Bracken Edge Primary School

Bracken Edge Primary School Newton Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS7 4HE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  From very low starting points, pupils make good progress throughout their time at the school in reading, writing and mathematics.  The progress of pupils with special educational needs and those known to be eligible for free school meals is also good in reading, writing and mathematics.  The quality of teaching is good across all key stages and, at times, it is outstanding. Lessons are well planned and pupils respond positively to this with high levels of participation.  Pupils demonstrate a lot of confidence when speaking; this is particularly impressive given the short time that many pupils have been learning English. This is the result of the school’s consistent focus on good quality spoken English in all lessons. Pupils listen well to one another in discussions, and work well together, as a result.  Pupils are very proud of their school. They behave very well in lessons and around school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

They start each day keen and eager to learn and enthusiastically engage in the work their teachers have planned for them.  Pupils feel very safe and are exceptionally caring towards each other, especially of pupils who are new to the school.  The very well informed headteacher and committed senior and middle leaders have high ambitions for the school. They reject complacency and show great determination to drive forward improvements. As a result, pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching continue to improve.  Governors have an impressive understanding of performance in all areas of the school’s work. They support the school to the full and challenge the leadership with rigour.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Standards are not high enough in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers do not place enough emphasis on ensuring pupils spell accurately.  There is too much variation in the quality of teachers’ marking. Teachers do not always expect or provide the opportunity for pupils to respond to their written advice.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 19 lessons, taught by 16 teachers. Two of the lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher and a deputy headteacher.  Inspectors listened to pupils read from Year 2 and Year 6. They met formally with pupils from Year 1 to Year 6.  Inspectors observed pupils at break in the playground and at lunchtime in the dining hall. They also observed an assembly.  Inspectors met with three governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body.  The lead inspector met with a representative from the local authority.  There were no responses from parents on the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) but inspectors held discussions with some parents during the inspection and took account of the school’s parental survey completed by 74 parents in the autumn term, 2013.  They observed the pupils’ work and looked at school documentation, including data on pupils’ progress, the school’s development plan, evidence from the school’s checks on how well it is

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Information about this inspection

doing, evidence of monitoring records and the arrangements for safeguarding.  Inspectors analysed questionnaire responses from 22 members of staff.

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Inspection team

Fiona McNally, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Katherine Halifax Additional Inspector Emily Wheeldon Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized primary school.  Thirteen percent of pupils in the school are White British, which is the biggest ethnic group. There are 20 ethnicities represented in the school and more than three times the national average of pupils from ethnic backgrounds other than White British, with particularly high numbers of Gypsy Roma, Traveller, Somalian and Pakistani pupils.  The proportion of pupils who do not speak English as their first language is double the national average; there are 26 different languages spoken as the first language by pupils in the school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is double the average proportion nationally. (The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children that are looked after by the local authority.)  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is above average.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is slightly below average.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  In recent years the number of pupils who arrive into the school at times other than the start of the school year has increased dramatically with over 100 pupils having started in the school since September 2013. In 2012-13 there were 180 pupils who started in the school over the year. The pupils arriving are of varying ages and enter the school from Year 1 to Year 6.  Whilst the influx of new pupils is very high, there are very few pupils who leave the school before the end of Year 6.  In Year 6 in 2012-2013, a quarter of the pupils from the two oldest classes had arrived at the school after the start of Year 4.

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Information about this school

 The large majority of all new arrivals speak little or no English and a significant number have not been to school previously.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the standards that pupils reach in reading, writing and mathematics across all key stages so as to represent outstanding progress and achievement by:  ensuring teachers provide more difficult work for those pupils who are capable of greater challenge in order to maximise their development of key skills  ensuring teachers place greater importance on pupils being able to spell accurately by expecting more of them and identifying errors when marking their work in books  ensuring teachers provide sufficient opportunity for pupils to respond to advice given through marking so they learn from their mistakes.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ progress is good. This is seen by the progress of pupils currently in school and those who have left the school at the end of Year 6 over the past three years. Most children who start the school in the Nursery or Reception classes have skills which are well below what is typical for their age. They enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with particularly poor levels of communication and language, and poor personal, social and emotional development.  The school has very large number of pupils who arrive at the school after their Reception Year and these pupils mostly come from other countries and speak little or no English. A significant number of the pupils entering the school later have never attended school previously. For these pupils, their lack of English and previous school experience means their levels of development are significantly below what is typical for their age, whether they enter the school in Key Stage 1

