacher and the excellent teaching that pupils receive.
• The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development in the early years is well above the national average. Children make rapid progress from their varied starting points, and the most able begin key stage 1 work during the Reception Year.
• Phonics is very well taught. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is well above the national average.
• School information and pupils’ books show that they make excellent progress in a wide range of subjects in addition to English and mathematics. The systematic approach to tracking pupils’ progress means that effective additional support and challenge is quickly allocated, when required. This ensures that pupils do not fall behind.
• The most able pupils thrive on the challenge offered by their teachers and make substantial and sustained progress across the curriculum. Many are working above national expectations and begin key stage 2 work during Year 2.
• The very small number of disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress from their starting points and achieve highly, in line with other pupils. The additional funding to support their learning is used well, with very effective support carefully matched to pupils’ needs.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive excellent support and make strong progress socially, emotionally and academically from their varied starting points. Leaders and teachers work well with external specialists to ensure that these pupils receive the right support at the right time.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The early years provision is led exceptionally well. The leader’s high aspirations and enthusiasm are shared by the whole team. Staff work together well to provide high-quality learning for all children. The Reception Year provides an excellent foundation for all children to develop into confident learners.
• The environment is stimulating and well organised. Pupils are clear as to what to do due to strategies such as learning prompts, which hang from lines above activity tables to help to develop children’s skills when playing. Leaders have worked tirelessly to ensure that the temporary site provides a high-quality learning environment for children.
• Adults are highly vigilant and ensure that safeguarding procedures are followed rigorously. The indoor and outdoor spaces are enticing and safe. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe and what to do if they are ever worried. Children feel safe and were confident to tell the inspector what they would do if they got lost in a shop. They also understand safety issues when using the internet and know that, ‘if it makes you frown, shut it down and tell an adult’.
• Children join the Reception Year with varied starting points and make rapid and sustained progress as a result of excellent teaching. The leader’s highly effective relationships with nurseries ensure that children make a very successful start. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development is much higher than nationally. Many children achieve these development goals before the end of the year, so the teacher introduces them to skills and learning more typically taught in Year 1.
• Leaders track children’s progress carefully and plan learning to match each child’s development needs. Teaching assistants are given specific directions and questions that enable them to support children effectively. The team’s daily ‘huddle’ means that they all know the needs of each child very well, and understand how best to support the children. This highly effective tracking helps children to make rapid progress across their areas of learning.
• The curriculum is exciting and helps to support children’s progress. Activities such as the visit to the nature reserve help to develop children’s independence and bring learning to life. Children enjoy the varied tasks they are given and work well individually and with each other. For example, groups successfully sorted numbers up to 100 and then added other numbers to challenge each other.
• Phonics is taught exceptionally well. This prepares the children very well for their next steps and gives them confidence to tackle challenging learning.
• Children develop a joy of learning and thrive in this stimulating environment. They behave exceptionally well throughout the day.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the provision and the progress their children are making. Typical comments are about how happy children are, and the rapid progress that parents can see them making. The very many workshops and training for parents are well attended and have helped to develop the close working partnership between teachers and parents. Parents also appreciate the ‘Open Door Friday’, and commented on the ‘excellent communication’ and the many opportunities to support their children’s learning.

School details

Unique reference number 140494 Local authority Windsor and Maidenhead Inspection number 10032499 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 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 90 Appropriate authority Local governing body and academy trust Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Simon Baker Gemma Donnelly 01628 782562 www.braywickcourtschool.co.uk head@braywickcourtschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Braywick Court Primary School is a new academy free school. It opened in September 2014 with one class in the Reception Year. It is increasing in size by a class each year and is currently smaller than the average-sized primary school. At the time of this inspection, the school has pupils in the Reception Year and in Year 1 and Year 2.
• The school is part of the Bellevue Place Education Trust. The trust currently sponsors seven primary free schools across London and the South East.
• The school spent the first two years of operation in buildings situated on what will eventually be the permanent school site. It moved to its current, temporary site at the start of the third year of operation. It will remain on this site for a further year while the new school building is constructed on the permanent site.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is much lower than in other schools nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is much lower than in other schools nationally.
• 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.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching and learning in 10 lessons and parts of lessons, many of which were carried out jointly with school leaders. The inspector scrutinised work in pupils’ books and learning journals.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, staff, pupils and members of the governing body. The inspector met with two representatives of the academy trust, one of whom was the Chief Executive Officer. The inspector also held a telephone call with the link representative from the Department for Education.
• The inspector took into account 56 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, including 24 written responses. The inspector also considered the views of parents gathered through face-to-face meetings and one telephone call. The inspector also took into account the school’s own surveys of parents.
• The views of staff were considered through 17 responses to Ofsted’s online survey and through meetings. The inspector also scrutinised the school’s own surveys.
• The inspector met with pupils formally and spoke with them during their lessons, play and lunchtimes to gather their views.
• A range of documents was considered, including records of pupils’ attendance, behaviour and safety, and the school’s information about pupils’ achievement. The school’s plans for development and growth, along with leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching and learning, were also scrutinised.

Inspection team

Lucy English, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector