Broomfield South SILC Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • developing further teachers’ questioning skills in order to reshape learning and accelerate pupils’ progress, particularly for the most able pupils in the secondary phase
  • ensuring that progress information across a wider range of subjects is used more precisely to plan learning.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by further developing:
  • leaders’ skills in evaluating the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment, so as to draw out common features to inform improvement activities
  • the work of the welfare team in securing better attendance of the small number of pupils who do not come to school regularly enough.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The principal and school’s governors share a common vision that gives equal emphasis to pupils’ achievement and personal development and thus prepares pupils for their future lives. Staff are motivated and bring this vision to life in their work with pupils. As a consequence, pupils enjoy their time in school and flourish.
• Leaders have developed accurate systems to check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Middle leaders work with senior colleagues, using the information they gather to support and challenge staff at an individual level to improve their practice further. As a result, teaching is increasingly effective and helps pupils learn well.
• Staff value the wide range of professional development opportunities that have led to improved teaching practices and methods to help pupils manage their behaviour and learning effectively.
• The governing body has extended its range of skills since the previous inspection. It uses the information it receives about the school’s performance to ask pertinent questions that challenge school leaders. This process leads to stronger teaching and learning, and as a result pupils make more progress than was the case at the previous inspection.
• The curriculum is a strength of the school. It reflects the school’s work to provide equality of opportunity for all its pupils. The curriculum is characterised by a focus on the needs of individual pupils, developing both key and work-related skills to prepare them for their future life as young adults in British society.
• The programme for personal development focuses on nurturing those personal skills that enable pupils to interact with each other and others they meet out of school in different contexts, such as the city choir or community sports events. The wide range of clubs, such as the dance, band and art clubs, alongside a wide range of trips and visits out of school, enrich pupils’ experiences. Practical training, for example in independent travel, is highly valued as a stepping stone to independence in adult life. As a consequence, pupils are well equipped to recognise their own responsibilities and enjoy the opportunities they have now and for the future.
• The well-considered programme that promotes pupils’ personal, health, social and economic (PHSE) development is intertwined with focused work to improve communication skills, so that pupils are able to interact with others with growing self-confidence. Pupils learn about risks to their well-being and how to avoid them. This helps keep them safe. They understand that respect for others is at the heart of fundamental British values. They show this in their day-to-day interactions with each other at school, when placed in mainstream settings and on visits out of school, for example to the local college for further education.
• Effective pastoral support and, when needed, medical support help pupils feel well cared for in school. The vigilance of well-trained staff, who know the signs of abuse and neglect, helps safeguard pupils. Very positive relationships with staff mean that pupils know that they can always get help from a trusted adult if they have a worry or a concern.

