Brownsover Community School

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

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Mrs Elisa Aristidou-Basnett Headteacher Brownsover Community Infant School Webb Drive Brownsover Rugby Warwickshire CV23 0UP

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 27 February 2018, 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 2013.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in certain areas. This may indicate that the school is improving towards being outstanding. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

You provide excellent leadership. Your relentless drive for the highest quality teaching and learning is shared by all staff. Collectively, you have created a warm, nurturing community where even the youngest children quickly develop confidence in their learning. Staff are highly professional, committed to the school and to their own professional development. They learn from each other and from working with other schools. This was captured well by a comment from one of the teachers, who said: ‘The amazing thing about this school is the team. We all share the vision. We don’t work as individuals, we work as one strong team to give every child the best possible start in their learning.’

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

Parents and carers agree. They are overwhelmingly positive about the school and hold you, and the staff, in high regard. Pupils work hard and are proud of the school. They were eager to talk to me about their learning. One pupil commented: ‘Teachers help us to learn and we keep trying. I am trying to be better at handwriting so that I can have a powerful pencil. Some people already have one but I know that I’m not ready yet but I will be soon.’ At the previous inspection, you were asked to raise the level of challenge in lessons, particularly for the most able pupils. Since then, staff have benefited from external training, working with local schools and internal coaching and mentoring programmes. They have become confident in recognising and responding to pupils who are capable of working at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, many pupils now achieve standards above those expected for their age

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

in these subjects. By the end of Year 2 in 2017, the proportion of pupils achieving greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics was well above that seen nationally. At the end of the Reception Year in 2017, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development continued to be higher than the national average.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

At the previous inspection, inspectors also asked you to develop the role of subject leaders. You have taken effective steps to address this. You have restructured the leadership team and organised routine ‘release’ time so that subject leaders have time to fulfil leadership duties. New subject leaders are ably supported by more experienced staff. All leaders are clear of their roles and accountabilities and have introduced effective systems for checking pupils’ progress in their subjects. This includes visits to lessons and regular checks on work in pupils’ books. They use the information from these activities well to continually improve the quality of teaching and learning. This is a marked improvement since the previous inspection.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

There is further work to be done to ensure that pupils have opportunities to work at greater depth in all subjects. You know this and have identified precise steps and appropriate actions in your teaching, learning and improvement plan.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You lead the safeguarding team with skill, expertise and commitment. All staff are well trained. They are highly professional and effective. They are fully aware of their responsibilities and what to do if they have any concerns. Newly appointed members of staff value the training and guidance that they receive.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

Everyone in school is committed to providing the right level of early help for families to ensure that pupils are safe. Pupils are taught to recognise signs of risk. One pupil commented: ‘If I start to get worried I can talk to anyone in school. We all have people that we can go to.’ You are relentless in your determination to follow through every concern. Your records and day-to-day notes are a testimony to this.

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Short inspection of Brownsover Community Infant School

You are vigilant in checking pupils’ attendance. The family support officer knows the pupils extremely well and works effectively with families and local authority officers. As a result, attendance remains above the national average for primary schools. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the care and support their children receive. Many approached me in the playground to express their appreciation and respect for the staff. Parents’ comments included: ‘Everyone works so hard for the children. From the kitchen staff to the headteacher, they put the children first. It’s the best start that I could wish for my son.’

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Inspection findings

 A focus for this inspection was the progress of lower-ability pupils in reading and writing across key stage 1. There is no doubt that you know each individual pupil well and ensure that pupils receive highly tailored support where it is needed. Additional one-to-one reading support is carefully planned and monitored. Staff, including teaching assistants and volunteers, work very effectively together to share information about children’s learning and development. This results in pupils making good, and in some cases rapid, progress. I saw clear evidence, in pupils’ books, and your records, that pupils make strong progress across key stage 1 in reading and writing, including lower-ability pupils. One parent commented: ‘The teachers know that my child doesn’t find learning easy. They always talk to me about what they are doing to help him and they go to a lot of trouble to tell me how I can help too.’

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Inspection findings

 A further focus of this inspection was the teaching of early reading and phonics. Since the previous inspection, leaders have taken decisive actions to improve the way that early reading is taught. Reading books have been reorganised and additional resources purchased. As a result, pupils’ reading books are well- matched to their phonic skills. Teachers and teaching assistants have regular training to sustain high-quality teaching in this area. Teachers routinely encourage pupils to use phonic skills to support their writing. Your assessment records show that increased proportions of pupils are working above the standards expected for their age in phonics.  You ensure that pupils have extensive experiences of listening to, sharing and talking about books. This is evident in the attractive displays in corridors and classrooms. During the inspection, pupils and teachers were celebrating World Book Day by sharing favourite books and talking about authors. These activities

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Inspection findings

help pupils to develop confidence as readers and a love of reading.  A final focus of this inspection was to evaluate the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning. The broad and stimulating curriculum is a key strength of the school. Pupils talk eagerly about their learning in different subjects and topics. For example, Year 2 pupils were proud to share their newspaper reports about the first flight of the Wright brothers. Others were keen to discuss the forthcoming visit to Warwick Castle and their knowledge of artists such as Van Gogh. These experiences nurture a love of learning.  During the inspection, key stage 1 pupils were gaining scientific knowledge by investigating material changes while making butter and ice-cream. They had to observe closely, listen to each other’s ideas and explanations and make predictions. Teachers challenged pupils to use scientific language accurately and precisely to explain their thinking. They used effective questioning to correct

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Inspection findings

pupils’ misconceptions. Pupils were engaged and challenged to successfully develop a greater depth of scientific understanding.  You are aware that more could be done to challenge pupils to work at greater depth in subjects other than English, mathematics and science.

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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

 the level of challenge for pupils to work at greater depth is securely embedded in all subjects across the curriculum.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the deputy headteacher and other leaders, including subject leaders. I also met with the chair of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. You joined me on brief visits to classes. We looked at examples of pupils’ work and talked to pupils about their learning. I spoke informally with pupils at different points during the school day and I listened to pupils read. I reviewed a range of documentation including the school’s own self- evaluation of its performance, the school’s targeted learning and improvement plan, and documents related to keeping pupils safe. We discussed the most recent information about pupils’ achievement. I took account of 43 responses by parents to Ofsted’s online free-text survey during the inspection. I also considered 48 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. I also looked at information on the school’s website.

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