Broadlands Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that they are consistently good or better and pupil outcomes continue to improve, by ensuring that teachers:
  • receive further training and support to develop their skills
  • plan activities and sequences of teaching that meet the needs of all groups of pupils
  • have consistent expectations of pupils, enabling them to increase engagement in their learning and make the progress they are capable of.
• Further improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • newer middle leaders receive further training and support to increase the effectiveness of their roles the school’s presentation, marking and feedback policies are effective and consistently followed.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The executive headteacher, well supported by the deputy headteacher, has led a range of effective improvements across the school in the two years since the previous inspection. Pupil outcomes have improved across the school, especially in writing by the end of Year 6. The most vulnerable pupils are effectively supported and are catching up quickly, both with their peers and with other pupils nationally. The move to new buildings has been carefully managed and a culture of higher expectations is evident.
• Performance management is rigorous and has been used effectively to hold staff to account. As a result, previous inadequate teaching has been eradicated and pupils’ progress has now improved. However, the school has had an evolving teaching team for some time and therefore not all systems or policies have been established and embedded to provide strong, consistent provision across the school.
• Leaders and managers have worked closely with the other schools to support and improve the work at Broadlands. Leaders and governors have acted on advice given and know the areas of provision which need further development. The local authority has monitored this school well and carefully brokered arrangements for supporting early years, writing and mathematics.
• Training, support and regular checks have been used to improve the quality of the teaching, especially in phonics and writing at the end of key stage 2. Consequently, the latest assessment information shows that previous differences between pupil groups have diminished or disappeared. In addition, pupils’ attainment in writing at the end of Year 6 in 2016 indicates that their progress during key stage 2 is above average, when compared to those pupils with similar starting points nationally.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively. Additional teaching and teaching assistants focus well on improving eligible pupils’ English and mathematics skills. As a result, the progress of these pupils has improved quickly and the attainment difference between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school has closed by the end of Year 6.
• Parents are very supportive of the changes and improvements introduced by senior leaders. Nearly all parents who spoke to inspectors or completed Parent View were very complimentary of the recently improved culture, provision and behaviour of pupils. For example, one comment included, ‘I only have praise for Broadlands Primary.’
• The school’s well-designed curriculum provides a wide range of learning experiences, rooted in the school’s values. Pupils learn about equality of opportunity and democracy through the curriculum and the school’s inclusive approach to ensure that all pupils, irrespective of ability or need, have equal access to learning. The school now offers a range of extra-curricular learning opportunities which support pupils’ progress and wider development.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. The curriculum, along with a clear culture of tolerance and respect, promotes pupils’ understanding of discrimination and equality. In addition, pupils learn about British values through different activities and mark events such as Remembrance Day. As a result of a range of the school’s strong values and the experiences provided by the school, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Targeted government funding to improve pupils’ participation and ability in sport has been used effectively. Specialist federation teachers from Aylestone School teach high-quality physical education to pupils in Years 1 to 6. In addition, after-school sports clubs are now offered with a high uptake, especially from disadvantaged pupils. A number of pupils now take part in several inter-school sports competitions.
• The leader for pupils looked after and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities is experienced and ensures that these pupils are provided with the support needed to help them achieve as well as their peers. However, some middle managers are relatively new in their roles and are developing their skills to be able to offer further strategic subject leadership and support for teachers, including those who are new to the school.

