Brooklands School - Split Site

Brooklands School 27 Wray Park Road, Reigate, RH2 0DF

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils’ rates of progress, although improving, are not yet better than the progress of pupils with similar starting points nationally.  Recent improvements in teaching have not had sufficient time to improve achievement and teaching is not yet consistently good.  Teachers do not always plan work that matches pupils’ abilities correctly.  Data are not used to best advantage to check that the school is performing as well as it possibly can against national benchmarks.  Subject leaders do not use data effectively in monitoring and evaluating provision in their subject.  Development planning does not focus sufficiently on the impact it will have on achievement.  The governing body has not sufficiently challenged school leaders on pupil performance.

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The school has the following strengths

 The new headteacher is very well supported by his senior team and, together, they have established effective teamwork to drive forward school improvement.  Pupils behave well. They are typically considerate, respectful and courteous to staff, visitors and each other.  The school’s drive to improve reading has helped pupils to make good progress at Key Stage 1.  All pupils say they feel safe, and safeguarding procedures are robust.  The curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice.  The inspection team observed teaching and learning led by nine teachers or practitioners.  Over a third of lesson observations were conducted jointly with the headteacher and/or deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with the chair of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and a group of pupils.  Informal discussions took place with parents and carers at the start of the school day. In addition, account was taken of the 31 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View)  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, which included: the school’s analysis of pupils’ progress; teachers’ lesson plans; the school’s development plan; leaders’ monitoring records and pupils’ portfolios.

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Inspection team

Sonja Joseph, Lead inspector Additional inspector Peter Hare Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Brooklands is a smaller-than-average-sized special school catering for pupils with a wide range of needs, from moderate to severe and profound multiple learning difficulties.  All have a statement of special educational needs. Approximately one fifth are on the autistic spectrum and have additional behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.  A small minority of pupils are elgible for the pupil premium which is well below the national average.  The very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage and the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is average.  Since the previous inspection, there has been a period of staff turbulence, including staff absence and changes in leadership.  A new headteacher has been in post three weeks.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by July 2013, through:  ensuring that teachers are clear about what they expect pupils to learn in each lesson and evaluate each pupil’s level of success  making certain that work is always carefully matched to pupils’ ability levels in order to accelerate progress  providing clear and achievable targets, shared with pupils, so that they can make demonstrably good progress in each lesson  developing marking and feedback that involves pupils in assessing their own progress and provides opportunities for them to improve their work  encouraging pupils to collaborate, work things out for themselves, become more resilient, and rely less on adult input and guidance  ensuring reading skills are taught consistently well.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop fully the monitoring and evaluating roles of all leaders and managers across the school by:  developing the ability of middle leaders, in particular to use performance data more effectively in evaluating provision in their subjects  focusing lesson observations on the teachers’ impact on pupils’ learning and progress  improving planning for developments so that the impact of actions on raising pupils' achievements is clearly shown  developing the skills of the governing body so that it can rigorously hold to account the work of school leaders in monitoring school performance  using information about the progress of its pupils more effectively to check that the school is doing as well as it can against the national picture.

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Inspection judgements

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

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Inspection judgements

 All pupils enter and leave the school with attainment that is well below the national average.  Previous underachievement since the last inspection has been successfully tackled in the last year and an increasing number of pupils are making and exceeding expected progress compared to similar pupils nationally. However, it is not yet sufficiently sustained and embedded to ensure good progress across all key stages.  Pupils make good progress in lessons where communication, language and development of skills of independence are a strong focus in learning. The use of signage, pictures and symbolic communication systems ensure that pupils can understand and be understood. However, this is not consistently applied to ensure all pupils achieve well.  The revised curriculum, with an increased focus on linking subjects, has resulted in improved progress in mathematics, particularly the development of pupils’ practical and

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Inspection judgements

investigative skills, but the school has recognised that more work still needs to be done.  Pupils of all ages enjoy working with information and communication technology (ICT) and use it successfully for a range of purposes, including as a way of demonstrating their achievements to others.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, most pupils make good progress in their reading skills due to a focus on phonics work (sounds that letters make) and the effective use of interventions, such as speech and language therapy and emotional support. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils show a real interest in books and stories.  In Key Stage 2, pupils do not make the same good progress in reading, as some interventions put in place to develop their knowledge are too recent. Although older readers are able to recognise the sounds that make up unfamiliar words, they sometimes lack the confidence to blend them into words so that they can gain a secure understanding of the

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Inspection judgements

text they are reading.  The few pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding achieve in line with their peers in school. There are no significant differences between the achievements of different groups of pupils.  Pupils with additional physical difficulties gain exceptionally from the opportunities provided by the hydrotherapy pool. For example, some wheelchair bound pupils learn to swim independently and all such pupils thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to extend their muscles and bodies outside the normal limits they experience.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of teaching requires improvement

