Brockhampton Primary School

Brockhampton Primary School Brockhampton, Bringsty, Bromyard, WR6 5TD

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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, including the most able, do not achieve as well as they could and standards by the end of Year 6 are not as high as they should be, particularly in writing.  Although improving, pupils’ progress is still not fast enough to make up for some weak learning in the past.  Teaching is not consistently good with the result that there is too much variation in how quickly pupils’ learn across the school.  Pupils are not always clear about how to improve their work because teachers’ marking does not show them.  Because of the significant number of staff changes in the last year or so, leaders have not improved the quality of teaching sufficiently and overestimate its quality. Leaders do not take enough account of pupils’ progress when judging teaching.  Subject leaders do not lead work to improve teaching and pupils’ achievement in their areas of responsibility sufficiently.  Information from the school’s tracking of

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

pupils’ progress is not used effectively in teachers’ planning or to ensure that pupils make good progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children get off to a good start in the Reception Year, where they make good progress in all areas of learning.  Pupils supported by the pupil premium make good progress and the school is closing the gap between their attainment and that of others.  Pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics is improving rapidly throughout the school.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They enjoy school and feel safe.  Governors have reviewed their work well and, as a result, provide good support and strong challenge.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed nine lessons. Four were observed jointly with the headteacher. Shorter visits were made to several other lessons and sessions to evaluate learning in a range of subjects.  The inspector heard pupils read and looked at a very wide range of work in their books.  Meetings were held with governors, the headteacher, subject leaders and pupils.  The inspector looked at a wide range of documents, including the school’s own judgements on its strengths and weaknesses, development plans, monitoring files, policies and data on pupils’ progress, appraisal information, records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding documents.  Inspectors analysed 32 responses to the online questionnaire Parent View, as well as questionnaires completed by 13 members of staff. The inspector also spoke to parents at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

