Bramley Primary School

Bramley Primary School Fairfield Hill, Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS13 3DP

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have not acted swiftly to address the decline in the standards pupils reach. Plans to improve outcomes lack detail and are not acted upon quickly.  Pupils do not make sufficient progress in reading, writing or mathematics across the school. Not enough pupils reach the standards expected nationally in each of these subjects.  School leaders could not provide reliable information on the progress and attainment of pupils. Information is not used well enough to plan actions that address underperformance.  Attendance has declined and is now below the national average. A significant proportion of disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent. Attendance information is not checked well enough to bring about improved attendance.  The leadership of teaching and learning has been weak and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has not improved quickly enough. Teachers do not use assessment well enough to plan learning that meet the needs of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the different groups of pupils.  Governors do not yet have a secure understanding of pupils’ performance in order to provide effective challenge to school leaders.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils and of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is slow because support for these pupils is not well planned.  Children’s progress in the early years is not assessed effectively. Tasks sometimes lack purpose and do not meet the needs of the children.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and governors have correctly identified some of the areas they need to improve.  Pupils say that they feel safe at school. They enjoy the range of clubs and extra-curricular activities available to them.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is promoted well and pupils are helped to develop into caring and responsible citizens.  Pupils are polite, respectful and confident when speaking to adults.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that: – plans to improve provision have sufficient detail to make the relevant changes and are acted upon with a greater level of urgency – swift, decisive action is taken to address weaknesses in teaching – assessment information is accurate so that different groups of pupils can receive the appropriate support – all leaders take responsibility for the quality of teaching and learning and standards in their area of responsibility, and are held to account for these – support for pupils who have special educational needs is carefully planned to meet their needs and enables them to make good progress.  Improve teaching and learning by ensuring that: – teachers assess pupils’ work and learning accurately and set them work which meets their needs – teachers address the needs of different groups of pupils in lessons – all teachers have high expectations of pupils and the standards they can achieve

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– pupils have more opportunity to develop their writing skills in other curriculum areas – teaching in mathematics provides pupils with more opportunity to reason and problem solve – additional adults are better used to support learning.  Improve attendance overall and reduce the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are persistently absent by ensuring that: – attendance information is analysed and used to identify individuals and groups of pupils that are not attending frequently enough – actions to address low attendance are carried out swiftly and robustly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not acted swiftly enough to address the significant decline in standards since the last inspection. The plans in place to address underperformance do not identify appropriate steps to make improvements and are not being implemented urgently. This means that standards are not improving and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is weak.  Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.  Middle leaders are ably supported by the deputy headteacher. However, the school’s middle leadership is weak. Phase leaders were put in place at the start of the year, but there is little clarity about their role and they have not yet begun to make sufficient impact. The mathematics and English leaders have had limited opportunity to check the quality of learning in their subjects, so they have made insufficient impact in improving provision.  Leaders have not been rigorous in checking the quality of teaching and learning. They

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

have not provided sufficiently accurate and incisive feedback for some teachers when their teaching is not good. There is an overly positive view of the quality of some teaching. Subsequent actions to address weaknesses are not carried out swiftly or rigorously enough to make the improvements needed.  Leaders have not ensured that the system they have introduced for checking the progress of pupils contains reliable information or is fully understood by staff. Recent developments have ensured that the moderation of assessments takes place, but leaders are still not confident that information is accurate. Leaders cannot be sure what proportion of pupils are working at expected standards in different year groups or what progress pupils are making. Leaders were unable to provide key aspects of assessment information for groups of pupils when it was requested by inspectors.  Senior leaders have not carefully evaluated whether the pupil premium funding is