Governance of the school

• The governing body plays an increasingly central role in ensuring that its vision to provide a safe place in which pupils can achieve and develop personally is brought to life. Governors support pupils’ growth and development by ensuring that they:
  • challenge leaders to improve the quality of teaching and learning continually, including through the appropriate use of performance management arrangements and professional development opportunities
  • know the school’s key areas of strength and areas for improvement by checking that plans are in place and are carried out to improve those areas which need it
  • gather information for themselves through visits to the school to form their own views on how well pupils learn. However, they do not use all the information available to them to identify common aspects of teaching that need improvement with senior leaders, for example the unevenness in the effective use of teacher questioning.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Governors ensure that all the required pre-employment checks on staff, to ensure that only suitable adults work with pupils, are carried out and recorded carefully on a single central register.
• Leaders ensure that the personal development programme for pupils helps them understand risks to their well-being, including the use of digital technologies. This helps keep pupils safe.
• Governors and leaders ensure that all staff have regular, appropriate and up-to-date training to recognise signs of abuse or neglect and know what to do if they have a concern. The school’s welfare team, which liaises with families and other agencies, plays an important role in identifying where early support for families is needed.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers know their pupils very well. They use information about pupils’ prior learning, achievement and individual needs to plan work which interests and engages them.
• Teachers use checks on pupils’ progress, especially in English, mathematics, science and PHSE learning, to plan the next steps of learning for individual pupils effectively, especially in the primary phase. As a result, progress in these areas is consistently strong. Teachers do not use assessment information in the same refined way in a wider range of subjects.
• Teachers establish positive working relationships with pupils and have high expectations of their conduct. Teachers consistently encourage all pupils to try hard and expect them to make good progress as the norm. This helps pupils learn well. As a result, pupils apply themselves to the tasks teachers set. Pupils are keen to succeed.
• Teachers and other classroom staff are adept at using questions to check for any misunderstanding and are quick to provide additional explanation and support if pupils are struggling. Staff and pupils make effective use of a range of communication strategies to support learning across a wide range of subjects. This helps prevent pupils falling behind. However, teachers and classroom staff miss opportunities to use questioning to identify when pupils can be moved on more quickly, especially the most able in key stage 4. Overall, pupils depend on teachers to set the pace of learning and as a consequence do not regularly seek out new information for themselves.
• Pupils value the feedback they receive from teachers about their work. Many show that they are able to consider and talk about their learning and are keen to offer their ideas. Pupils’ responses to verbal and written feedback help them move forward and contribute to the progress they make over time.
• The teaching of phonics provides a solid base of learning to develop early reading and the first steps in writing that pupils apply across their different lessons. As a result, pupils are able to develop their reading and writing skills well so that they gain wider knowledge and understanding of their topics. High-quality displays, incorporating visual and audio communication, support pupils well in cementing key elements and aspects of their learning.
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils and carefully judged support for those who attend mainstream school lessons for part of the week provide an effective basis for learning in contrasting contexts. As a consequence, pupils manage their learning and make good progress in these situations.
• Precise planning for, and detailed recording of, children’s learning in the early years, secures consistently very strong and sustained progress towards the early learning goals, taking their starting points into account. The highly effective partnership with parents enables children to develop strongly their communication and personal skills. This prepares them well for further learning in key stage 1.
• Teachers and classroom staff rarely need to correct any inappropriate use of language by pupils. Teachers’ high, consistently applied expectations of pupils’ conduct mean that a short reminder is normally all that is required to help pupils manage themselves well again.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. It is a strength of the school.
• Under the care and support of staff, pupils develop self-confidence and take pride in their work. Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning, which support their progress and personal development well. Almost always, pupils were keen to show inspectors how they practise their key skills in literacy and numeracy, and their learning through performing arts.
• Pupils respond very well to the positive modelling by adults and their high expectations of pupils. As a consequence, pupils show respect for each other and adults in the school. They understand the importance of showing respect for people with different backgrounds or beliefs from their own. This reflects the school’s work to meet its duty to promote equality and diversity under the Equality Act (2010). Pupils extend their openness towards others, for example when they visit other schools, the local community sports facility or join other schools for the city schools’ choir events.
• Pupils have a clear sense of right and wrong. They learn about healthy relationships in ways that match their levels of understanding. Pupils know that bullying causes others harm and is wrong. However, pupils have a less well-developed understanding that sometimes people are bullied because of their different backgrounds or beliefs.
• The curriculum provides pupils with frequent opportunities to learn about how to keep well. Pupils learn about the importance of physical activity, healthy eating and the dangers of misuse of drugs.
• Pupils learn to understand their own emotions and know that there are trusted adults to help them if they have a concern or worry. As a result, the school supports their emotional well-being effectively.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and cared for well at school. Pupils enjoy their time at school and the opportunities they have to develop and grow, in preparation for life as young adults in society when they leave school. Parents, in their responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, agreed. The small number of parents with whom the inspectors spoke face-to-face also agreed, with very rare exceptions.
• Older pupils learn about the world of work and opportunities for future education, training and employment. They learn important skills to support their independent travel. This helps prepare them to play a full part in the community.
• Pupils participate eagerly in a wide range of clubs at lunchtimes. Together with the extensive range of opportunities for pupils to participate in trips and visits out of school, pupils revel in the opportunities they have to express themselves and practise their skills. For example, pupils thoroughly enjoy the band and dance clubs, where they interact socially and show their abilities to respond to music.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They conduct themselves well during lessons, as they move around the school during breaks and at lunchtimes. Pupils’ sensible responses to teachers and other adults contribute overall to the orderly, calm environment in which they can learn.
• A few pupils find it difficult to manage themselves consistently well. On occasion, they rely on staff, who support them effectively, to regain their composure and settle again to learning.
• Most pupils come to school regularly and attend well. Sometimes pupils’ attendance is limited due to medical conditions which prevent them from coming to school as often as they would like. The school works hard with families and other teams and agencies to bring about better attendance. However, a small number of pupils without limiting medical conditions do not attend regularly enough.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Taking into consideration their starting points and learning needs, pupils make consistently strong progress.
• Progress in core subjects across the school is consistently strong, and particularly in the primary phase. Effective phonics teaching and early reading skills help pupils’ learning across a wide range of subjects.
• The rich curriculum enables pupils to develop a wide base of knowledge, skills and understanding through topics and themes. The development and acquisition of effective communication skills support pupils’ learning in wider subjects very effectively.
• Pupils who enjoy a semi-formal curriculum acquire increasingly strong basic skills in literacy and numeracy, alongside key interpersonal skills. These underpin their good progress across a wider range of subjects.
• Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds make the same good progress as others in the school. However, the most able pupils, particularly in key stage 4, do not make all the progress of which they are capable. Occasionally, teachers’ questioning does not lead to them moving on as quickly as they could, when they are ready to do so.
• The quality of work seen in pupils’ books is further supported through photographic evidence of learning. This captures not just strong progress in core skills but also in high-quality art and design work, alongside pupils’ learning through the performing arts.
• Successful completion of accredited units and awards across a broad spectrum of learning, from pre-entry level to GCSE examinations, enables pupils to demonstrate both breadth and depth to their learning. This prepares them well for further education or training and independent living.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leaders in the early years embody the principal and governing body’s vision and ambition for excellence for the children in their care. Leaders use the information they gather from reviewing children’s development to evaluate the impact of staff practices in detail. Checks on children’s progress are carefully completed and accurate. Leaders use this information to plan development and learning that meet individual children’s needs fully.
• Children in the early years make outstanding progress towards the early learning goals. The collaboration between the early years section staff and parents ensures that learning moves forward apace. Children develop their communication and language skills, alongside their personal development skills, very well. They flourish as they settle into the daily routines of the section, learning skills to interact with teachers, other adults and other children through a wide range of activities. Shared activities such as ‘snack time’ provide a wealth of opportunity to develop both language and social skills.
• Leaders take effective steps to improve practice further through their monitoring. This sharpens the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Shared planning and shared best practices underpin consistently high-quality teaching.
• Leaders ensure that they use their detailed knowledge of children’s needs to create an appropriately stimulating environment that takes into account, for example, the needs of children with autism. Children are keen to join in and are curious about everything around them. They listen, for example, to stories with great attention. As a consequence, children thrive and develop quickly from their staring points.
• Leaders and staff make use of the detailed knowledge of children’s needs they build through frequent contact with parents. They also use their own observations of children’s development to plan each child’s next small steps for development in detail. Carefully recorded examples of children’s achievement on a daily basis ensure that those next steps are pertinent to each child and encourage substantial and consistently strong progress over time.
• With governors, leaders ensure that all the welfare requirements and staffing requirements are met. The arrangements to keep children safe and safeguard them are effective. Staff are vigilant and well trained, so they know what to do if they have a concern about a child. Leaders ensure that children learn how to keep safe from the earliest stages of development, for example how to move safely around the setting and take others into consideration. They learn simple messages through stories and play about how to keep safe.