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The achievement of pupils is good

or Key Stage 2.  The progress of pupils currently in the school is good across all year groups and this is the case for pupils who started in the school in Nursery or Reception and for pupils who were in the school by the start of September 2013. The pupils who started in the school after September have, so far, made only average progress overall. However, it is clear that as new pupils settle into the school, and have been in the school for over two terms, their progress picks up and then continues to accelerate as they move through the school. This is the case in reading, writing and mathematics.  By the end of Key Stage 1, the proportion of pupils reaching the levels typical for their age is below average in reading, writing and mathematics, and this has been the case over time. However, over the past five years, there has been a general upward trend in the standards being reached, although this stalled slightly in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The proportion of pupils by the end of Year 1 reaching the expected level in understanding their letters and sounds is below average for all groups of pupils.  By the end of Year 6, standards in writing and mathematics are low when compared to national averages. Standards in reading are also below average but are higher than those seen in writing and mathematics. However, the progress that pupils have made from their starting points when they first start school, and also from the standards that they reached at the end of Key Stage 1, is good. For the last three years, the progress that pupils have made across Key Stage 2 has been faster than that seen in many other schools. Past and current data show that pupils’ progress gets faster as they move through the school.  Pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding are generally making good progress and, in some cases, faster progress than other pupils in school. This is evidenced through the pupils’

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The achievement of pupils is good

progress by the end of Year 6 over a number of years, and in the assessment data of pupils who are currently in the school. While overall attainment for all pupils is below the national average, the in-school attainment gap between pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and their peers in similar to the gap seen in most other schools in mathematics and reading but is narrower in writing.  The progress of the most able pupils is good in reading, writing and mathematics and is broadly in line with the progress of other pupils in the school. This is seen through the progress of the last three Year 6 groups to leave the school, the progress of pupils currently in school, in the lessons observed during the inspection and the work seen in pupils’ books. However, in a few lessons, work does not offer sufficient challenge to really stretch their thinking.  The learning and progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is

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The achievement of pupils is good

good and in line with their peers. For the past three years, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs have made particularly good progress in reading by the time they leave Year 6. Pupils who speak English as an additional language make good progress, in line with or at times better than their peers. The good achievement of different groups of pupils shows the school’s commitment to providing all pupils with equal opportunities.  Pupils have the opportunity to read a variety of texts and to read on a regular basis in school and at home. This is reinforced by the good progress pupils make by the end of Key Stage 2 in reading over recent years.  The development of pupils’ listening and speaking skills has been a particular focus in the school over recent years. In every lesson there is dedicated time for pupils to improve their use of more ambitious language and key terminology, as well as practising their listening skills. This results in

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The achievement of pupils is good

pupils, regardless of background or ability, gaining confidence and the ability to share their ideas and present their work to their classmates and teachers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching in all year groups is good and this promotes pupils’ good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, staff work well together to make sure that children are introduced to a wide and interesting range of activities that engage them and develop the most important skills. These are successfully designed to support children to develop their communication skills and their personal, social and emotional development. For example, in Reception, children were given a wheel and, in pairs, discussed where it came from. Children had a variety of ideas that generated new learning. For example, the suggestion that it had fallen off a wedding car led them to organise a wedding; this incorporated a great number of skills such as writing a wedding invitation and designing the car. They were enthusiastic and made strong gains in their learning.  In Key Stages 1 and 2, teaching is consistently good and sometimes better with teachers

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The quality of teaching is good

planning lessons which are interesting and engaging. Teachers question pupils well and through this they elicit information from the pupils, regularly check pupils’ understanding and use the information to move learning on.  Teachers expect pupils to work hard and reinforce these high expectations through planning activities which are sufficiently difficult to stretch pupils. Nevertheless, in some lessons, more could be done to push the most able pupils on at an even faster rate.  Due to the ever-changing make-up of the classes with large numbers of new pupils arriving on a termly basis, the teachers and teaching assistants have become skilled at quickly assessing barriers to learning for individuals and overcoming these. Teachers and teaching assistants lead by example when they consistently use key terminology and specific, sophisticated language to express themselves; and they praise pupils for doing the same. They also use pupils to model