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

having a positive impact on outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. They have identified the barriers that slow learning for these pupils but have only recently begun to sharpen the use of this funding to implement more effective steps. As a result, the performance of these pupils remains well below that of other pupils nationally.  The roles of subject leaders were reviewed at the start of the year. They now receive time to check their subjects and have guidance as to what to look for. A new curriculum was also introduced at the start of the year, and many of the topics have interesting themes. Pupils say that they enjoy more visits and visitors. However, teachers’ expectations of pupils in subjects other than English and mathematics are too low. Evidence of learning in books shows that there is little challenge or opportunity to deepen pupils’ understanding of other subjects.  The leader responsible for supporting pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

begun to put in place new systems to track their progress. Individual plans were prepared so that support for these pupils could begin quickly at the start of the year. Support for these pupils has been planned with more precision this year, but checks on the quality of support or the quality of learning in books have not taken place. The new systems have not had time to impact upon outcomes. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make slow progress in all areas of the school.  Funding to promote participation in sports is used well. Its use has supported the introduction of a wider range of sports clubs, and pupils’ participation in competitions has increased. The curriculum for physical education is now organised more effectively and teachers are developing greater confidence and skill in their teaching.  The majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire were supportive of the school. Parents feel that their children are happy at the school and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

they are confident that the school is a safe place to learn.

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Governance of the school

 The new chair of governors has provided a renewed sense of direction for the governing body. Following a significant period of turbulence, the governing body has undertaken a skills audit and has developed a clear plan to improve the effectiveness of governance.  Governors have tightened financial controls of the school and have a clear understanding of the budget. They check how money is being spent and ensure that budget plans are adhered to.  Governors have some understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school, but this is limited by the quality of information they receive. They recognise that standards need to improve and are aware that the use of the pupil premium funding is not making the impact it should for disadvantaged pupils. They do challenge leaders, but this is sometimes not sufficiently rigorous and they do not do enough to check what they are told. The introduction of fortnightly meetings with the headteacher has

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Governance of the school

begun to provide them with more timely information.  Governors have begun to organise a range of training opportunities. The governor responsible for safeguarding has used the local authority audit to check that safeguarding is effective, and provides termly challenge meetings. This identified a need to improve record-keeping, and the school now has a clear system to hold information.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The school has appropriate policies in place and staff receive relevant training. Leaders have ensured that everyone is well informed and updated about these procedures. Everyone knows what to do if they have any concerns.  Leaders ensure that risk assessments are carried out, including for the early years setting. Leaders are proactive in raising the awareness of potential dangers to pupils, and a passionate team of adults provides effective pastoral care. Leaders listen to any concerns and tackle these as appropriate. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and they are confident that adults would help them if they had a problem.  Leaders work effectively with parents and other agencies to ensure that a culture of safeguarding is understood by all.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teaching does not usually meet the needs of the pupils. Pupils learn at too slow a rate.  Teachers do not use assessment effectively. Some teachers do not ensure that the starting points of lessons respond to the needs of the pupils. This means that learning over time does not build on what pupils know and can become repetitive.  Teachers do not assess learning effectively during lessons. As a result, they are not aware of pupils’ changing needs. Sometimes tasks are too hard and children get stuck. Teachers can be unaware of this and consequently pupils do not make the progress they could. Sometimes tasks are too easy and adults do not intervene quickly to provide further challenge. A significant number of pupils are not challenged sufficiently and do not make sufficient progress.  Expectations are too low in a number of classrooms. While there has been some improvement over time, too many teachers accept work that does not demonstrate a

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

sense of pride and effort.  Pupils do not have enough opportunity to apply their skills in writing. Teachers do not plan activities that allow pupils to practise their skills in spelling or grammar in extended pieces of writing. Much of the written work is undemanding and there is little opportunity to deepen pupils’ understanding of the structures of text.  Leaders have not ensured that teachers have a secure knowledge of the primary mathematics curriculum. Consequently, some activities are not planned well to enable pupils to learn what is intended. Pupils do not have enough opportunity to solve mathematical problems or to reason. Checks on books show that work is often too easy or too hard and work is not being carried out at an appropriate pace to ensure that the curriculum will be delivered in sufficient depth.  The teaching of phonics is inconsistent. Staff have received training, but the school