16 to 19 study programmes Good

• Leaders make use of their knowledge of students’ interests and aspirations for the future to plan individualised study programmes that meet students’ needs well.
• Leaders ensure that the curriculum provides opportunities to achieve accreditation across a wide range of learning at appropriate levels. Almost all students extend the breadth of their learning and achievement through accredited courses, and many progress to higher levels over time.
• Frequent opportunities to engage in work-related learning and visits to the local college support students well in preparing for the next steps in education and/or training, and for life as young adults in modern Britain. Impartial careers advice supports students in making important choices about their futures. No students leave the sixth form without a clear, agreed pathway for their future education or training.
• Classroom support staff are deployed effectively. They note when students are struggling and provide additional support for them to practise and consolidate their knowledge and skills.
• Teachers and classroom teams understand students’ learning needs well. As a consequence, teachers plan learning carefully to build on students’ earlier achievements. Key skills training, maintained to continue students’ learning, supports their wider studies. As a consequence, students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, make good progress from their starting points on entry into the sixth form.
• Alongside the wider curriculum encompassing work-related and employability skills, leaders continue to promote students’ personal development. As a result, students are ready to leave school equipped with the communication, basic skills and key interpersonal skills that allow them to play a full part in society.
• Whenever possible, students learn independent travel skills that provide them with greater mobility and wider opportunities. Students continue to learn about risks to their well-being and how to lead healthy lifestyles. They learn how to keep themselves safe, especially when using digital technologies. They show respect for others, and are open and curious of those who have different backgrounds or beliefs from their own.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108123 Leeds 10036565 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school All-through School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Number of pupils on the school roll Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes Community special 2 to 19 Mixed Mixed 212 28 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Simon Crockford John Fryer 0113 277 1603 www.broomfieldschool.org.uk broomfield@broomfieldschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection November 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Broomfield School provides day education for pupils who have a wide range of special educational needs and/or disabilities aged 2 to 19 from the Leeds area.
• The school operates a partnership with two local schools, Windmill Primary School and Rodillian Academy. Some pupils attend these sites as part of their education.
• Since the last inspection, the number of pupils attending the school has continued to grow. A larger than average proportion of pupils come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• All pupils attending the school have an education, health and care plan. The majority of pupils come from White British backgrounds. A number of pupils come from a range of other ethnic backgrounds.
• Since the previous inspection, there have been a number of staff changes. The chair and vice-chair of the governing body have been in post for a relatively short period of time.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed lessons across the school, including visits to classrooms in mainstream partner schools hosting pupils from Broomfield school.
• Inspectors talked with pupils, looked at their work in books and journals and considered the school’s records of pupils’ progress.
• Inspectors considered the views of parents who replied to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, talked with a small number of parents face-to-face and considered the outcomes of the school’s surveys of parents’ views. Inspectors also took into account the views of pupils and staff.
• Inspectors held discussions with the principal, senior and middle leaders, as well as a range of other staff, including nurses, classroom assistants, recently qualified teachers and staff providing physiotherapy services.
• Inspectors held discussions with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• A wide range of documents were scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation and plans for the future, its records of pupils’ progress and its arrangements to keep pupils safe.

Inspection team

Chris Campbell, lead inspector Zoe Westley Patricia Head Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector