Broadfield Primary School

Broadfield Primary School Windmill Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 4BX

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress to address past underachievement, particularly in reading. Although standards have improved, pupils are not making sufficiently swift progress to fulfil their potential.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent across the school. Differences in the standard of teaching between year groups, subjects and classes have not been fully addressed.  Teachers do not have high enough expectations of pupils. Some pupils, particularly pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and disadvantaged pupils, are not supported effectively to develop their literacy and mathematical skills, knowledge and understanding.  Although the school has developed a marking policy, leaders do not ensure that teachers use it effectively to address pupils’ misconceptions.  Leaders do not communicate their vision for improvements to teaching and learning to staff,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

parents and pupils effectively.  Subject leadership in some areas of the curriculum is not well developed. Teachers’ subject knowledge is not strong in reading and science.  Children in early years do not make sufficiently rapid progress from their starting points.  Attendance for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils is below the national average. Leaders do not rigorously monitor the impact of attendance on pupils’ progress.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The teaching of writing has improved markedly across the school. Most pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, enjoy writing and are provided with effective support to help them improve.  Pupils are kind, welcoming and friendly to each other and adults. They are attentive in lessons and supportive of each other’s learning.  Pupils’ physical health is developed effectively through specialist physical education lessons. Pupils learn to make explicit links between their health and well-being and physical exercise.  Pupils have an informed understanding of British values and their importance. Pupils are encouraged to discuss issues and engage in democracy, such as taking part in mock elections, throughout the wider curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that: – communications improve with parents, pupils and staff – the quality of subject leadership, particularly in English, is sufficiently good – the expertise of senior leaders is used fully, to support whole-school improvements.  Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good by ensuring that: – teachers have good subject knowledge in reading and science – teachers use assessment information effectively to provide appropriate challenge to pupils – pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and disadvantaged pupils, make the same good progress as other pupils nationally – teaching assistant support in the classroom is effective in raising pupils’ achievement.  Improve the leadership and teaching of reading across the school by ensuring that: – pupils read widely and often – teachers make pupils aware of the links between reading and writing

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– the English curriculum is balanced appropriately between reading and writing.  Improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  An external review of the use of the pupil premium is recommended so that the governing body can improve this aspect of their work.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders and governors have high ambitions for school improvement but the vision for improvement and the strategies adopted are not effectively communicated to staff, parents and pupils.  Communication within the leadership team is not sufficiently strong. Important information about pupils and their experiences of teaching and learning are not communicated consistently well, resulting in some barriers to improving the school’s performance.  The senior leadership team has introduced a system to support teaching but it is still in its infancy and its impact on pupils’ learning has not yet been measured. However, staff feel well supported by the deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher.  Some subject leaders are new to their roles. They are highly committed to improving pupils’ outcomes in their subjects but their effectiveness is currently unproven. They have yet to establish their vision and support for staff. For

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

example, the leaders of English know exactly how to improve the quality of teaching and standards in writing. However, the leadership of reading is not effective in improving pupils’ reading skills.  Leadership of mathematics is strong. Regular support, observations and monitoring are an embedded part of the leadership of mathematics, resulting in the current improvement.  Leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities does not effectively address the pupils’ attendance issues. Their attendance is below the national average and leaders have not devised an effective strategy to change this. Additionally, pupils’ support plans do not link rates of attendance to their achievement sufficiently.  The deputy headteacher leads the curriculum and has established a system to develop and share good practice. However, some subject leaders have not yet embraced this system.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 In general, the curriculum is broad and balanced. It is carefully designed to provide topics that interest and challenge pupils across the school. The curriculum is also suitably enriched. Pupils visit places of cultural importance to support their classroom learning.  Leaders are responding well to external support. They check the accuracy of their assessments through internal and external moderation. The local authority improvement partner and specialist advisers provide effective support and challenge to improve leadership and raise standards. As a result, teachers are reflecting on their practice and successfully improving the quality of teaching in writing and mathematics at key stage 2.  Leaders have used additional sports funding effectively to provide specialist sports teaching to all pupils. Additionally, a range of sports clubs are provided after school. Pupils attend these clubs with enthusiasm.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders review the impact of pupil premium funding to ensure effective support for disadvantaged pupils. For example, they revised the school’s deployment of teaching assistants as monitoring showed that their impact on disadvantaged pupils’ achievement was minimal. Leaders have since created teams of specialist teaching assistants to ensure more personalised support for pupils. However, this work is not yet making an effective difference to pupils’ learning and achievement.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are very supportive of the school. They have a clear understanding of how the school needs to improve. However, some of their judgements about the school are overly optimistic and not sufficiently rooted in robust evidence.  Governors track pupils’ progress and achievement and are able to ask challenging questions that hold leaders to account. For example, the assessment leader meets regularly with the governor responsible for school improvement to discuss pupils’ progress.  Governors prioritise the progress and achievements of disadvantaged pupils and know the strategies employed by teachers. However, governors are not always fully aware of the impact of all strategies, including the use of teaching assistants in improving the progress of disadvantaged pupils.  Governors have an informed understanding of the needs and views of parents and staff through staff councils and parents’ meetings.

