Brighton Avenue Primary School

Brighton Avenue Primary School Brighton Road, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, NE8 1XS

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The outstanding leadership of the headteacher and her senior leaders over the last two years has vastly improved the quality of teaching and rapidly raised achievement. All staff are highly committed to support all pupils to the very best of their ability.  Pupils show great enthusiasm for learning. They make rapid progress from mostly below average starting points. Standards across the school are rising quickly in reading, writing and mathematics and are now average by the end of Year 6. However, standards at the end of Year 2 are not yet consistently equal to pupils nationally of similar age.  Pupils who are disadvantaged make excellent progress and attain above levels expected for their age.  Pupils with special educational needs and the most able also make rapid progress from their starting points.  Children make an excellent start in the early years where they thrive and rapidly develop new skills and knowledge.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teaching is good and much is outstanding. Teachers are highly trained and many are inspirational in their work to engage and motivate learning. Very occasionally, work is not planned sufficiently well to address different abilities or to take account of achievements within lessons.  The quality of marking is of the highest standard. It is consistently used by all teachers, and pupils have excellent opportunities to respond to teachers’ comments.  In this inclusive and harmonious school, behaviour is outstanding. Pupils have immense pride in their school, in their work and in themselves. Relationships are excellent and they feel safe and secure.  The school offers a vast array of experiences for pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills. Pupils are polite and respectful, they show care and support for others in the school and in the wider community.  The exciting curriculum motivates learning.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Carefully focused visits and visitors to the school stimulate interest and widen pupils’ experiences. Pupils have many opportunities to use their developing skills in English and mathematics through other subjects.  The governing body are highly effective in its duties. Governors strongly support the school. Working closely with the headteacher and staff, they recognise when to challenge the school and are unafraid to take decisive action when needed.  The school is well placed to continue to thrive and to raise standards further.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited many lessons and, in addition, made short visits to see the teaching of groups and individual pupils. They also listened to pupils reading. The headteacher and one of the assistant headteachers each took part in a lesson observation with two inspectors.  Separate discussions were held with the headteacher, staff, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. The opinions of 29 members of staff were also considered from their questionnaire responses.  Inspectors observed the school’s work, looked at children’s learning journals and staff planning journals. They considered the school website, data on children’s progress, planning and monitoring documentation and information relating to the welfare of children and safeguarding.  Inspectors took account of the 16 responses to the on-line parent questionnaire (Parent View), the results of the school’s own questionnaire to parents and discussions with parents of nursery children over the two

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Information about this inspection

days of inspection.  Inspectors observed pupils during morning playtime and lunchtime, and attended whole school collective worship.

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Inspection team

Kate Pringle, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils and therefore eligible for support through the pupil premium funding is well above average. (The pupil premium is additional government funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those children looked after by the local authority.)  The proportion of pupils from other minority ethnic backgrounds is much higher than average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is much higher than average.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is much higher than average.  The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average.  The proportion of pupils who enter and leave the school at times other than those which are usual is much higher than average.  The school meets the governments’ current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for

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Information about this school

pupils’ attainment and progress.  Children in the early years have part-time provision in nursery of 15 hours a week. Reception children receive full time education.  At the time of the inspection, the outdoor area for early years was not in use. This was because work to develop the area was halted by the headteacher during the summer because of changes made to the original design which made the equipment unsafe for small children to use.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to accelerate pupils’ progress over Key Stage 1 to raise standards to be consistently in line with the national average, by: - making more use of what pupils of different abilities know and can do, to plan tasks which always challenge them at the right level - providing more opportunities for pupils to use their developing skills and knowledge to solve problems in mathematics - recognising when pupils achieve their goal in learning and changing the planned lesson to move them on to what they need to learn next, so increasing the level of challenge.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has been inspirational in her work to improve the quality of teaching and learning within the school. Together with senior leaders, she has provided clear direction and motivated staff at every level towards aspirational outcomes for pupils. This is shown in the exceptional progress pupils are making and the rate at which standards achieved are rising.  Middle leaders support the senior leaders very well through their dedicated areas of responsibility. They are highly effective in their monitoring of pupils’ progress in different subjects and in their skills to challenge teachers to ensure all pupils are progressing as well as they can.  The management of staff performance is extremely rigorous. Dedicated training supports the needs of teachers and the needs of the school. There is a continuous focus upon improving teaching and standards.  Tracking of individual pupils is well established. Any pupils falling behind are quickly identified and given

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The leadership and management are outstanding

the support they need to catch up quickly. This means that all pupils have an equal opportunity to succeed, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs.  Partnerships with parents are very good. The website provides a wealth of information and there are ample opportunities for parents to talk with teachers on a daily basis and through more formal meetings.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language and their families are very well supported. There are excellent links with external agencies, the website and documentation can be opened in the home language. Staff and pupils from other countries provide translation services for parents. The ‘Young Interpreters’ ,children from a wide range of countries, become buddies to new pupils helping them and their families, settle in and gain confidence more quickly.  The pupil premium funding has been used extremely effectively to support disadvantaged pupils to make