Governance of the school

• Governors have worked closely with leaders to carefully manage the move to a new school site, drive improvements to the school’s provision and change the culture of the school. The governing body reconstituted earlier this year and used an audit to assess the skills needed to further support improvement.
• Governors have a good understanding of how well the school is performing. They use detailed information to regularly analyse the school’s performance and ask challenging questions about pupils’ progress and achievement. Governors have quickly agreed an action plan following an external review of governance undertaken in April. The areas which governors plan to develop are accurate and realistic.
• Governors receive and challenge detailed information about staff performance. They use this to ensure that the performance process is rigorous and used to award pay increments for staff where they are deserved.
• Governors check on how the pupil premium, sports premium and funding for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are used and check the impact of the spending. Through reports, they know that this funding has helped to increase the reading, writing and mathematics progress for eligible pupils, along with improved competitive sports participation.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school. Several senior staff across the partnership provide effective leadership of this area of the school’s work, ensuring that all procedures are up to date and checks on adults working in school are thorough. All statutory safety requirements are met and arrangements to support vulnerable pupils and families are effective. Individual cases of concern are followed up very carefully to ensure that pupils are kept safe. The child protection policy is thorough and staff training is up to date and includes child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation and preventing extremism in education. Staff engage well with parents and stakeholders through effective communication systems and always being available to speak to.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Although the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is improving, it is too variable across the school. Teaching does not consistently meet the learning needs of all pupils or challenge them enough to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. Teachers are aware of pupils’ misconceptions but some of the actions they take to tackle this are not effective enough.
• Senior leaders rigorously hold teachers to account for pupils’ progress and achievement. As a result of this and other changes, seven new teachers have joined the school since September 2015. All teachers work hard, are enthusiastic and keen to support pupils’ progress. However, some policies, such as presentation, marking and feedback, have not yet had time to become consistent and well established across the school.
• The school utilises specialist teachers from across the federation to teach Broadlands pupils subjects such as physical education, science and art. While this can bring clear benefits to the pupils, not all teachers have the same expectations of pupils. In addition, the evolving teaching team at Broadlands has not yet had chance to fully establish common expectations and systems across the school, to enable faster pupil progress.
• Assessment information is collected regularly, along with checking the progress in pupils’ books and observing teaching. The school’s assessments, inspection evidence and pupil’s workbooks from last year suggest that the quality of teaching is improving, in Year 6 for example, but the picture across the rest of the school is too variable.
• Leaders have introduced a new method of teaching mathematics this year, which understandably needs more time to become established. Mathematics teaching improved last year as a result of higher expectations and regular checks. Pupils’ progress in mathematics also improved, although not as much as in reading and writing.
• Pupils’ progress and outcomes at the end of Year 6 improved sharply in writing in 2015 and 2016. While it is too early in this academic year to judge the progress of current pupils, leaders are determined to sustain improvements in writing.
• Where assessment practice is more effective, teachers set carefully planned activities for pupil groups and make good use of questioning and additional adult support. One good example of this was seen in a mathematics lesson, where pupils were given appropriate equipment and activities to develop their understanding of negative numbers. Consequently, pupils were enthusiastic and different pupil groups made good progress. However, this is not yet consistent across the school.
• Vulnerable pupils made better progress last year as a result of improved support. This includes those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, English as an additional language and those who are disadvantaged. The progress of these groups is now in line with, or above, that of both other pupils in the school and other pupils nationally. Additional adults provide effective support to both intervention groups and small groups in class. However, some timetabling issues for those staff who both support in class and at lunchtimes need to be resolved.
• The teaching of reading is improving and assessment information indicates that pupils’ progress was better in 2016. As a result of training and focused teaching in early years and key stage 1, most pupils who did not pass the Year 1 phonics check now use their phonic skills well in Year 2. Although their confidence is improving and their skills are catching up, further work is needed to fully develop pupil’s reading ability.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school and experiencing the broad curriculum on offer. They tell visitors about their learning and how they make progress. Their manners are a strength as pupils hold doors open for others, greet visitors politely and put litter in the bin.
• Leaders have created a much-improved climate for learning which effectively promotes pupils’ confidence, physical and emotional well-being. Consequently, pupils have good attitudes to learning, even when they do not fully understand the task that they have been set. The appointment of a learning mentor has had a very positive impact on supporting improvements to pupils’ welfare, behaviour and safety.
• Parents are supportive of the school’s actions to support pupils’ personal development and welfare. For example, several parents said how welcoming the staff are and how pleased they are with the time and care taken to help their children settle into the school.
• Staff ensure that pupils have equal access to the curriculum. For example, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who have English as an additional language have appropriate adult support to help them progress.
• Pupils are aware of how to keep themselves and others safe. They are knowledgeable about the dangers associated with the internet and say that they feel safe in school because of the security measures and that adults are always there to help them if needed. Pupils are well informed of different types of bullying and say it is not a problem here as behaviour has improved. If anything does go wrong, any problems are dealt with quickly by the staff.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ conduct in lessons is usually very positive and they show good respect towards both adults and each other. Pupils play actively and happily at playtimes, often with younger and older pupils playing together.
• Staff promote good behaviour and manage pupils’ needs well. Consequently, lessons typically run smoothly and are seldom disrupted. Staff and parents agree that pupils are well behaved. Pupils have good attitudes around the school and during smooth transitions between classes.
• Pupils enjoy lessons and nearly always respond well to adults’ questions and prompts. They move sensibly between activities in lessons and work thoughtfully during group work, carefully considering each other’s views.
• The school analyses patterns of behaviour carefully. Records checked for last year show that the number of fixed-term exclusions halved and there were no permanent exclusions.
• Attendance has improved over the last two years and is now in line with the national average. In addition, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced rapidly during this time. The learning mentor has helped to improve communication with parents. Leaders are aware that there remain some small differences between the attendance rates of some pupil groups, although these are diminishing.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ progress and attainment have improved but are still too variable across year groups and subjects. For example, the proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard in phonics in Year 1 has steadily improved to be in line with the national average. However, teaching has not improved sufficiently to enable pupils to transfer their early reading skills to support rapid progress in this subject by the end of key stage 2.
• The school’s assessments and pupils’ workbooks in 2015/16 show that progress and attainment for current pupils is improving but is still inconsistent. The difference between the attainment of disadvantaged and other pupils has diminished by the end of Year 6. Other pupils with low attainment in key stage 1 typically do not make as much progress as higher-attaining pupils by the end of Year 6. This variability reflects the stage of development in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment at the school.
• Provisional assessment information for 2016 indicates that attainment and rates of progress in reading and mathematics were in line with the national average at the end of key stage 2. However, attainment and progress were much better in writing, where it is was above the national average. Provisional 2016 assessment information indicates that outcomes at the end of Year 2 have improved to be in line with the national average at the expected level, but still below at the higher level.
• The achievement of the most able pupils by the end of Year 6 is variable. The attainment of this group of pupils is nearly always below that of similar pupils nationally. However, the proportion of pupils who achieved higher than the expected reading level in 2015 was just above the national average. Provisional results for 2016 indicate that the attainment of this group was below the national average in reading and mathematics, but above in writing and grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils therefore made expected rather than good progress from their starting points.
• The progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is improving. The needs of these pupils are now met through more focused provision and support. The school’s most recent assessment information shows that the difference between the performance of this group and other pupils nationally is diminishing.
• The progress of pupils with English as an additional language is also improving. The school has an increasing proportion of these pupils on roll and leaders have put effective support in place to meet their needs.
• The achievement of disadvantaged pupils has improved. The well-spent additional support provided in 2014/15 enabled these pupils to make progress that was similar to other pupils nationally. As a result of this, disadvantaged pupils caught up by the time they left the school at the end of Year 6, especially in writing. Pupil cohorts are small and therefore caution is needed when comparing with national averages. For example, there are enough pupils to make comparisons over time, but not enough to judge the progress of very small groups such as the most able disadvantaged pupils.