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Governance of the school

 Governors have a good understanding of the role of performance management and have been supportive in helping to reduce the issues of miscommunication between the senior leadership and parents and staff.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Staff understand their responsibility for safeguarding pupils and know how to use the school’s procedures and policies.  Pupils are taught how to be safe online. They are aware of issues such as bullying and know what to do if they feel worried or anxious.  The early years team is vigilant, and staff are quick to spot potential safeguarding issues.  The local authority conducts robust checks of safeguarding systems such as the checks made on all staff, governors, regular volunteers and contractors to ensure their suitability to work with children.  The office staff check pupils’ absence promptly and use the appropriate procedures to report children who are missing from education.  The headteacher, who is the designated safeguarding lead, liaises with the local authority social care services effectively to seek the support of external agencies when necessary. She is tenacious in how she follows up on pupils’ welfare with

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Safeguarding

social workers.  The family support worker knows the families she works with extremely well. Her expert guidance is improving pupils’ welfare and well-being. However, the coordinated support, such as that provided through an early-help assessment, is not prompt enough. The strategies used to help pupils who do not need the intervention of social care services but require early-help services, for example to improve attendance or behaviour, are not effective enough.  A small proportion of parents are worried about bullying and about communications between them and the senior leaders. Communication between the school and parents is not always strong enough and parents are not routinely informed about actions taken following incidents.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is not consistently good across the curriculum, year-groups and classes within year-groups. Pupils behave well and are eager to learn but they are not sufficiently challenged to develop their skills and knowledge. For example, teachers do not extend most-able pupils’, including the most able disadvantaged pupils’, understanding of complex texts.  The science curriculum does not offer opportunities for pupils to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of complex concepts in key stage 1.  Teaching assistants are highly committed to supporting pupils’ welfare but their work to improve pupils’ achievement is not secure. Leaders identified this issue last year and reconfigured the way that teaching assistants are deployed across the school. Specialist teams were established but these are not yet effective enough. Teachers do not communicate well enough with teaching assistants to ensure that

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

one-to-one support is accelerating pupils’ progress. In some cases pupils are inappropriately removed from lessons thus missing the learning of key concepts such as narrative writing.  In early years, teaching assistants have not yet developed effective questioning skills. Children are not effectively guided by adults to deepen their learning through suitably challenging tasks.  The school has developed a rigorous marking and assessment policy, which all staff use. Some teachers employ it very effectively. For example, the feedback in Year 6 writing books is instrumental in helping pupils to improve their writing. However, this is not being used consistently by teachers across the school.  Teachers assess pupils’ understanding regularly and use it to identify pupils’ misconceptions. For example, the inspector observed the development of Year 5 pupils’ mathematical reasoning through oral dialogue with their teachers. However,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

this level of interaction is not consistently good throughout the school.  Teachers plan learning conscientiously and make sure that resources are available for pupils to use. In the Nursery and Reception classes, children access a range of attractive materials to help them learn.  Teachers prepare pupils well to write about a variety of topics in a range of genres. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 use their knowledge of grammar to enrich their writing. For example, pupils peer-assess each other’s writing using grammatical terms to highlight how they can improve.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils feel supported by their teachers, who ensure that they are safe and well cared for. Teachers are alert to potential dangers from outside school and ensure that pupils feel safe.  Pupils like their school. They are proud of their work and eager to show it to visitors. Their work is generally well presented and they take great care to check and improve their handwriting.  Pupils’ empathetic responses are developed throughout the curriculum. An inspector observed a Year 1 class where pupils were able to express, through skilful teacher questioning, the feelings of a downtrodden duck.  The personal, social, health and economic curriculum is robust in developing pupils’ awareness of others and the importance of well-being. Many Year 6 pupils spoke of how they used the meditation techniques they learned at school at home to help

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Personal development and welfare