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The leadership and management are outstanding

outstanding progress and high attainment.  Similarly, the primary school sports fund has further extended opportunities for pupils to learn new skills in a wider range of sports. There is greater interaction with other schools in sports competitions and pupils’ health is monitored through a dedicated programme. Sports coaches work regularly with teachers to increase their individual skills in the teaching of physical education.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. This is a truly inclusive school and every opportunity is taken to teach pupils how to value and respect each other. This is reflected in their outstanding behaviour. At every opportunity pupils are asked to reflect upon a wide range of situations. The school makes excellent use of the considerable number of backgrounds, religions and cultures within the school. Parents and pupils are invited to share their lifestyles with the school through lessons and

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The leadership and management are outstanding

assemblies. Consequently, pupils are extremely well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school works very closely with the local authority accessing a range of appropriate training for staff. The school adviser provides highly effective support to the school.  The governance of the school:  Governors have an excellent understanding of the school and how it is performing. They support it well and are ready to challenge and rigorously hold the school and staff to account when they feel it necessary. Governors hold individual responsibilities which reflect their individual expertise and the school benefits greatly from this through the various committees. Governors regularly spend time in school and visit classrooms. They have a very good overview of the quality of teaching and learning within the school.  Governors ensure that all statutory safeguarding requirements are well met and pupils feel safe and

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The leadership and management are outstanding

secure at all times. Governors manage the school’s finances very well and monitor very carefully the effectiveness of school improvement to ensure good value for money. For instance, they know well how effectively pupil premium funding has been spent and the highly positive impact it has had upon learning for this group of eligible pupils. Governors are rigorous in their address of teachers’ progression through the pay scale and of the performance of the headteacher.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are polite, respectful and show consideration for others. They are confident as they talk to each other and to adults, taking turns to speak and listen. Parents and pupils believe that pupils are well behaved.  Pupils feel valued and know that they are listened to by adults. They are keen to take on responsibilities, such as school council, playground helpers or as young interpreters.  There is a wide range of rewards in place and pupils can gain points towards golden time on Fridays. In addition, the whole-school celebration assembly shares in pupils’ good attendance, behaviour, work or reading.  Pupils understand the different forms that bullying can take. They are sure that bullying is rare and, should it occur, staff are very quick to sort out problems.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe through a range of different programmes. They understand the risks of using the internet and to recognise dangers in the home and in the local area. Pupils have the opportunities to work with the emergency services to understand their roles and how, for instance, the police and paramedics are there to help.  Attendance is rising and is now in line with national average and the level of pupils who are persistently absent has fallen. Due to the high mobility levels in the school, attendance levels can be lowered without warning as families leave the area and fail to find school places for their children. The level of attendance, excluding those who leave in such circumstances, is high.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Consistently good and often outstanding teaching over time is the reason why so many pupils make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils have an excellent work ethic whatever their learning ability.  Expectations of what pupils are capable of are high and pupils respond through similarly high levels of attention and engagement. Inspectors are greatly impressed with the high levels of pupils’ motivation. There is a constant dialogue between teachers and pupils and through pupils using discussion to consider situations together before drawing conclusions. Teaching assistants use their highly developed skills to guide smaller groups of pupils, particularly those who find learning more difficult.  The quality and consistency of marking is exceptionally high. All pupils fully understand the colour coding. They have time to address teachers’ comments by returning to past work to make the necessary changes.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

Teachers check that comments have been addressed.  The quality of presentation in books is exceptional. From an early age pupils are expected to present their work well. Books are neat, tidy, well set out and in good condition.  Learning activities are usually very well matched to the different abilities of pupils. Occasionally, however, planning for lessons does not take enough notice of what pupils have achieved well in previous learning. This means that, on these occasions, for some pupils the level of challenge is less than they are capable of tackling.  Tasks are quickly and skilfully broken down into smaller steps for pupils who do not understand and so these pupils do well. However, when pupils are achieving tasks easily in lessons, the need to provide harder work to move the learning on at a faster pace is not always recognised soon enough. At such times, the pace of learning slows for a few pupils, especially for the most able.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The school’s approach to teaching all subjects through a ‘theme’ provides pupils with good opportunities to use their developing skills in reading, writing and mathematics in all subjects. Excellent use is made of visits, and visitors, to stimulate interest and provide starting points for new learning.  The new curriculum is in place for identified year groups and teachers have already started to develop, and use, new methods to track progress in line with the new expectations.  Every effort is used to engage parents in their children’s learning and many take up the opportunities to ‘stay and learn’.  A wide range of sporting and creative opportunities enable pupils to extend their skills through additional activities after school and at lunchtime.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The vast majority of pupils make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their starting points. Pupils use these skills well in other subjects. Attainment at the end of Year 6 is in line with the national average.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) has improved dramatically over recent years and is highly effective. By the end of Year 1, the vast majority of pupils now reach the standard expected for their age in the national screening test.  Standards are rising quickly at the end of Year 2. Pupils are making increasingly better progress which is raising their attainment from below average and for some significantly below average. Most recent data indicates present standards to be just below the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Progress over Key Stage 2 is rapid. Results for 2014 national tests, which unpublished, indicated that progress from Year 2 to the end of Year 6 is considerable. Attainment is in line with pupils nationally in