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Inspection judgements

 Teaching is improving and having a greater impact on pupils’ achievement, but is not yet consistently at a level to ensure all pupils make consistently good progress.  Where teaching is weaker, the pitch of the work is not always sufficiently challenging for all groups of learners. Inconsistencies in the use of feedback and target setting mean that not all pupils are aware of the next small steps needed to improve their work and this limits their ability to take responsibility for their learning. In addition, pupils are not involved in assessing their own work.  Not enough teaching is clear about what pupils are expected to have learned by the end of each lesson. This makes it difficult for teachers to assess the learning and progress that has taken place and inhibits effective planning for future learning.  On occasions, the pace of some lessons is too slow, particularly in adult-led sessions where

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Inspection judgements

pupils have to wait too long for their turn and can lose interest.  There are occasions where pupils are not encouraged enough to work things out for themselves rather than wait for adult guidance and support.  Improvements in the teaching of reading include more effective teaching of letter sounds and word recognition to younger pupils. However, this is less well developed at Key Stage 2.  In the better lessons teachers motivate pupils and generate engagement in learning. Teachers make sure pupils are clear about what is expected and what they need to do to move their learning on and teaching assistants are used effectively to support and evaluate learning.  Questioning is often used well to challenge and extend pupils’ learning. For example, pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties develop their social skills through using augmentative systems to take turns and indicate their choice. Incisive questioning is used

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Inspection judgements

to probe their understanding and pupils are enabled to evaluate their achievement through the selection of the correct visual symbol.  Teachers are usually skilful in helping pupils to overcome their barriers to learning. For example, mobility aids enable pupils to take part in classroom activities. Similarly, electronic communication devices, signing and the use of pictorial language help pupils to participate in question and answer sessions. The adults are patient with pupils and understand that some require time to process their thoughts. Thus, most are included in learning and have good opportunities to make progress.

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Inspection judgements

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good  Pupils’ behaviour is consistently good. Records show there have been no exclusions over recent years and few incidents of deliberately poor behaviour.  Pupils are polite, well mannered and considerate to each other, to visitors and to the environment. They often provide each other with support in activities.  Pupils have trust in the adults working with them so that they feel very safe.  The inspection revealed no evidence of bullying or any type of intimidating behaviour. Pupils have a good awareness of the different forms of bullying and can, where they are able, to take active steps to prevent it from occurring.  Incidents of challenging behaviour were observed during the inspection but these were related to the extreme difficulties that some pupils experience.  Staff are trained to recognise behavioural triggers and they use de-escalation techniques to

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Inspection judgements

reduce the likelihood of physical interventions.  Older pupils indicated clearly that they know the steps they need to take to keep out of harm, including the safe use of computers.  Lunch and snack times reflect the very positive relationships that pupils have with each other and with staff. These times enable pupils to develop their social and personal skills extremely well and contribute to the calm atmosphere that the school promotes.  The curriculum includes raising pupils’ awareness of different types of bullying. The school ensures that pupils, parents and carers have a good understanding of e-safety, both at school and at home.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The quality of leadership and management is not yet good, because its impact on pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching, though improving, is not yet embedded and sustained.  The new headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, provides a clear vision, which is shared by all staff. Staff welcome the raised expectations and professional dialogue about targets they are now set to improve their skills.  The restructured curriculum meets the needs of the pupils and promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. This includes preparing pupils for life through popular extra-curricular clubs which promote learning and enjoyment in sports, arts and environmental activities.  The curriculum is adapting well to meet the increasing range and complexity of students’ needs, as demonstrated in the increasing use of therapies and sensory experiences.  School leaders use progress data effectively to identify the need for intervention

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The leadership and management requires improvement

programmes for individual pupils at particular points in time. However, over time, all leaders have not used this information to the best effect in order to check that the school is doing as well as it can in comparison with national benchmarks. In addition, middle leaders do not make sufficient use of progress data to test the success of provision in their subject areas or how well pupils are achieving.  Procedures to check the quality of lessons do not currently focus on the impact of teaching on the quality of pupils’ learning, and the achievement of different groups. Consequently, outcomes of monitoring are not used as successfully as they might be to promote consistently good or better practice across all years.  The school development plan identifies the priorities for improvement but, the steps for success are not always sufficiently focused on pupil outcomes.  The school communicates well with parents and carers. They speak positively about the

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The leadership and management requires improvement

new headteacher and value the work of the staff. There is a very strong sense of partnership between parents and carers and the school, which, for example, hosts a monthly coffee morning for parents and carers to get together for a support group, and this supports effective learning well.  The school is effective in tackling discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity. It ensures that all groups, including the small numbers of pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding, achieve equally through the careful distribution of additional resources. Deployment of staff and learning resources is appropriate.  The local authority provides appropriate levels of support for the school.  The governance of the school:  Is involved in the strategic development of the school and has a high level of involvement with the school. However it has not done enough to hold school leaders to account, especially in raising pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Ensure that safeguarding procedures meet the statutory requirements and that financial deficiencies are being effectively addressed.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training, or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school

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Grade Judgement Description

is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 125472 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 402328

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Special School category Community Age range of pupils 2–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 75 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Alistair Hitchnan Headteacher Mr Mark Bryant Date of previous school inspection 16–17 June 2010 Telephone number 017372 49941 Fax number 017372 7224787 Email address head@brooklands.surrey.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille,

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School details

please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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