Setting

Mr Steve McGill Headteacher Leeds and Broomfield Church of England Primary School Lower Street Leeds Maidstone Kent ME17 1RL

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School

Following my visit to your school on Monday 25 February 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, another senior leader, two members of the Governing Body and representatives from the local authority. The school improvement plan was evaluated and the inspector also looked at other documents provided by the school, such as the most recent checks on pupils’ achievement.

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Context

There have been no major changes in staffing or organisation since the section 5 inspection, which judged the school to require improvement. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5307 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Direct email : Emma.Thomson@ tribalgroup.com

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Main findings

Senior leaders, staff and governors have produced a plan for improvement which addresses the weaknesses identified by the inspection. The plan includes targets which are related to outcomes for pupils. Responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the actions and impact are generally well defined. For example, governors have a key role in evaluating the impact of the actions taken. However, the plan is rather long and unnecessarily complex and some of the important areas requiring improvement only appear in detail after several pages. Some targets are not challenging enough to deal with past underperformance at Key Stage 1, nor are the targets clear about how well pupils should be achieving at interim points across the year. This means that it is not easy for governors or staff to see whether the school is on track to achieve its targets. The school has set up mentoring arrangements, using the strengths of senior teachers, to support class teachers. However,

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Main findings

monitoring is not sufficiently sharply focused on the specific areas for improvement identified in the inspection.

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Main findings

The school’s observations of the teaching of early reading and assessment information suggest that pupils’ skills and ability to use their knowledge of letters and sounds are improving. There is greater involvement of staff in decision making, for example, by including a member of the support staff in the senior leadership team. Governors take their specific responsibilities seriously and are closely involved in activities designed to develop better, more open and purposeful relationships between senior leaders, staff and parents. The school is beginning to develop better systems for communicating with, and involving parents and carers. For example, it has set up a Parents’ Forum and the first two meetings have been well attended.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 slim down and sharpen up the post Ofsted inspection action plan so that it focuses more specifically on the areas identified for improvement  ensure that there are clear overarching targets and interim targets so that improvements are more easily measured  enhance governor involvement by enabling governors to work alongside local authority colleagues to interpret and evaluate the impact of actions taken to improve provision and raise standards.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

Over recent years, the school has benefited from significant support from the local authority, mainly because of very low attainment at Key Stage 2. Last year, attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 rose markedly. Currently, the local authority is providing robust challenge with the aim of improving the quality and impact of leadership and management. The school also enjoys support from the diocese and is a member of a collaboration of local schools, several of which have been judged to be good or better. The school is beginning to use this expertise.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Kent.

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