Broadfield Primary Academy

School report Broadfield East Junior School

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Vulcan Close, Broadfield, Crawley RH11 9PD

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 Pupils make strong progress in all year groups. They achieve well in reading and mathematics. Their writing is improving all the time.  Leaders ensure that all pupils are valued and succeed. They ensure that no pupil is left behind.  The headteacher leads the school with skill, flair and good humour. Most parents say he has transformed the school since his appointment.  The headteacher is supported admirably by his fellow senior leaders. All three work effectively as a team, complementing each other’s strengths.  In recent years, leaders have built a strong team of teachers who are passionate about their work and who enjoy working at the school.  All adults know the pupils well. They know what each pupil knows, understands and can do. Teachers plan their teaching so that any gaps are filled over time.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. They are kind and considerate towards each other.

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This is a good school

 Pupils benefit from the wide range of enrichment clubs that take place on Tuesdays.  Pupils are increasingly well prepared for their time in secondary school.  The school makes a positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through a well-planned programme of activities. This helps to prepare pupils appropriately for life in modern, diverse Britain.  Over time, leaders have created a culture where parents feel able to approach teachers with any concerns.  Leaders ensure that the school’s work is at a consistently high standard by checking it against work in other schools and by testing pupils with standardised assessments of their attainment in reading and mathematics.  A new chair of the governing body is improving the levels of support and challenge needed by leaders as the school moves into the next stage of its development.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The most able pupils sometimes find the work too easy and want to learn more and faster.  A few disadvantaged pupils and some who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not attend as frequently as they should.  Governors do not check regularly enough that important information about the school is on the website. They do not hold leaders rigorously to account for the attendance of some groups of pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the range and number of opportunities for the most able pupils to extend their thinking and skills and deepen their knowledge.  Continue to maintain the significant efforts required to reduce absence, especially for disadvantaged pupils or those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Expand and stabilise the governing body after the expansion of the junior school into a primary academy, incorporating key stage 1 and a nursery attached to the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Broadfield East Junior School is led extremely well. The headteacher is popular and skilful. He is also driven by a commitment that all Broadfield pupils will achieve well. This commitment means that he is relentless in his pursuit of excellence. Parents say he has transformed the school since taking up post just prior to the previous inspection.  The headteacher made two important decisions early on in his time at Broadfield. He appointed an experienced and expert practitioner as a deputy headteacher. He also appointed an inclusion manager who contributes similar levels of experience and expertise. This is a highly effective team of senior leaders.  Senior leaders have complementary skills. When added together, their effectiveness is even greater as a whole. They work together efficiently and cooperate on all aspects of the leadership and management of the school.  Senior leaders are supported in their work by an increasingly effective group of middle leaders. Some

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

take responsibility for leading the curriculum as subject leaders. Each year group has a leader too. This means that day-to-day management is evenly distributed.  All leaders demonstrate the ability to teach well. This means that teachers have strong role models in school who can provide effective information, advice and guidance, and opportunities for regular professional development. Leaders coach staff well so that any weaknesses in performance are addressed quickly. The deputy headteacher plays an important role in constantly improving teaching. The records of this work are maintained to a high standard. They contribute to a thorough process for determining pay progression decisions.  The inclusion manager ensures that the learning needs of all pupils are met as far as possible. Disadvantaged pupils, those who speak English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are all kept under close scrutiny. Every pupil is known individually,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

including their strengths and any barriers they may have.  Over time, leaders have developed positive working relationships with parents. Most parents describe leaders as approachable and like that they can easily meet leaders at the school gate. Leaders continue to find ways of reporting pupils’ progress and performance in ways that parents find helpful. Parents appreciate the efforts made to set up a parents’ forum, a parents’ association and meaningful consultation afternoons and evenings. Leaders use all modern means of communicating with parents so that all are kept well informed.  The headteacher’s vision for the school is understood by everyone. Everyone knows their role and what they are expected to do. Remarkably, every member of staff who responded to Ofsted’s survey said they enjoy working at the school. This is despite the fact that it was necessary for many aspects of the school’s work to change.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 On appointment, the headteacher immediately changed the curriculum, recognising the need to go back to basics. As more pupils show that they have acquired basic skills in English and mathematics, the curriculum is expanding. The 16 clubs that form part of the enrichment programme on a Tuesday provide pupils with 24 opportunities across their time in the school to learn new things.  The curriculum now provides opportunities to learn a broader range of skills and acquire a wider array of knowledge. This includes aspects of personal, social, health and economic education, science, history, geography and religious studies. All pupils learn French. Some also learn Portuguese and a few, Polish. The learning of modern foreign languages promotes pupils’ cultural development. Their moral development is supported through assemblies as well as in the reinforcement of key messages in lessons.  Leaders also ensure that effective use is made of the primary physical education and sport premium. This

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

means that pupils’ physical development is supported well and they enjoy the benefits of participating in games and competitions.  Pupils join the school from a diverse set of backgrounds. A particular strength of the school is the way leaders work to ensure that such diversity is respected and celebrated. The school is a charming example of community cohesion. Differences, for the most part, are ‘left at the gate’. This means that pupils grow up understanding that all are to be treated equally and with respect. Pupils work together well and play in integrated groups naturally. Adults are not seen to prompt this artificially. As a result, pupils are suitably prepared for life in modern, diverse Britain.  The promotion of British values is underpinned by learning opportunities for the pupils, such as the mock referendum held recently and a mock general election in 2015. Real voting booths in the library are a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

visible reminder to pupils of parliamentary democracy.  The governance of the school Governance has been through considerable change recently. Some of this is as a result of the proposed amalgamation with the infant school next door. Governors, especially those representing the proprietor, the Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT), have focused their work on the amalgamation. As a result, some aspects of the oversight of the school have been missed. For example, the scheme of delegation from the multi-academy trust was not present on the website. This is a requirement of the Education Funding Agency. Also, other aspects of the school’s website were not up to date at the beginning of the inspection. Leaders acted quickly to make sure that the website was compliant with the Secretary of State for Education’s requirements for all maintained schools. Specifically, governors have not challenged leaders to report accurately on the impact of the pupil premium funding

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

(additional money from the government for pupils eligible for free school meals or in the care of the local authority). Governors are increasing the frequency of their meetings. This is due to the appointment of an experienced and professional chair of the governing body. The new chair of the governing body recognises that there is a huge amount of work required to merge successfully the two schools. He has introduced a new schedule of meetings so all aspects of the school’s work are kept under appropriate and timely review. Governors support the headteacher in ensuring that the checks leaders make on adults wishing to work at or volunteer at the school are rigorous and records kept up to date. They also ensure that all safeguarding training takes place in good time.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure that the school is a safe, calm and orderly environment. The site manager routinely checks all areas of the school and keeps meticulous

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

records of these assessments. For example, he noticed that parts of the trim trail were potentially dangerous and advised the headteacher to close it. Although pupils are disappointed that they cannot use it until it is repaired, they understand that this is because the school is committed to keeping them safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The vast majority of teaching ensures that pupils benefit from a valuable learning experience. Each lesson is well planned. Teachers share this work and present their plans for leaders to check. Leaders insist on this so that they can assure equality of opportunity for all pupils.  Some teachers are ready to take even more risks in their teaching so that the range of learning activities widens and deepens. Most pupils are ready and willing to be stretched further and challenged more.  Leaders rightly locked down planning to focus on developing pupils’ basic skills. Two years ago there were clear gaps in pupils’ ability to read, write, spell accurately, use grammar correctly, and to handle number, shapes and measurement confidently.  Teachers continue to pay particular attention to the extension of pupils’ basic skills with some imaginative techniques such as the ‘spelling spy’ and ‘professor grammar’. Teachers are now using the broader

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

curriculum to embed these skills in different contexts.  All adults contribute effectively to checking in lessons that pupils are keeping up. Sometimes, only a few pupils are selected to answer questions or routinely make responses for the whole class. Some teachers are skilled at finding interesting ways of enabling all pupils to ‘have a go’. Many teachers use questioning sensibly to probe pupils’ understanding and as a way of helping them to think.  The most able pupils still do not receive sufficiently challenging work regularly. In some cases, such pupils responded to more open tasks which caused them to think deeply, apply critical skills and come up with imaginative solutions to complex problems. More regular provision of this type of activity would accelerate further their progress.  All teachers follow the school’s assessment policy. This means that pupils benefit from accurate feedback

