Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr Jonathan Grover Headteacher Downsbrook Primary School Dominion Road Worthing West Sussex BN14 8GD

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 10 March 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in July 2016. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary School

Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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Primary School

The school should take further action to:

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Primary School

 improve leaders’ checks on teaching so that teachers are held to account for the progress of pupils  rapidly raise leaders’ and teachers’ expectations to ensure that pupils achieve more.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I met with you, both assistant headteachers, two members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. Together with senior leaders, I made short visits to classrooms. We observed two lessons in Year 6, during which I spoke to some pupils about their work. I looked through pupils’ work and scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school development plan, information about leaders’ checks on teaching and learning, minutes of governing body meetings and visit reports from the local authority.

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Context

Since the previous inspection, the school has changed from a middle to an all- through primary school for pupils aged four to 11. The deputy headteacher, who was seconded in September 2015, has now left the school. A second assistant headteacher has been appointed temporarily to fill the gap in leadership.

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Main findings

You and the assistant headteachers have failed to bring about the improvement that is needed to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Although you have accepted the need to bring about change following the previous inspection, your actions have not secured consistent improvement and there is a lack of urgency among staff to do what is needed.

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Main findings

The school development plan is not as sharp as it needs to be. Although it rightly links very closely to the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection report, the milestones to review progress are difficult for governors to use to hold leaders to account. You have usefully developed a system for regularly updating the termly detail of what leaders will do. However, the strategic overview of where leaders want the school to be at the time it is next inspected is vague and lacks ambition. There needs to be much greater focus and urgency on raising the expectations of leaders and teachers so that pupils can achieve more.

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Main findings

Your and other leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching and learning are not effective. This is because you have not used them to challenge teachers when their practice remains weak or when they have not done what you have asked them to do. Although, together, you undertake some useful monitoring activities, such as ‘learning walks’ and checks on pupils’ work in books, you have not identified that standards are too low. Nor have you used the information you have collected well enough to hold teachers to account for the progress their pupils are making. Consequently, new initiatives that you have introduced are not being consistently followed by staff. This means that the school has not improved since the last inspection and that the same issues that were identified now need addressing with urgency. Some teachers are beginning to introduce better ways to ensure that activities are more challenging for pupils, but this is not consistent. For example, when the same

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Main findings

mathematics lesson was taught in two Year 6 classes, there were inconsistencies between how the two teachers implemented what was planned. This meant one was much more effective than the other. Furthermore, both lessons lacked a sense of urgency. Pupils who were working independently often meandered through their work and so did not do as much as they should.

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Main findings

You and other leaders have improved the quality of teachers’ feedback to pupils and there are signs that this is having a positive impact in some classes. Pupils who are benefiting from the best practice say that they find the feedback they are given useful and have used it to improve their work. However, there remain too many inconsistencies and some teachers have not made any changes to their practice.

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Main findings

Writing is not improving quickly enough. Pupils are getting more opportunities to write for a variety of purposes and to improve the technical aspects of their writing. However, there are wide inconsistencies in the quality of work that pupils produce and teachers’ expectations remain too low.

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Main findings

Opportunities for pupils to investigate mathematical ideas remain underdeveloped. You have planned to do this next term. Nevertheless, this needs sharper and urgent focus.

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Main findings

Her Majesty’s Inspector will return to the school as soon as possible.

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External support

Your use of external support has been varied. Until recently, the local authority adviser’s visits have not helped to improve the school. This is because visits focused too much on teaching and did not recognise weaknesses in leadership and management. Very recently, the new lead adviser rightly communicated to you that leaders’ actions to improve the school are not effective. However, this should have been identified much sooner.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for West Sussex County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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