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The quality of teaching is good

the good use of language, to show all pupils what they can do.  Pupils’ work in their books shows that they make good progress and this was also seen in lessons during the inspection. In lessons, it is clear that oral feedback is pertinent and useful to pupils and that there is a clear expectation for pupils to respond by correcting their work and language. However, in written marking seen in pupils’ books, the guidance to help pupils to improve their work is not as clear. Equally, pupils do not always respond to written advice and this is not followed up by the teachers. There are also examples in pupils’ books where spelling errors are not identified by teachers and are, therefore, repeated by pupils.  The large majority of parents agree that their child is well taught at the school. Pupils told inspectors that they feel the same and these views mirror those in a survey completed by all pupils in Key Stage 1 and 2 in December 2013. The regular checks made by the senior leaders

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The quality of teaching is good

on teaching and the work in pupils’ books show that teaching is good over time.  Lessons are well planned by teachers for the most and least able pupils in the school, as well as the middle-ability pupils. Pupils benefit from very regular oral feedback in lessons. The focus on oracy has ensured that, even for pupils whose first language is not English, their spoken language skills are good, which in turn has improved their reading and writing skills. It also means that when pupils have been in the school for a relatively short amount of time, they understand well enough to be able to join in and continually build on their knowledge and skills in lessons.  Adults work well together in most classrooms. Teachers and teaching assistants check pupils’ progress closely and move pupils on successfully to the next steps in their learning. Teaching assistants are skilled at working with individual pupils, especially where they have little

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. This is seen through their very positive attitudes to the learning and the high level of maturity of pupils when taking part in activities and, in particular, when listening to one another’s ideas.  Due to highly engaging activities, all pupils participate very well in lessons and regularly lead learning by discussing ideas in groups and telling the teacher how they would like to move their learning on. For example, inspectors saw in the Nursery class that the teacher brought in lots of long cardboard tubes and asked the children how these could be used. After discussing the matter in groups and being questioned by adults for reasons for their ideas, the children decided they would build a tree house with the tubes. In doing so, pupils developed well their ability to work together, their speaking and listening skills, and their skills in handling and manipulating

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

equipment.  There are clearly established routines understood by pupils in the classrooms and around the school. Pupils know they are to move between activities or around the school in a calm and efficient manner. Learning time is not wasted. During lessons, pupils now automatically discuss ideas and opinions in pairs or groups without being asked to do so as this is something the school promotes.  Pupils have high levels of self-motivation to the extent that where teaching is good, the pupils’ level of participation and attitude to the learning is often outstanding.  There are pupils who have moved into the school from other schools because of very poor behaviour. There are also a significant number of pupils who have come to the school with little English and their initial inability to communicate has led to very poor behaviour. The school is quick to support rapid improvements in these pupils’ behaviour and, in turn, their ability to learn.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils say they feel safe in and around school and enjoy the activities they can take part in at lunchtime. Pupils who spoke to inspectors, as well as parents, had a very strong belief that the adults in the school cared about the children and that, if there were any issues, staff would deal with them.  Pupils have a clear understanding of the different types of bullying and say that bullying is rare and dealt with effectively. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe which comes through the work they do in class as well as in assemblies and through specialist events in the year, such as Anti-Bullying Week. All pupils have a secure understanding of how to stay safe when using the internet.  Pupils’ attendance overall is just below the national average but for particular groups and individual pupils where attendance has historically been very poor, the school has worked