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

on their work. Teachers regularly feedback orally in lessons so that pupils know if they doing well and what else they need to do to improve.  Pupils thrive on the frequent praise they receive. In class, in assemblies, in as many places as possible, teachers celebrate even small achievements. This culture of praise results in a positive learning environment and happy, successful children.  All classrooms are bright, stimulating and well resourced. Most are decorated with pupils’ work and there are many aids to pupils’ independent learning such as dictionaries and suggestions for better words or conjunctions, and different types of number stimuli.  Teachers are committed to developing pupils’ reading and their love of books. The library area is enticing with quotations, for example from Dr Seuss, inviting pupils to find reading fun. Teachers also use age- appropriate versions of classics of English literature, notably Shakespeare’s plays. Pupils whose reading is

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

still not at the expected level for their age are provided with effective additional teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make).  Teachers all possess suitable methods for managing pupils in their classrooms. There are universal systems for managing behaviour. Inspectors rarely saw their use, because pupils behaved so well. Pupils instantly respond to teachers’ instructions. They move from activity to activity well, set up or pack up quickly and quietly.  Over time, all adults have combined to make Broadfield East a calm and orderly place where learning happens effectively. An experienced member of staff commented, ‘Two years ago, I was on the point of leaving. I love it now. I am able to teach again properly.’ Inspectors saw this.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are increasingly confident, happy and able to express themselves clearly. All members of the community understand and aim to live by the ‘Broadfield 5’. This is the school’s statement about how all are to learn together successfully.  Leaders have created a culture where all pupils are treated with respect. As a result, they all say that they feel safe in school. Parents were fulsome in their praise about the school’s efforts to keep them safe. Many parents told inspectors that they are thrilled to see how much pupils look forward to going to school and how happily they come out at the end of each day.  Parents were also clear that when issues arise, they have great confidence that they will be addressed. Most find it easy to approach leaders to share any concerns.  The school’s programme of assemblies and personal, social and health education supports effectively the

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Personal development and welfare

development of pupils’ sense of self. Pupils receive direct messages about how to behave and how to keep themselves safe. This includes when they are online.  Incidences of bullying are rare. They are dealt with firmly and fairly. Leaders and teachers take time to listen to all sides of any incident and are skilled at helping pupils understand what is bullying and what is just a ‘one-off’ dispute or incident.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils conduct themselves very well in lessons, around the school building, and at play and lunchtimes.  Pupils understand that they must not disrupt each other’s learning. They do not. Sometimes they lose their own concentration but this does not lead them to distract others.  Pupils show great interest in what they are learning and are increasingly willing to keep going even when the work is hard. Teachers try to make lessons fun and use a variety of means to help pupils concentrate on what they are doing.  Two years ago, leaders took on a school where behaviour was described as ‘out of control’. Leaders acted quickly to set very high expectations for behaviour. Leaders established clear boundaries for pupils and told pupils what would happen if rules were broken. They applied these new standards fairly and consistently. They continue to do so.  Some pupils fell short of the expectations. Leaders excluded them reluctantly. Consequently, published

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Behaviour

information shows a high proportion of exclusions. Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities appear more frequently in these figures than their classmates.  Since establishing firm rules, boundaries and appropriate sanctions, there has been a dramatic improvement in behaviour. As a result, in the current year, hardly any pupils have been excluded and there are far fewer incidents of poor behaviour. Inspectors saw no challenging behaviour during the inspection.  Leaders applied similar effort in their attempts to improve attendance. Disadvantaged pupils and those who had special educational needs and/or disabilities on average attended less well than their peers and other pupils nationally. However, in the last year, leaders’ relentless actions have resulted in much reduced absence in all groups and reduced persistent absence for a small group of pupils. Leaders are

