Brunswick Park Primary School

Brunswick Park Primary School Picton Street, Camberwell, London, SE5 7QH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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

 School leaders have not secured enough good teaching to raise pupils’ standards in writing and mathematics.  School leaders and governors have taken decisive action to reverse the decline since the previous inspection but recent improvements are not yet fully embedded across the school.  Many leaders are new to their roles and have not yet had sufficient time to raise standards in their subjects.  School leaders do not make enough use of information about pupils’ progress to ensure that all pupils are doing well enough.  The gaps between disadvantaged pupils and others are not closing rapidly enough. This is because leaders do not evaluate the impact of the funding on the progress pupils make.  Pupils’ behaviour requires improvement because they are inattentive in some lessons. When work is too easy, they fidget and chat among themselves. Occasionally, they are a bit too lively in the playground and this can lead to minor

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

disagreements.  Teachers do not all have high enough expectations of what some pupils can do and they set work that is too easy for them. They do not use information about pupils’ learning to plan work that is at the right level.  Pupils do not achieve as well as they should in writing and mathematics. They have not developed basic skills securely enough by the end of Year 2. Some teaching assistants do not make an effective contribution to pupils’ learning.

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The school has the following strengths:

 Governors have benefited from recent training to develop their skills of monitoring the work of the school and better holding leaders to account.  Children get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage. They make good progress because they are taught well.  Pupils are friendly, polite and helpful. They enjoy school and they feel safe. This is shown in their improving attendance and punctuality.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well. Pupils in the resource base are taught well because staff have a good understanding of their specific needs.  Pupils make good progress in reading so that by the end of Year 6, their attainment is broadly average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils working in 16 lessons or parts of lessons, eight of which were observed jointly with senior leaders. They looked at pupils’ work in their books and they listened to pupils reading in Year 2 and Year 6. They attended three assemblies and they observed pupils’ behaviour in classes, as they moved around the school and in the playgrounds.  Meetings were held with school leaders, pupils and governors. A meeting was also held with two representatives from the local authority.  Among the documents scrutinised were school improvement plans, information about pupils’ learning and progress, and records regarding the performance of teachers. Inspectors also scrutinised school records regarding pupils’ behaviour and attendance, and documentation showing how the school keeps pupils and staff safe.  The views of parents and carers were taken into account by analysing 43 responses to the online survey,

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Information about this inspection

Parent View. Inspectors also considered letters from two parents or carers and spoke informally to parents and carers during the inspection. The views of staff were considered by analysing the 30 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Joy Considine, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Abdul-Hayee Murshad Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are from from minority ethnic backgrounds and about half of these speak English as an additional language.  More than half of the pupils are eligible for the pupil premium funding. This is higher than usual. Pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to support disadvantaged pupils.  Ten per cent of pupils are supported at school action, which is above the national average. Twelve per cent are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs; this is also above average.  The school has a resource base for 24 pupils who have autistic spectrum conditions. These pupils are mostly taught in mainstream classes and cover the age range of the school. All places are filled.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 There is provision for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage in the Nursery and Reception classes. Children attend Nursery part time and Reception full time.  There have been significant changes to the teaching and leadership team since the previous inspection. The headteacher was appointed in April 2014 and the deputy headteacher joined the school in September 2014. Six classes are currently being taught by supply staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that a higher proportion is good or better by ensuring that:  teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are high enough and that they provide work for pupils that is at the right level  there is greater challenge for pupils in lessons so that they remain attentive and behave well  staff set clear expectations for pupils’ behaviour in and out of the classroom  all teaching assistants support pupils’ learning in classrooms or in small groups.  Raise pupils’ standards in writing and mathematics by:  ensuring that pupils develop basic skills of handwriting, spelling and punctuation by the end of Year 2  ensuring that pupils have challenging targets that enable them to progress well  providing more opportunities for pupils to complete mathematical work in their books instead of completing worksheets.  Improve leadership and management by:  ensuring that leaders, including subject leaders, make better use of information about pupils’ attainment