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

successfully to improve attendance. This has come about through a concerted effort to engage with parents from different parts of the school community, getting parents to trust the school and recognise that the school wants the best for their child.  All classrooms and other learning spaces are consistently tidy and well organised.  School uniform is not compulsory but there is a dress code which all pupils respect and adhere to.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leadership and management are outstanding. The headteacher and senior team lead by example and their clear view of how the school can continue to improve is shared by staff. There are seven new teachers and a number of new support staff in the school who say they have been able to quickly establish themselves, thanks to the clear vision of the leadership team as well as a high quality induction programme with good training opportunities. This strong leadership is reflected in the good quality of teaching in the school.  The leaders’ drive to keep improving the classroom practice is at the centre of all they do. Initiatives such as the oracy project and outdoor learning lessons to reinforce key skills are a response to the very diverse needs of the pupils coming to the school. Staff, particularly the least experienced, are regularly observed and are given a lot of opportunities to observe one another.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has developed a broad leadership structure with two key groups; one to lead on designing and reviewing the curriculum and the other on improving classroom practices. As a result of using teachers of varying levels of experience in these groups, the headteacher has shown all staff that they are valued and that the expertise already available in school is put to good use to increase the school’s capacity for further improvement.  School leaders know the school well and make thorough checks on how well pupils are doing and identify where more could be done to help pupils further. This ambitious attitude is a driving force in the school where all staff share a passion to do the best for the pupils.  The school’s curriculum is outstanding; it is imaginative and regularly relies on pupils to guide the direction of learning. By allowing for this level of creativity and leadership by the pupils, the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

school ensures the curriculum engages their interests, whilst reinforcing key skills. This was seen in a physical education lesson where some of the youngest pupils used dance and body movements to spell their names. Similary, in an art lesson, pupils used the shape work learnt in mathematics to produce Matisse-style artwork of their own.  The school celebrates its own cultural diversity, using it as one way to enhance the pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. For example, there is a ‘language of the month’ and one of the 26 languages spoken by pupils is always chosen. This means that the pupils for whom English is a second language have a clear understanding that their bilingual status will always be a strength for them. Pupils have opportunities to attend after-school clubs every afternoon and on Sundays. This engages parents as much as pupils who come to the school to watch the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

activities.  In lessons, opportunities to learn about British culture and history are regular. For example, pupils in Year 3 learn about how Romans introduced new food types to Britain that are still eaten today. Links from this are then made to how people coming to Britain from abroad today also contribute to British life in a similar way. For the many pupils in the school who have come from different parts of the world, this is a strong and positive message about the contribution they can make to British society.  The school has used sports funding to pay for a full-time sports specialist. This means all pupils have weekly physical education lessons led by a specialist whilst teachers observe and increase their own ability to teach sport. The school also uses the specialist to lead a health and well- being group with other members of staff, supporting pupils’ and parents’ understanding of the importance of healthy eating as well as regular exercise.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The care, guidance and support of the pupils are excellent. To ensure that pupils’ potential vulnerabilities are not barriers to their learning, they have excellent strategies in place to settle new pupils as well as to work with pupils who have behavioural and emotional needs. The school leadership strongly believes that the relationships developed with parents, as well as the opportunities provided for pupils, have secured good behaviour and progress of pupils. For example, arrangements are in place to pick children up on Sunday mornings to take them to rugby practice. Once a week, parents are invited to a morning assembly with a coffee morning afterwards where members of the senior leadership team and governors are present, ensuring parents have very easy access to leaders in school. The school has a Community Room where English lessons are available to support better language skills amongst parents and, therefore,

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The leadership and management are outstanding

improving communication between school and home.  The local authority has a clear view of the school’s many strengths, recognising the work it has done in recent years to raise achievement. It ensures there are good links between the school and others with a similar intake of pupils. This cluster works well in collaboration to provide training for teachers and teaching assistants to meet the needs of pupils who have little or no English when they arrive.  Safeguarding and child protection policies and practices fully meet current requirements.  The governance of the school:  Governors have an outstanding awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They support the school fully but are unafraid to challenge proposals and to ask questions of leaders about pupils’ progress and their ideas to improve what the school provides. The governing body ensures that staff performance appraisal arrangements are secure and that

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The leadership and management are outstanding

teachers receive financial reward only if they meet their classroom targets in relation to pupils’ progress. Governors are often in school and take part in enrichment activities, such as football coaching. Governors are fully aware of how pupil premium funding is spent and the impact of this spending on the achievement of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and of pupils who are looked after.

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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 107909 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 440775

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 400 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Grayston Paul Headteacher Julie Harkness Date of previous school inspection 4 December 2012 Telephone number 0113 262 3335 Fax number 0113 237 4351 Email address brackenedge@leedslearning.net 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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