David Evans, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (additional funding for certain groups such as pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority) is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average, while the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment in English and mathematics.  There have been significant staff changes since the school converted to an academy in November 2011 and a new deputy headteacher started in the school a week before the inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least good in all classes and thereby to improve pupils’ progress and achievement by:  ensuring that all tasks build on previous learning, especially in writing  raising teachers’ expectation of what pupils can achieve, particularly the more-able  improving the marking of pupils’ work so it is always effective in helping pupils move on in their learning  making sure that teachers’ questions are pitched at the right level and their explanations are clear so that pupils understand new learning better.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment in writing by:  ensuring that the quality of pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar is of a high standard  improving the quality of pupils’ handwriting and the presentation of their work in all subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  ensuring that all middle managers and subject leaders acquire the skills needed to check and develop the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement in their area of responsibility  making sure that teachers use tracking information more effectively so that pupils make consistently good progress in all year groups  sharpen leader’s judgements of teaching and ensure that when monitoring teaching in lessons, leaders take more account of pupils’ progress over time and also of the quality and quantity of work in pupils’ books.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress is inconsistent in Key Stages 1 and 2 because the quality of teaching varies and there is a legacy of underachievement from weaker teaching in the past that has not been overcome.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 While progress is improving, following recent changes of staff, pupils do not achieve as well as they could and too few pupils exceed expected progress. This is because the work is not always set at the right level for pupils and is sometimes too easy. Books show that teachers’ expectations of what pupils can produce and achieve are sometimes not sufficiently demanding.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils do not make good progress in writing and they do not practise their writing sufficiently in other subjects. The quality of pupils’ spelling, punctuation, handwriting, and grammar varies too much in both key stages. Pupils often do not take care when presenting their work in books.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the school with skills that are usually typical of those expected for their age. They make good progress in Reception. In 2013 standards were above average by the end of Reception and children were well-prepared for entering Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils benefit from effective teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make) and use their developing skills to read unfamiliar words. The proportion of Year 1 pupils who reached the required standard in the national phonics reading check was above average in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in reading and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 1 are broadly average. At the end of Key Stage 2, attainment was around the national average in 2012 but fell in 2013 to below average in writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 More-able pupils did not perform as well as they should in the national tests in 2013. The proportions achieving the higher Level 5 or above in writing and in mathematics were below average. The progress of the most-able pupils is good when they are sufficiently challenged but often the work is too easy for them.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Due to improved teaching, Year 2 pupils read fluently and with understanding. Pupils continue to make good progress in reading and by Year 6 pupils are enthusiastic readers who are able to read a range of books of different styles, and confidently refer to the text when describing the plot or characters.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Year 2 pupils’ understanding of place value and calculation skills is secure. This is built on well in older year groups so that by Year 6 pupils work confidently with fractions and in a range of standard measures. In all year groups, pupils’ capacity to solve mathematical problems is improving and they use accurate mathematical language.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils supported by the pupil premium make better progress than others in the school. Leaders, managers and governors are successfully closing the gap between their attainment and that of other pupils. In 2013 the Year 6 group were at least a term ahead of their classmates in reading and writing and about half a term ahead in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well because they are well supported by teaching assistants and they receive help that is tailored to suit them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is too uneven. This means that pupils’ progress is not consistently good as they move through the school. There is too much variation in the way pupils’ skills are developed and extended, in teachers’ expectations of pupils’ presentation of their work and in the detail and effectiveness of marking.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ questioning of pupils does not always probe learning deeply enough as the questions pupils are asked are not sharply focused on pinpointing the key skills and knowledge pupils need to learn. Too often, teachers rely on the most confident pupils to supply the answers. They do not direct questions at the more reluctant pupils and consequently do not help these pupils develop their ideas or to correct their misunderstandings. As a result, too little progress was made.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils’ learning does not always build rapidly enough on what they already know and are able to do. Although the school has an established system of recording pupils’ progress, teachers do not use this information well enough to make sure the tasks they set for the pupils help them to increase their knowledge or extend their skills quickly.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Many lessons are interesting and well structured. However, in some lessons pupils do not understand what they are expected to learn and aim for and, as a result, they do not make as much progress as they could.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The marking of pupils’ work is inconsistent. The examples seen in books show that the guidance they receive on how to improve their work is becoming more sharply focused. However, it does not always ensure that all groups of pupils make consistently good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although this is improving, the most able readers are still not always challenged sufficiently. In contrast, the teaching of early reading is increasingly systematic and effective. This is the main reason why pupils in Year 1 achieved much better results in the national screening check in 2013.