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

and progress to identify and respond to underachievement more rapidly  training new leaders so they have the skills to check on the work of other staff and provide support where it is most needed  monitoring the use of additional funding to help disadvantaged pupils to achieve more.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the use of pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although school leaders have taken decisive action to improve teaching, some is still not good enough and consequently pupils do not make enough progress in all classes. Leaders have set targets for pupils’ progress but these are too low to bring about the rapid improvements needed. Leaders have put into place new systems to record pupils’ learning and progress but they do not use the information systematically to identify gaps in pupils’ learning.  School leaders have a realistic view of what needs to be done but frequent changes to the teaching team have made it difficult to maintain improvements. They acknowledge that staff turnover has had a detrimental impact on pupils’ achievement. However, with a high level of support from the local authority, there has been more rapid progress over the last year. School leaders have established a culture where improvements to teaching and pupils’ behaviour are now the expectation of all staff.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The work of teachers is checked regularly both through formal lesson observations and regular ‘drop ins’ so that leaders can quickly identify where further support is needed. Training, coaching and mentoring are provided to help staff to improve their skills and this is helping to secure further improvements.  Many leaders, including those for some subjects, are new to their roles. They are helping to bring about improvements but it is too early to see the impact of their work. The leader for inclusion is new to the role and has already undertaken a review of provision and has a good understanding of what needs to be improved. She has improved systems for referrals and documents the interventions that take place. However, systems to monitor the progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs and those pupils in the resource base have yet to be fully developed.  Although the school can point to some good examples of where the additional funding has benefited

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The leadership and management requires improvement

disadvantaged pupils, leaders do not track their progress carefully enough. They do not use the information robustly enough to ensure that the gap between disadvantaged and other pupils is closing quickly enough. Some funding has been used to provide additional support to develop pupils’ personal development and increase their confidence in school.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. School leaders have implemented the new National Curriculum and have created an overview to ensure that pupils learn new skills with confidence and enjoyment. It provides pupils with increasing opportunities to practise their writing skills when learning other subjects, particularly at Key Stage 2. This is helping pupils to improve the quality of their writing. British values such as respect, trust and liberty are promoted effectively through aspects of history such as ‘votes for women’. The quality of art and music is good and contributes well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

cultural development.  All pupils are treated equally and discrimination on any grounds is not tolerated. However, because there is variability in the quality of provision across the school, pupils do not all have equal opportunities to succeed.  The use of the additional funding for physical education has been used to employ a specialist teacher to work with both pupils and staff. This has helped to improve teachers’ skills so they can better provide a physical education (PE) curriculum that contributes well to pupils’ enjoyment and well-being.  The school ensures that all staff and pupils are safe in school. It meets all statutory requirements.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors respond well to high-quality training provided by the local authority. They now have a good understanding of how well the school performs in comparison with schools nationally and they know it is not good enough. They make intelligent use of data to challenge school leaders and they visit the school regularly to see for themselves where improvements are being made. Governors know that teaching needs to improve and they diligently check performance records to ensure that only the best teaching is rewarded. They have confidence in current leaders to tackle weaker teaching and bring about improvements. Governors have improved systems to review their own working practice to ensure they meet all statutory responsibilities. They manage finances effectively and ensure that systems for keeping staff and pupils safe meet all requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. This is because pupils do not always engage well enough in class to secure good learning. When work is too easy they fidget and chat among themselves and do not always listen to teachers.  Pupils behave well in classrooms when they are learning something new. They have positive attitudes to learning and enthusiastically respond to teachers’ questions. They listen carefully to each other and treat each other and adults with respect.  Most teachers have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour but they do not all implement the school’s policy consistently. Although pupils mostly move around the school sensibly, there are times when their exuberance boils over and some become too boisterous at playtimes. This can lead to minor disagreements that are quickly sorted out by adults.  Pupils are happy and they enjoy school. This is reflected in their attendance, which has improved since

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Behaviour

the previous inspection. It is now above average. Pupils get on very well together and enjoy working and playing alongside those from other backgrounds.  Pupils are courteous and well mannered. They are polite and helpful towards each other and to adults. They say that most pupils are friendly and that there are very few incidents of name calling or poor behaviour. They say there is very little bullying and that adults are always on hand to help to sort out any minor incidents that very occasionally arise.  Pupils from the resource base behave well in class because they are provided with support from skilled teaching assistants who understand their needs. They know when to intervene and offer clear explanations so that these pupils understand what is expected of them.  School records show few reported incidents of poor behaviour and there have been few exclusions in recent years. The majority of parents, carers and staff believe that pupils are safe and happy and behave

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. School leaders carefully analyse risks to their safety in and out of the school. The school site is clean and well maintained.  Pupils say they feel safe in school and report very few incidents of bullying. They participated in anti- bullying week and are very aware of different forms of bullying, including that relating to the internet. A very small minority of parents and carers expressed concerns to inspectors regarding bullying. However, records held by the school show that the school does take concerns seriously and responds to them appropriately.  Pupils, including those from the resource base, are very aware of the dangers outside school and they know how to keep themselves safe from dangers associated with roads, railways and water. They understand that some substances such as tobacco and non-medicinal drugs can be harmful.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it does not enable pupils to make consistently good progress in all classes. Teachers do not always use information about what pupils have learned to plan work that is at the right level.  Teachers’ expectations of what some pupils can do are not high enough because targets set for their progress are too low. Sometimes the work is too easy for the most able pupils and they are not challenged in class to do more. On these occasions, pupils get bored and begin to fidget and chat among themselves.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs progress well. This is because they have challenging targets and are provided with good support and guidance to help them to learn well. Pupils from the resource base are well supported by skilled teaching assistants who help them to manage their behaviour and to concentrate well in class.  The teaching of reading is variable in quality. There are still some variations in the way in which letters