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

does not adequately check on the quality of phonics teaching. A new leader has been introduced and leaders intend to provide a further series of training sessions for all staff. Some pupils, particularly in key stage 1, find it difficult to read unfamiliar words because they do not have the skills to tackle them. Not enough pupils read regularly at home, and this has not been addressed by leaders.  Some teachers provide feedback to pupils in books that is in line with the school’s policy. This is inconsistent, and often comments are encouraging and positive but do not help pupils know what could be improved. Consequently, pupils repeat similar errors, for example in spelling.  The use of additional adults is variable. Some strong practice was observed where additional adults guided pupils skilfully and extended pupils’ learning through the use of intelligent questioning. However, in many classrooms, additional adults were not

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

used effectively and they had little impact upon the quality of learning.  In subjects such as religious education and geography, teachers rarely provide work that challenges the most able pupils and so progress is slower than it should be. Books show that learning in subjects other than English and mathematics lacks depth and there is little opportunity for pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding. In science, some classes are given opportunities to carry out interesting investigations.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  The pastoral team are passionate about their work and persistent when seeking external support for pupils. They have effective links to outside agencies and have systems that enable them to hold relevant records about their work.  Leaders and other staff have developed good relationships with parents and families. Leaders are knowledgeable about the support that is available and connect families with this when appropriate. As a result, parents say that their children are well looked after at school.  Leaders have ensured that all staff understand how to keep pupils safe and that policies are adhered to. Leaders have begun to review their system of record-keeping and now have a more effective system in place. Follow-up sometimes lacks rigour, for example the monitoring of attendance. Leaders know that they now need to ensure

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Personal development and welfare

that any actions are followed through robustly. Training for staff has been effective in ensuring that adults understand their responsibilities in ensuring pupil safety.  Pupils are enthusiastic about their school and many say that they would recommend it to others. Pupils know that if they have a problem, an adult will be there to help them. Pupils say that they are encouraged to eat healthily and keep fit.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is promoted well. Pupils are given opportunities to take on responsibilities in the school, such as being a member of the school council. The curriculum makes some good links to the local community and pupils show a good understanding of how the local area has changed. Some displays are multilingual, and a wide range of opportunities for pupils to visit places beyond their locality broadens pupils’ understanding of Britain. A residential visit to Skegness

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Personal development and welfare

enabled pupils to compare their own locality to one on the coast.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Attendance has declined and is now below the national average. However, there are signs of improvement this year, and the attendance of key groups of pupils such as those who have SEN has risen at the start of this year. Leaders have recently introduced systems to identify low attendance for individual pupils so that they can act upon this information quickly.  Pupils say that there is little bullying in school. Pupils are aware of different forms of bullying and know how to stay safe when they are using mobile technology or are online. They know that following the school rules will help them to stay safe and to learn.  Pupils walk around the school calmly and have good manners, holding doors open for visitors. There is a small amount of rough behaviour at playtimes and pupils have mixed feelings about behaviour, identifying lunchtime and the time spent in classrooms

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Behaviour

as times when behaviour is less positive.  Attitudes to learning are variable, and pupils lack the skills to be independent when learning in classrooms. Many pupils do not have strategies to move forwards independently if they are stuck and are reliant on adults to help them. Pupils often carry on working or talk when adults are trying to talk to the class, and this means that they often miss information that would help them to improve their work.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 The school has performed below the government’s floor targets for the past two years.  In 2017, the progress of pupils across key stage 2 was significantly below the national average in reading and mathematics and below the national average in writing. The proportion of Year 6 pupils who reached the national standard in reading, writing and mathematics was well below that nationally. Evidence of learning in books for pupils currently in the school shows slow progress. There is considerable underachievement, and this shows few signs of improvement.  Not enough pupils reach the national standard in reading, in writing and in mathematics. The proportion of pupils reaching the national standards was well below that nationally in 2017 and this gap widened from the previous year. Evidence of learning in books shows that the work planned for pupils does not always enable them to meet expectations. Progress information provided by the school suggests that they