them sleep and deal with stressful situations.  Pupils understand how to stay healthy through regular exercise with specialist physical education teachers.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Some staff spoke of concerns about a minority of pupils’ behaviour not being managed well. Some staff are concerned that not enough support is provided to ensure that pupils are not unruly.  Some parents voiced their concerns about bad behaviour such as bullying. They believe that their concerns are not always listened to.  Pupils in the school council and others spoke of incidents of bullying. They are aware of the different forms that bullying could take and identified specific incidents. However, they are confident that teachers deal with bad behaviour well. Inspectors found that pupils were positive about the school and knew where to go for help and support.  Attendance is too low for some groups of pupils such as pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are rarely disruptive in lessons. Where teaching is weak, pupils sometimes lose focus but most pupils have an appropriate understanding of how to behave in lessons.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils are currently not making sufficient progress in reading. Standards in reading in key stage 2 have declined. Pupils in key stage 1 made good progress and achieved above the national standard in reading in 2015, but this has not been sustained. In 2016, key stage 1 reading results were below the national standard. The English curriculum currently prioritises writing over reading and pupils do not receive sufficient opportunities to develop their reading skills.  Disadvantaged pupils make less progress at key stage 1 and key stage 2 in mathematics than other pupils nationally. The difference has reduced over time but pupils are not making the accelerated progress they need to catch up with other pupils nationally.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make good progress or achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1 and key stage 2. Additional support is not always sufficiently well targeted.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 The most able pupils, particularly boys, achieved well in the 2016 mathematics test.  Pupils in Years 5 and 6 are challenged to consider different methods and to approach mathematical problems with innovative techniques. Consequently, pupils enjoy mathematics in these classes.  Attainment and progress in writing has improved in key stage 2. Attainment and progress for all groups, apart from pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities at key stage 2, improved in 2016. In particular, the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, and boys, achieved well. Leaders are aware that improvements in the teaching of writing have focused predominantly on key stage 2 and are now ensuring that support is provided to teachers across the school.  Science attainment at key stage 2 is in line with the national average. However, at key stage 1, pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

educational needs and/or disabilities, do not achieve well in science. The leader in science has recognised the need to provide additional support for teachers in key stage 1 to ensure that pupils receive specialist teaching where needed, and that the science curriculum is covered sufficiently.  Phonics achievement has improved steadily over time. However, the achievement of disadvantaged pupils compared to other pupils nationally has decreased. Pupils enjoy reading regularly in key stage 1.  The difference between the progress of disadvantaged pupils in key stage 1 and other pupils nationally in reading had been steadily improving over time but the gap widened in 2016. Teachers in key stage 1 are conscientious in their approach to teaching reading, but pupils of different abilities are not always sufficiently supported.  Pupils in key stage 1 and key stage 2 attain in line with the national standard for

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

the English grammar, punctuation and spelling tests. Key stage 2 pupils currently use their grammar and punctuation knowledge well to improve their writing.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Children join the school with skills and knowledge that are below those typical for their age. Some children, however, have well-developed skills. Progress is uneven and, by the end of Reception, the majority of children, particularly those who have weak communication and social skills, are not prepared well enough for Year 1.  Teaching is not good because staff do not check children’s understanding carefully enough or build sufficiently on their innate curiosity to learn.  Teachers plan a range of learning tasks but do not direct children towards the activities that will challenge them. Consequently, children run to the bikes or the dolls’ house and spend little time on practising their language skills or use of numbers.  Teaching assistants spend too much time recording what children do, with videos and other electronic equipment, at the expense of interacting with them. For example, during this inspection, three adults were outside recording what children

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Early years provision Requires improvement

were doing with water, but none asked them to explain the flow of water and why it might be slimy.  The progress of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is too slow. They make insufficient progress particularly in their understanding of letters and sounds.  The resources that the children use in the Nursery and Reception classes are exciting. Children who spoke to the inspectors said that they have a lot of fun and they enjoy the toys they play with. One child was very keen to explain how she used a range of materials to make a turtle and very proud to say that she could spell her name.  Parents are involved in their children’s learning and can see their children’s progress through the ‘learning journeys’. The workshops for parents, such as the ‘stay and play’ sessions, are informative.  Staff review assessment information and work well with the local authority early years adviser to ensure that assessment is accurate. Assessments show that the

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Early years provision Requires improvement

above-average levels of development achieved in 2016 are unlikely to be maintained in 2017. The leader of the early years has a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the provision.  Children are very enthusiastic and keen to learn. They behave well and play together sensibly, sharing toys and equipment. They know the school routines. The first visit to the forest school was particularly well managed and exciting.  Staff ensure that children are safe. Senior leaders check the learning environment very carefully. The positive links with the local children’s centres enable staff to know the families well before children start at Broadfield.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.broadfieldprimary.herts.sch.uk

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School details

Email address head@broadfieldprimary.herts.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11–12 March 2015

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils come from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school works closely with other local primary and secondary schools.  Children in the early years are taught full time in Reception and part time in the Nursery classes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 24 lessons. The deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher jointly observed eight lessons.  Meetings were held with senior leaders, middle leaders, governors and pupils.  Inspectors took account of 80 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and talked to parents in the morning.  Inspectors considered 34 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspectors looked at pupils’ books.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation including: the school’s records of pupils’ progress and attainment; the school’s self-evaluation of its performance; the school’s improvement planning; documentation relating to pupils’ performance over time; and records relating to safeguarding pupils.

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Inspection team

Susan Aykin, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Marianick Ellender-Gelé Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Susannah Connell 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

Parent View 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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, 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.gov.uk/ofsted

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