Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Ms Amanda Thornton Jones Headteacher Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery Tennyson Avenue Dukinfield Cheshire SK16 5DP

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

Following my visit to the school on 27 June 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in September 2012.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your arrival in January 2015, you and your staff have worked hard to create an environment that is bright and inviting where pupils feel safe and enjoy their learning. You have focused on developing teachers’ skills in matching pupils’ learning to their needs. This is reflected in the good and improving progress that current pupils make, especially in English and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

You have successfully addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection report. Current pupils in key stage 1 make good progress in mathematics. Your subject leader for mathematics has introduced the use of floor books to capture the many opportunities that teachers give pupils to use their reasoning skills. There is good evidence in their work in class that pupils are developing these skills well.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

You have improved the quality of teaching since your arrival, tackling underperformance by staff when necessary. You have also established more rigorous meetings to check on pupils’ progress, increasing teachers’ accountability and securing improved achievement, especially in mathematics and English. You now recognise that there is a need to accelerate pupils’ progress even further and you and your staff are ambitious to pursue this.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

You recognised that in 2016, Year 2 results in English and mathematics were not as good as they should have been. You adapted your school’s improvement plan to address the issues that the information raised and have been successful in producing better achievement among current pupils, as evidenced by pupils’ work and by the school’s own assessment information. You acknowledged, however, that your improvement plan does not contain success criteria that precisely measure pupils’ expected achievement.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

Governors know the school’s priorities well and provide strong challenge and support. They hold you to account well, asking searching questions in governors’ meetings to ensure that the school provides a good quality of education to its pupils and you spend funds effectively.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

I held a conversation with members of staff and analysed their responses to the online survey. It is very clear that the large majority are very positive about the school and recognise the improvements that leaders have brought about since the last inspection. They appreciate the training that you and your senior leaders provide and find it beneficial. Typical comments included recognition of the ‘clear leadership, structure and guidance’ that you provide.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

The group of Year 6 pupils with whom I spoke overwhelmingly said that they enjoy school. They spoke articulately and enthusiastically about the variety of sports activities that you provide, such as tennis, football and rounders, and were particularly keen to tell me about the annual ‘teachers versus pupils’ rounders match. They look forward to the educational visits you organise for each year group. They enjoy raising funds for various charities and they appreciate the roles of responsibility you give them, such as pupil leaders and play leaders. All of these opportunities contribute well to pupils’ all-round development and progress.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

The majority of parents who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, were positive about the work of the school. They typically noted that their children are happy at school and that staff are ‘caring, friendly and welcoming’.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

The local authority adviser and the external consultant whom you have commissioned both understand the strengths and next steps for the school. They provide an appropriately light, though effective, level of support that reflects their confidence in your skills as headteacher.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. You have an electronic system that you use to record all safeguarding concerns thoroughly. You respond promptly, following up concerns with external agencies when necessary.

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Short inspection of Broadbent Fold Primary School and Nursery

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. You and your staff are knowledgeable about how to keep pupils safe. Staff understand the various signs of abuse and how to report any concerns. Pupils understand different forms of bullying and say that incidents are rare. They feel safe in the knowledge that members of staff will listen and act effectively if they have problems.

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Inspection findings

 I carried out the inspection based on some key lines of enquiry, which I shared with you at the beginning of the day. One of these was how successfully you had taken action to address the areas for improvement from the last inspection. I have reported on this earlier in this letter.  You have ensured that progress in the early years is good and improving. The learning environment supports children’s language and number development well. Children’s progress in writing, for example, is strong because of good teaching. Most children make reasonable attempts at spelling quite challenging words and can now write in sentences, such as ‘I lict (liked) the pirert (pirate) ship.’ The school’s own assessment indicates that you have secured greatly improved achievement for boys, with about seven out of 10 now on track to reach a good level of development this year, compared with about half last year.  Evidence from workbooks shows that current pupils make good progress in

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Inspection findings

English and mathematics in key stage 1. Pupils’ reading comprehension skills are developing well, particularly those of boys. In mathematics in Year 2, most-able pupils are able to tackle challenging tasks involving calculations with three-digit numbers. Phonics teaching is effective. Leaders have assessed that the proportion of pupils in Years 1 and 2 who are on track to reach the expected standard in this year’s phonics check is higher than the national average.  In key stage 2, pupils of middle ability, particularly girls, make good progress in developing their reading comprehension skills. In Year 6, for example, they show increasingly detailed responses to questions, including giving opinions about features of the text.  Most-able pupils in Year 6 show a strong understanding of English grammar, punctuation and spelling. They routinely use more advanced punctuation, such as brackets and dashes, and they correctly use more sophisticated verb forms, such

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Inspection findings

as modal verbs like ‘should’ or ‘would’.  The number of absences for disadvantaged pupils and those who have support for their special educational needs and/or disabilities has decreased since 2016. This is because you have taken action to encourage these groups of pupils to attend school, including carrying out home visits to follow up telephone calls to parents when necessary.  There have been four fixed-term exclusions this year. There is a specific context to these exclusions. You have managed them well and you have enlisted outside support to make sure there are as few repetitions as possible.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 in their plans for school improvement, they include more precise measures of pupils’ expected achievement that will show the impact of leaders’ actions  they accelerate the improved pupils’ progress already achieved in English and mathematics since 2016 by continuing to secure effective teaching.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Tameside. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I carried out short visits to the early years and all classes in key stage 1 and key stage 2, which were joint activities with you. I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation summary, action plans for school improvement, records of incidents of bullying and misbehaviour, minutes of meetings of the governing body and records connected with the safeguarding of children. I held discussions and conversations with members of staff, governors and pupils. I had a discussion with a representative from the local authority. I also had a discussion on the telephone with an external consultant you have commissioned. I analysed pupils’ work and the school’s own assessment information. I evaluated 63 responses received through Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey. Furthermore, I analysed 20 responses to the staff questionnaire. There were no other survey responses.

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