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Behaviour

aware acutely that this work needs to continue. It will need to extend in scale after the amalgamation, with the addition of twice the number of pupils.  Pupils understand that the use of derogatory language is unacceptable. They do not like it when they hear it. They know that adults will treat it seriously and deal with it effectively. The tiny number of racist incidents are dealt with firmly when they are brought to leaders’ attention.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 In every year group and in all subjects, pupils make strong progress. In the recent end of key stage 2 tests, the Year 6 pupils attained results in writing and mathematics which were above the unvalidated national averages. Their performance in reading was just below the national average but their combined scores for all subjects were broadly in line with the national figures.  Pupils enter Year 3 having attained results significantly below the national average. They catch up quickly. This is because teachers identify carefully any gaps in their knowledge, skills or understanding. Teachers plan teaching so that these gaps are closed.  In the current year, approximately three quarters of the pupils are set to meet the age-related expectations in English and mathematics. They are also making good progress in science and geography. Inspectors saw this in the school’s information about pupils’ progress. It matched the quality of work seen

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Outcomes for pupils are good

in books.  Disadvantaged pupils make faster progress than their peers due to exceptionally strong support work from teachers and teaching assistants. The inclusion manager leads this aspect of the school’s work effectively. As a result, the levels they attain are increasingly close to all other pupils nationally.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities similarly make faster progress than their classmates. They, too, are catching up with similar pupils nationally as well as all other pupils. The inclusion manager ensures that no pupil is left behind by finding appropriate ways of dealing with their individual needs.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language achieve at least as well as their classmates. Some of them are bilingual and demonstrate exceptional skills in mathematics. These pupils could make even more progress and attain even higher levels. A few are at an early stage of learning English. Teaching

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Outcomes for pupils are good

assistants, some with considerable skills themselves in more than one language, are assigned to support them in class. This helps the pupils understand the lesson and what they are supposed to do. As a result, they do not fall behind.  Many of these pupils are also from minority ethnic households. Such pupils do equally well.  The most able pupils have not been served well in the past. Consequently, many have not attained the high standards of which they are capable. In some lessons, even now, they find the work too easy. In the last two years, their passion for learning has been ignited and they want to learn more and faster.  Parents say they have much greater choice about their child’s secondary education, because of the great start they now receive at Broadfield East Junior School.  Publicly held information shows that the amount of value being added to a pupil’s education at Broadfield East has risen sharply over each of the last three years. This is commendable.

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School details

Unique reference number 138453 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 10012329

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Junior School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 303 Appropriate authority The proprietor Chair Dick Brown Headteacher David Tow Telephone number 01293 406940 Website www.bfej-tkat.org Email address head@bfej-tkat.org Date of previous inspection 24–25 April 2016

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Information about this school

 Broadfield East Junior School is a larger than average school serving the community of Broadfield in Crawley. It is in the process of expanding so as to incorporate the adjoining infant school. The new Broadfield Primary Academy will open in September 2016. There are slightly more girls than boys at the school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic households is well above the national average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is nearly double the national average.  The proportion of pupils who receive support for special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above the national average.  The community is very stable and many families have children in both the infant and junior schools.  The community experiences above-average levels of deprivation.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the current floor standards which are the government’s minimum expectations for pupils’ achievement.  At the start of the inspection, the school’s website was not compliant with the Secretary of State’s requirements. With a few minor amendments still needed, it now presents most of the information required.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in 24 parts of lessons. Five of these were observed jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors saw learning in many parts of the curriculum and took account of the 16 enrichment clubs that take place on Tuesday afternoons. Inspectors toured the site and observed pupils at play on the playgrounds, on the field and in the dining hall.  Inspectors met regularly with senior leaders. The lead inspector also met with a representative of TKAT, the proprietor. He also met with members of the governing body.  Inspectors also met with different groups of teachers and took account of 26 responses to Ofsted’s confidential, online staff survey.  Inspectors spoke formally with two groups of pupils, talked informally with many other pupils and listened to a small group read. Inspectors also took account of 59 responses to Ofsted’s confidential online pupil survey.  Inspectors also met formally and informally with many parents and carers. They considered a large

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Information about this inspection

number of comments on Parent View alongside responses to the survey. Parent View is Ofsted’s confidential online survey.  Inspectors examined a wide range of the school’s documents. These included information about pupils’ achievements, patterns of absence attendance and exclusions, the work of the governing body and TKAT, and the school’s own assessment of itself.

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Inspection team

Simon Hughes, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Mark Goode Her Majesty’s Inspector Christine Dickens Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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