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

reading, writing and mathematics and increasing proportions of pupils are achieving at the higher Level 5.  The school’s own data indicates that the present Year 2 and Year 6 have started the year at higher levels than last year’s pupils.  The school has high levels of mobility with many pupils entering school at times other than those that are usual. A high proportion of these pupils speak English as an additional language and the school does extremely well to support these pupils to progress at the same rate as other pupils in reading writing and mathematics. Attainment for these pupils at the end of both Key Stages 1 and 2 can vary depending upon how long pupils have been in the school.  Where the school has tracked those pupils who have been in school from the early years, their attainment and progress are both very high.  Pupils’ reading skills develop very well. Younger pupils, even those who struggle with reading, use their

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

phonics skills successfully to break down new words. All pupils read with great enjoyment and confidence and are able to talk about the plot in books and what might happen next. The older most able pupils are able to refer back in texts and ‘read between the lines’ to answer questions.  There are many opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills across Key Stage 2. For example, one Year 6 class used their skills very successfully in multiplication and division to increase their £85 starting fund as much as possible in a given number of moves. Over Key Stage 1, there are fewer opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills through problem solving which means that pupils do not recognise how to use their skills in everyday situations.  All groups of pupils make similarly good or better progress across the school. Increasingly, a greater proportion of pupils are exceeding the nationally expected levels for their age at Year 2 and Year 6.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils with disabilities and special educational needs are given excellent support and make at least good, and often outstanding progress.  Disadvantaged pupils are extremely well supported. Additional support is extremely well targeted and as a result their progress is often higher than that of their classmates. In 2013 these pupils were ahead of all pupils nationally by a term in reading, and about five terms in writing and mathematics. The gap between them and other pupils in the school was even greater with their attainment just over 1 term ahead of other pupils in reading, about nine terms ahead in writing and four terms ahead in mathematics. Initial 2014 results indicate disadvantaged pupils to be outperforming other pupils although the differences are not quite as high.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 From starting points which are below those typical for their age, most children make good and sometimes outstanding progress to catch up to others nationally by the time they leave the Reception Year. Most children are ready to enter Year 1 at levels which are broadly in line with others of their age nationally.  Teaching in the early years has a clear focus upon speaking and listening, developing physical skills and children’s personal and social development. Staff make considerable efforts to develop excellent relationships with children and this means that they rapidly feel secure, gain in confidence and become self-assured learners.  Staff use questions very successfully to encourage children to think and to respond. There is a constant dialogue between staff and children to learn new vocabulary and use it appropriately.  From the start, children are encouraged to be independent in their choices of what to learn. They decide

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The early years provision is outstanding

what they want to do and choose their resources. For example, one little girl carefully chose her play dough and tools, setting them out carefully in her chosen work space before concentrating for some time on rolling, shaping and cutting the dough.  Children are encouraged to play and learn safely. Learning to keep safe and simple hygiene practice, such as the washing of hands at certain points of the day, is well established and children are reminded about why there is a need to do this.  Teachers are very well supported by assistants who help to focus support where it is best needed. This further encourages and supports learning for the different needs of children.  At the weekly planning meetings for all staff, they consider carefully what has been achieved and where learning needs to move to. This ensures that progress is at least good for all children.  The early years leader has excellent knowledge and skills and is making a significant impact upon the

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The early years provision is outstanding

setting. She has a very clear idea of what is needed and she ensures actions to bring about improvement are successful. Her staff are supported extremely well through target setting and training and so this highly inclusive team are extremely effective in their work together.  Partnerships with parents are very successful. They are encouraged to ‘stay and play’ and many take advantage of this. The setting makes very good use of staff and pupils of different nationalities throughout the school to support non-English speaking parents and their children. This means children and parents settle quickly into the early years and become part of the learning experience.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 108368 Local authority Gateshead Inspection number 448382

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 296 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr A Sergison Headteacher Mrs J Allan Date of previous school inspection 22 April 2010 Telephone number 0191 421 8080 Fax number 0191 421 0775 Email address enquiries@brightonavenueprimaryschool.org.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 and 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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