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

and sounds (phonics) are taught at Key Stage 1. Pupils, therefore, do not progress as well as they should. By Year 6, pupils increase their rates of progress because they are given more opportunities to read widely when learning other subjects.  Although teaching is not consistently good, work in pupils’ books shows that in some year groups, they make good progress and are reaching standards that are broadly as expected for their age. However, progress in mathematics is slow for some pupils because there are too few opportunities for them to work things out for themselves. This is sometimes because they complete their work on simple pre- prepared worksheets and are not expected to structure their answers.  The quality of teachers’ marking has improved, particularly this term. Pupils are provided with detailed comments showing them what they have done well and what they need to do to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

They are given time by teachers to act on these comments by correcting their work so that they learn from their mistakes. This is leading to some improvement to the quality of pupils’ writing, particularly in Year 6.  Although some teaching assistants provide good levels of support to teachers and pupils, some are unclear about their roles. They act as supervisors and do not help pupils to progress as well as they should.

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requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement. Although pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, reach standards that are broadly average in writing and mathematics, they do not make good progress consistently from year to year. This is because there has been a legacy of inadequate teaching that current leaders have started to address.  The most able pupils do not progress as well as they should and too few reach the higher Level 3 at the end of Key Stage 1 or Level 5 at the end of Key stage 2. This is partly because their targets for achievement are too low and partly because work provided for them is often too easy.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress from their starting points. They are given effective support in small groups or in class and work provided for them is at the right level.  Pupils from the resource base are taught effectively, enabling them to make similar rates of progress to

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requires improvement

their classmates. This is because staff know pupils well and tailor programmes of work according to their needs. Most join mainstream classes for subjects such as literacy and mathematics which take place in the mornings. In the afternoons, those who need additional help are taught in the resource base where staff help them to develop social skills so they can participate more successfully in class and in the playground.  The gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils varies from year to year. In the national tests in 2014, they were about a term behind other pupils in school in writing and mathematics and two terms behind other pupils nationally. The gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils widened in 2014 and they made less progress than other pupils.  Pupils make good progress in reading from their starting points. In Year 2, many pupils do not have a good grasp of phonics to read unfamiliar words. By Year 6, pupils read fluently and confidently and talk

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requires improvement

enthusiastically about the books they have read.  At the end of Year 2, pupils have not confidently secured good skills in handwriting, spelling or punctuation and this slows their progress across Key Stage 2. By Year 6, they are developing confidence to write at length in other subjects such as history, using a wide range of vocabulary to express their thoughts and ideas.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics is slow because they often complete their work on photocopied worksheets. This gives them little opportunity to show how they work things out and to demonstrate how well they have understood what they are learning.

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is good

 Children enter school with skills and abilities that are often below the levels that might be expected for their age. The weakest areas are speaking, reading and writing. They make good progress because adults provide a stimulating environment that promotes children’s curiosity and interest. They are well prepared for Year 1.  Routines in both the Nursery and Reception classes are well established and consequently children feel safe and they behave well. The Nursery in particular is very well resourced with inviting areas that stimulate children’s imaginations. Children work and play well together, developing their personal and social skills very well.  Staff regularly check children’s learning and use this information to plan new experiences that help them to progress well, particularly with their language skills. There is a good balance of activities that children choose for themselves and those that are led by adults. Adults sensitively intervene with questions that

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is good

develop their learning. During the inspection, children developed vocabulary such as ‘sticky’, ‘stretchy’ and ‘wobbly’ when they kneaded dough to make bread rolls.  Relationships between staff and children are good and this inspires children to work hard. They concentrate and persevere even when working or playing independently. Activities are challenging and exciting, so children progress well.  Leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. The leader has a good understanding of the needs of young children and she has established consistency in practice between Nursery and Reception classes. She checks progress carefully and works in close cooperation with other staff to ensure that all children have equality of opportunity to learn and develop.

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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 131843 Local authority Southwark Inspection number 446367

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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 545 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Waugh Headteacher Susannah Bellingham Date of previous school inspection 10 March 2010 Telephone number 020 7525 9033 Fax number 020 7642 1533 Email address office@brunswickprimary.southwark.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 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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