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of the youngest children is good. They settle very quickly into the routines of school life. They do well and grow in confidence and thoroughly enjoy the activities they are given. There is a good support provided for children’ early reading, writing and counting skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of mathematics is good and this has resulted in pupils making good progress. This is because the teachers design interesting tasks that make pupils think hard and use the skills they have been taught to solve them. In one highly successful lesson in Year 5, all pupils were fully engaged in a treasure hunt as they practised the use of decimals and they were extremely reluctant to leave at the end of the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants are usually deployed efficiently. They support groups of pupils, mainly the less able, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, with work that is at an appropriate level and they ensure pupils’ self esteem grows and that they feel able to tackle the tasks they are set with confidence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good and they behave equally well in lessons and around the school. In conversation, older pupils say their learning is very rarely interrupted by other pupils misbehaving. Pupils respond immediately to their teachers’ instructions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school maintains a detailed log of behaviour-related incidents, which includes details of any action taken. There have been no racist incidents recorded in the school and there have been no recent exclusions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strongly promoted and a key strength in the school. Pupils are keen to learn, and are respectful to all staff. They welcome challenge and work hard, with a genuine desire to succeed.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have good manners and conduct themselves sensibly around the school, even when there are no adults present.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say bullying is not an issue and they feel that, if it ever did happen, it would be dealt with quickly. Pupils know about bullying, how to avoid it and the different forms it can take. They understand about different types of bullying including name-calling and cyber-bullying. They realise that discrimination is not tolerated. They say that they feel safe in school and they know how to keep safe; for example, when cycling or when crossing the road.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they enjoy school and this is reflected in their above-average levels of attendance. Most have positive attitudes to learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement. There have been many staff changes during the last two years, including at senior leadership level, and this has slowed the rate of school improvement. Leaders agree that there is still much further to go before the school is operating as effectively as it needs to.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders have set priorities for improving the quality of education and hence pupils’ achievement. They have a detailed view of the school’s work which draws on an appropriate range of evidence and forms the basis of the school improvement plan. Their evaluation of pupils’ achievement, the quality of leadership and management and the schools’ overall effectiveness is accurate, but their evaluation of teaching overall is generous because judgements are not informed by how much progress pupils are making.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Middle leaders now undertake a range of monitoring activities. However, where issues have been identified they have not always been followed through and subject leaders’ checks do not always focus sharply on raising standards. This has resulted in inconsistencies in classes and hampered the pace of improvement to which leaders aspire. Nevertheless, there have been successes and the most noticeable improvements are in the provision for reading and mathematics.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although senior leaders have supported teachers by providing training to improve the quality of teaching, they do not check rigorously enough that this has brought about the improvements intended.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 There are established procedures to manage the performance of staff, and the governors have set demanding targets for the work of staff. Because of the number of staff changes, procedures have only recently been implemented for a number of teachers. Challenging targets are set for all staff and are closely monitored to guide their work and improve their performance.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum is well-planned and there is an appropriate focus on reading, writing and mathematics. A range of visits enhances the curriculum and helps to develop pupils’ skills and maintain their enthusiasm for learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupil-premium funding has been successfully used to provide eligible pupils with additional support and learning opportunities in literacy and numeracy. Pupil-premium funding is also spent appropriately on individual teaching support and access to clubs and visits so that eligible pupils can take part in the same activities as other pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 There are detailed arrangements for allocating the primary school sport funding to improve and widen opportunities for more pupils to take part in sports activities and improve teachers’ expertise in teaching games, dance and gymnastics. In July 2013 the school audited its staff skills and provision and identified weaknesses in the teaching of dance. As a result of this audit it has allocated a substantial amount of money for professional development in this area. The school has plans to measure the impact of this work.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils have a wide range of cultural experiences. Moral and social development is strong and pupils have good opportunities to develop a spiritual dimension through considering others and valuing their own and others’ achievements. They have good links with other schools both in Britain and abroad and there is a range of residential visits for pupils, including one to Conwy in north Wales.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school gives a high priority to safeguarding and all staff are diligent in fulfilling their responsibilities. They work closely to keep pupils safe and to provide consistent role models, and implement agreed procedures to sustain good behaviour and very supportive relationships.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors are ambitious for the school and keen to support and challenge. They understand their roles and responsibilities well. They are aware of how to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and how to tackle weaknesses. Governors have recently conducted a review of their own performance. They have identified areas they need to improve and are acting on the recommendations. This included an audit of their individual and collective skills and a reorganisation of their work so that they have a greater involvement in school life. They know the school well through their own checks and regular visits and so are in a strong position to challenge and ask searching questions. They have recently challenged school leaders in relation to its academic performance, posing very searching questions in relation to the latest set of assessment data. Governors have a good knowledge of the quality of teaching and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

learning. Governors have regular contact and discuss whole-school targets for improvement. They have helped manage the performance of teachers in a bid to improve teaching, linking pay to responsibility and competence but staff changes mean a slow rate of progress in this area. Governors make sure statutory requirements are met, including for safeguarding.

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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 is

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Grade Judgement Description

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 137624 Local authority Herefordshire Inspection number 440378

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Academy converter School category Non-maintained Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 140 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Hancock Headteacher Matthew Land Date of previous school inspection N/A Telephone number 01885 483238 Fax number 01885 483238 Email address admin@brockhampton.hereford. 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, please

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School details

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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