Brampton Primary Academy

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

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Miss Gemma Clark Brampton Primary Academy Brampton Road Bexleyheath Kent DA7 4SL

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Brampton Primary Academy

Following my visit with Angela Trigg, Ofsted Inspector, to your academy on 9–10 May 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken since the academy’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Brampton Primary Academy

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the academy became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in March 2017. The full list of the areas for improvement that were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Brampton Primary Academy

Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Brampton Primary Academy

Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Brampton Primary Academy

Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that the academy may appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Brampton Primary Academy

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bexley. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: ─ securing stable and consistently strong leadership at all levels ─ improving teacher retention rates and providing staff with the necessary support to secure much-needed improvements in the quality of the curriculum and teaching ─ ensuring that leaders at all levels plan and take effective action to improve pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics, particularly in key stage

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

─ ensuring that assessment procedures are fit for purpose so that pupils’ progress is tracked effectively ─ rigorously evaluating the impact of pupil premium funding on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that: ─ the standard of teaching and learning across the school is consistently effective, enabling all pupils to make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics ─ teachers challenge and engage pupils in their learning, using activities that are matched to pupils’ different needs.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the executive headteacher, senior leaders, middle leaders, members of the governing body and the regional director of education from REAch2 academy trust. The school’s evaluation and monitoring reports by the academy trust were reviewed, together with documents relating to safeguarding and an external review of pupil premium funding.

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Evidence

Inspectors, together with senior and middle leaders, observed teaching and learning in all classes. They scrutinised pupils’ work and reviewed the school’s information about the progress that current pupils in the school are making. Inspectors spoke with pupils and parents and carers to hear their views. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of leadership and management, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and personal development, behaviour and welfare.

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Context

Since the previous monitoring visit, the teaching workforce remains stable. The executive headteacher has prioritised the recruitment of subject leaders, phase leaders and an inclusion leader for next academic year. The chair of governors has resigned and has been replaced with a temporary chair, who is also a national leader of governance (NLG). Leaders continue to work with the academy trust to improve the school.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The executive headteacher continues to provide strong and calm leadership. Leaders continue to drive further improvements and have correctly prioritised transition arrangements for next academic year. These include the expansion of middle leader roles to oversee subjects and phases. Leaders ensure that roles and responsibilities for the next year reflect the needs of the school.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders have prioritised the development of middle leaders. Middle leaders take a greater responsibility by leading training sessions, supporting staff to improve the quality of teaching and learning and checking pupils’ progress. This is beginning to make a tangible difference, particularly in the improvements to phonics teaching. As a result, pupils are beginning to make strong progress in their phonics. Although middle leadership has been strengthened, this is still at an early stage of development. Leaders recognise that a significant amount of work remains prior to next academic year, including refining the curriculum and developing subject- specific policies.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The REAch2 academy trust maintains targeted support for the school. The director works well with leaders to develop their roles further. The trust has commissioned an external review of pupil premium funding to check on improvements since last year. Furthermore, the trust has worked with leaders to refine existing safeguarding practices and carry out an audit on behaviour across the school.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities continues to improve because of strong leadership. An increased number of pupils continue to be identified for additional support, through increased use of external specialists.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The governing body continues to improve its understanding of its roles and responsibilities. Governors have focused on creating an ‘improving standards group’ to look at pupils’ progress information in more depth. As a result, governors are beginning to provide more challenge to leaders. However, governors recognise that their strategic understanding of all aspects of the school is still at an early stage of development.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Parents share typically positive views about the leadership team and acknowledge that the school continues to move in the right direction.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The quality of teaching and learning continues to improve. Leaders’ support to teachers is making a difference, particularly in pupils’ writing. Pupils demonstrate a clearer understanding of what they are learning. Pupils in Years 2 and 6, in particular, continue to progress well, working typically at least within age-related expectations. Teachers’ questioning and subject knowledge continue to improve. As a result, pupils demonstrate a clearer understanding of what they are learning using specialist terminology. For example, in Year 6, pupils confidently edited their writing using formal and informal phrases and could explain why this made their writing better. Other pupils used secure understanding of knowledge gained during their history topic, the Tudors, to write a balanced argument about whether Henry VIII was a good king or not. However, this approach is not consistent across the school. In too many lessons, teachers do not encourage pupils to write extended pieces of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

writing, which limits their progress and ability to write fluently.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

In phonics lessons, there has been a marked improvement. Staff use assessment information well, and pupils are typically engaged in their phonics lessons. Adults encourage pupils to practise their letters and sounds, checking pupils’ precision in correct pronunciation. Pupils enjoy these lessons and articulately share how to use ‘digraphs’ to blend letters correctly.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

In reading, there continues to be an improvement in activities to build on pupils’ reading comprehension skills. For example, Year 2 pupils confidently shared their understanding of similarities and differences between the stories of ‘Burglar Bill’ and ‘Cops and Robbers’. This helped these pupils to deepen their understanding of how authors use a variety of techniques in their books. The development of pupils’ early reading skills has also improved. For example, Year 1 pupils worked with their peers enthusiastically, taking turns to read and finding key words and phrases from the text to answer comprehension questions. However, across the school, there are still some lessons in which pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable because of weaknesses in the quality of teaching and learning. In these lessons, planning is not strong, and pupils do not receive challenging work or opportunities

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Leaders have implemented a new initiative to promote pupils’ ‘learning behaviours’. Pupils were introduced to these behaviours, such as resilience and aspiration, in whole-school assemblies. Teachers remind pupils about these behaviours in lessons to enable pupils to understand the importance of life skills. Pupils from the school’s ‘learning council’ work alongside leaders to raise the profile of these behaviours to ‘make the school a better place’. Pupils demonstrate an increasing awareness of these ‘learning behaviours’; however, they do not have an in-depth understanding of all of them. This remains at an early stage of development.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Leaders have undertaken social, emotional and mental health questionnaires with key stage 2 pupils. This enables leaders to gain a deeper understanding of pupils’ needs, particularly those who are vulnerable, to provide additional support. Leaders have introduced a ‘well-being zone’ for pupils to share their concerns with staff. Pupils speak positively of this approach and recognise that this helps to keep them and others safe.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Leaders continue to check attendance carefully. Pupils’ attendance remains similar to the national average. Leaders continue to work proactively with pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, who have high rates of absence. However, disadvantaged pupils’ persistent absence continues to remain above the national average.

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External support

The school continues to have supportive links with the local authority, particularly to help teachers check the accuracy of pupils’ assessment information.

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External support

The trust continues to offer strong support to improve the school further. Members of the trust work closely with leaders to improve the quality of teaching and learning and provide additional guidance through joint reviews.

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