Broughton Moor Primary School

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

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Mr P Brotherhood Headteacher Broughton Moor Primary School Broughton Moor Maryport Cumbria CA15 7RZ

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 July 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 July 2014.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has experienced instability in its leadership and staffing since it was last inspected. This has had an impact on the progress that pupils were making. However, since your appointment in January 2016, the school has benefited from your clear vision and drive to accelerate improvements across the school. You have worked in partnership with governors, staff and the local authority to implement consistent approaches to teaching and learning.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

We discussed the current strengths and the areas you are working to improve. Your school development plan rightly focuses on raising standards and the quality of teaching across the school. You have implemented new assessment systems and improved the monitoring of teaching and learning across the school. This has ensured that there is now consistency in the quality of teaching.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

The governing body is knowledgeable and provides effective challenge and support. Governors know the school well and are involved in setting priorities in the school’s development plan. The roles of the literacy, numeracy and science coordinators are securely embedded and provide you with good support in the monitoring of the quality of teaching and in checking on pupils’ progress. However, we agreed that the roles of middle leaders of other subjects are not fully developed. We also agreed that the school website is not fully compliant.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

Broughton Moor provides a caring and welcoming environment, where pupils’ individual needs are met. Pupils enjoy coming to school and wear their uniform with pride. One pupil told me that, ‘The best things about our school are the teachers and our friends, we all look after each other.’ You have established an ethos of learning for everyone at the school. Pupils are now confident to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

The atmosphere in lessons and outside is calm. In lessons and around school, pupils are well behaved and listen well to instructions. Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 were designing their own theme park, after they had read the text ‘Cosmic’, as part of their space project. They were excited and demonstrated a love of learning as they worked diligently together.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

The school is at the heart of the community. It is highly regarded by local parents and parents who live in neighbouring villages who chose the school because of its good reputation. Parents who spoke to me and responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, ‘Parent View’, were very positive about the changes that you had made and the support that you offer families, with one parent commenting, ‘Mr Brotherhood is a brilliant headteacher and since coming to the school he has done loads. It is a fantastic school at the heart of the community.’

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

Since taking up your position you have focused on tackling the areas of improvement since the last inspection. The outdoor environment in the early years has been transformed. It provides stimulating and exciting activities where children develop their language and number skills. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points and are thriving because of the excellent relationships established.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

Inspectors also asked leaders to improve standards in writing across the school. You have acted upon this with determination and been successful in improving standards in writing across the school. External support is used effectively to develop staff knowledge and understanding. Adjustments to teachers’ planning have proved effective. Writing is now linked with topics and this has made the purpose of writing meaningful to pupils. Key texts are used to capture pupils’ imagination and motivate them to write. An example of this was the writing that pupils produced after they had read the text ‘Stick Man’. Work in pupils’ books across all ages confirms that pupils make good progress in writing across the curriculum. The daily focus on teaching the basics of writing, including spelling, grammar and punctuation, means that gaps in pupils’ learning has reduced.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

As the school’s designated safeguarding leader, you carry out your role very effectively. Safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose, and records are detailed, of a high quality and reflect the most recent changes to government legislation. There is a strong culture of keeping children safe in school. Staff receive regular training updates and know how to alert leaders to any concerns that they have. All staff take their roles and responsibilities seriously. You work effectively with external agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe and families are supported effectively. Those who are responsible for recruitment have completed training at the appropriate level. Leaders conduct checks on staff when they are recruited to ensure that they are suitable to work with children.

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

Parents I spoke with, including those who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, ‘Parent View’, felt that their children were safe and well cared for. One parent was of the opinion that, ‘This school is well led by the headteacher, the quality of teaching is excellent and all the children are well behaved. It offers a very safe and caring environment, my children enjoy going to school.’

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Short inspection of Broughton Moor Primary School

All pupils who I spoke with said that they were safe at school. They were aware of different types of bullying and know how to stay safe online. Pupils told me that there was no bullying at the school, but if it did happen they were confident that their teachers would ‘sort it out quickly’.

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Inspection findings

 For this small school, with very small numbers of pupils in every year, annual published information on attainment and progress can fluctuate each year. Moreover, the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is much larger than average. Many of these pupils need considerable support to overcome severe barriers to their learning. The new assessment systems have ensured that teachers have an accurate understanding of the needs of pupils. Teachers plan activities that meet the needs of most pupils, so that they achieve to their potential. Attainment is rising because most pupils are making good progress. However, there is still work to be done to ensure that the most able pupils achieve at the higher standard in all subjects.  I also considered the progress that children in the early years make. During the inspection, children had access to the best possible learning both inside and

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Inspection findings

outside the classroom. They grow in confidence as they develop their skills in stimulating activities. The early years builds on what children already know and can do, so children make good progress and are prepared for Year 1. As a result of improvements made, the number of children who achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception has risen and is now above the national average.  The inspection also focused on the teaching of phonics as an area of weakness. Following your appointment you acted swiftly in engaging external support to develop staff knowledge and understanding. Consequently, there is now a daily, consistent approach to the teaching of phonics across the school. Pupils are taught in small groups, at their level of development. This has addressed the previous historic weakness to the teaching of phonics. Your new approaches ensure that all pupils, not just those in Year 1, are rapidly acquiring the required

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Inspection findings

knowledge of phonics. As a result, 77% of pupils met the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check this year. This was a rapid increase from previous years. Pupils across the school are now using their phonics knowledge to read and write unfamiliar words.  You have established effective systems to monitor attendance for all pupils. You know individual pupils and families well and work closely with them, engaging support from external agencies when necessary. Consequently, absence and persistent absence has reduced since 2016. However, persistent absence for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is higher than the national average. Due to the small number of pupils at the school, you were able to discuss individual cases and the actions taken to improve their attendance.

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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

 middle leaders are provided with the necessary support and development so they have more impact on raising the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects  most-able pupils have increased opportunities to broaden and deepen their understanding  the website is kept up to date and complies with government requirements.

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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 Cumbria. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, 10 pupils from Year 2 to Year 6 and one member of the governing body. I held telephone conversations with a representative of the local authority and with the chair of the governing body. I visited classrooms with you and I observed teaching and learning, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils. I also heard pupils from Year 2 and Year 5 read. I took account of the 13 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, ‘Parent View’, including 11 free-text responses. I spoke to six parents as they dropped their children off at school. Documents were scrutinised including the record to check the suitability of new staff, the school’s self-evaluation document, the school’s improvement plan, external audits and governor minutes. I also evaluated safeguarding procedures, including policies to keep children safe, records of training and attendance information. I reviewed pupils’ achievement records and your

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