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

are not on track.  In 2017, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 made significantly less progress than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics and less progress than their peers in school in reading and mathematics. Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve well because leaders have not acted quickly to plan precise actions that will help them to address the barriers to their learning. This means leaders do not use pupil premium funding effectively to boost their progress. During the inspection, leaders did not provide any assessment information for this group of pupils for this academic year.  In 2017, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities made significantly less progress than other pupils nationally and their peers in school in reading, in writing and in mathematics. Leaders recognise that this is an area of significant underachievement and have recently put in place steps to track the progress of these pupils. However,

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

the support for these pupils in classrooms lacks impact, and tasks often do not meet their needs. Leaders could not provide inspectors with any assessment information for this group of pupils for this academic year.  The proportion of pupils reaching the required standard in the phonics screening check is significantly below the national average. This declined last year, and there is now a new leader who is planning to provide support for staff. The proportion of pupils reaching the national standard when they retake the check in Year 2 is low, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. The teaching of phonics is currently inconsistent and this slows learning for some groups of pupils. Teachers do not routinely encourage pupils to use phonics skills in lessons.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make better progress than other pupils in reading and writing. Pupils who speak English as an additional language are

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

supported well and learn the basic skills of reading and writing quickly so that they catch up with other pupils.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 The early years leader and other staff do not have an accurate understanding of the changing needs of the children. A new assessment system has been introduced to enable staff to check the progress that children make. However, this, and other assessment information that the school holds, is not yet used effectively to plan activities that meet the needs of all pupils.  Children do not make rapid progress across the early years. Assessment information is unreliable and is conflicting between the Nursery and Reception classes. The proportion of pupils who have a good level of development at the end of the early years is consistently low. This means that children are not well prepared for Year 1.  Poor use of assessment means that many activities do not meet the needs of the children. Some activities lack purpose, and this means that children’s learning is limited, there is insufficient challenge and children lose focus. Sometimes, activities are

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Early years provision Inadequate

not sufficiently well supervised to encourage children to learn as intended. Children often simply explore the resources on offer.  The early years leader is new to her role. She has started to improve aspects of the early years setting, such as the environment and outdoor provision. However, leaders do not have a good understanding of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment or outcomes to make the necessary improvements.  Staff work hard to provide a range of activities, which means that the children receive a broad curriculum. However, there is no guarantee that the curriculum is balanced for different pupils. A lack of oversight and tracking of assessment means that adults do not have a good understanding of the curriculum areas that different children are accessing or how much they have learned.  The learning environment has improved. All areas of learning are clearly labelled and resources are well organised. The environment is rich in language and number, and the

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Early years provision Inadequate

outdoor environment complements the learning that takes place in the classroom. Adults and children use the outdoor environment well, and children are encouraged to evaluate risks and ‘have a go’. For example, children were encouraged to climb and build large structures.  Relationships between adults and children are good, and children are well cared for and safe. Generally, children play together well, take turns and share resources. Although most children follow instructions quickly, some do not meet the age-related expectations set for their behaviour when they are listening to others. Safeguarding is effective.

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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

Email address enquiries@bramleyprimary.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6–7 February 2013

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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 primary school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is above the national average.  The majority of pupils are White British and speak English as a first language.  The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.  The school does not meet the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6.  A new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed since the last inspection. Five new teachers joined the school in September 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in all year groups. Some of the lessons were watched jointly by inspectors and senior leaders.  The inspectors looked at pupils’ books, school assessment information, the headteacher’s evaluation of the school and a range of school documents.  Inspectors met with pupils, senior leaders, middle leaders, teachers and non-teaching staff, a representative from the local authority and representatives of the governing body.  Inspectors observed behaviour around the school and in classrooms.  Inspectors listened to a small number of pupils reading.  Policies and procedures for the safeguarding of pupils were examined, including mandatory checks for the recruitment of staff.  Inspectors took account of the 28 parents’ responses to the Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View, and the responses to Ofsted’s questionnaires for pupils and staff.

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Inspection team

Jaimie Holbrook, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Simon Bissett 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

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

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Inspection team

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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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