Early years provision Good

• Children start school with skills that are generally typical for their age, although some pupils have lower skills, particularly in speech, language and communication. Effective organisation and teaching enable children to make good progress, so that an increasing proportion of children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Senior leaders and the early years staff have worked together to improve the provision across Nursery and Reception. More stable staffing and the result of actions such as improving the outside learning areas have led to this key stage developing more quickly than key stages 1 and 2. The teachers are enthusiastic and support each other well to provide a stimulating learning environment that helps children to improve their skills. They are very well supported by additional adults, who care for and work effectively with individuals and groups of children in both classes.
• Early years staff are skilled at working with young children and set clear learning expectations that the children understand. Consequently, children listen carefully, are enthusiastic to learn and behave well. They develop a good sense of how to keep themselves and others safe and are keen to join in the good range of learning activities.
• The Nursery class is a very nurturing and safe environment for children to play and learn in. The staff work well together to develop children’s early skills, such as physical development and expressive arts, by providing a good range of activities, including singing, dancing and painting, clearly enjoyed by the children.
• Children throughout the early years are confident and happy because of the well-established routines that are reinforced by the adults working in early years. Adults ensure that children learn in a safe and caring environment and check the provision and equipment to make sure it is safe to use.
• Teaching is good. A range of carefully planned and well-resourced learning activities ensure that children have daily opportunities to learn and achieve well. For example, the teachers focus well on improving children’s speech, language and communication skills. Consequently, children progress well and the proportion achieving a good level of development at the end of Reception is now in line with the national average. Additional funding for disadvantaged children is used well to provide targeted support, and as a result these children achieve in line with other children.
• The support for the increasing proportion of children with English as an additional language is good. Other children displaying signs of additional needs are identified early and supported well. Adults also provide activities for the most able children to help them to progress, although these children are not always challenged enough.
• Parents are very positive and appreciative of the good start their children have made at school. Parents appreciate the level of communication they receive to keep them regularly informed of their children’s learning and progress through informal discussion with teachers and open days.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116679 Herefordshire 10009253 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 Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 182 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rachel Rice Executive Headteacher Simon Robertson Telephone number 01432 266772 Website Email address www.broadlands.hereford.sch.uk admin@broadlands.hereford.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 29–30 January 2014

Information about this school

• Broadlands Primary School is smaller than most primary schools. Since the previous inspection, the school has become part of the Aylestone Federation and moved into a new building in September 2015.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.
• The school has received support from a national leader of education who is the headteacher of St Paul’s CE Primary School in Hereford.
• Approximately three quarters of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language has increased and is now approximately the same as other schools nationally.
• Approximately 3 out of every ten pupils are disadvantaged.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Children in the Nursey class attend part time and children in the Reception classes attend full time.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed 15 lessons or part-lessons, including examples of teaching in every year group. Some of these teaching observations were carried out jointly with the deputy headteacher and other senior leaders.
• Meetings were held with the executive headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior leaders, middle leaders, staff and governors. The lead inspector had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority who monitors the school.
• The inspection team looked at pupils’ workbooks with a senior leader in a range of subjects to establish the progress and quality of pupils’ work over time.
• The inspection team talked to pupils during their lessons and at playtimes to find out their views about the school.
• The inspection team heard pupils read and observed their behaviour in lessons, around the school and at playtimes.
• Informal discussions were held with parents to gauge their views of the school. The inspection team took account of 14 recent responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View), including any free-text comments that parents made during the inspection. The results of the school’s own parent questionnaire were considered.
• The inspection team looked at a wide range of documents, including the school’s plans for improvement, external monitoring reports, records of checks made by leaders and information on pupils’ progress and outcomes. They also scrutinised records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

Inspection team

Stuart Bellworthy, lead inspector Derek Barnes Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector