Brookfield Primary School

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

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Mrs Lisa Bird Executive Headteacher Brookfield Primary School The Hollow Mickleover Derby Derbyshire DE3 0BW

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 June 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 October 2013.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary 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 specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

Leaders and governors have acted effectively on the areas for improvement identified at the time of the last inspection. The most able pupils’ progress/attainment in English has risen and is consistently higher than that of other pupils nationally. You have increased the capacity of the leadership team by ensuring that all subject leaders are leading improvements in their areas effectively. Governors evaluate reports presented to them by middle and senior leaders and work with you and the senior leadership team to plan your school’s improvement strategy.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

Pupils I spoke with had very high aspirations. They understood that achieving well in school would help them to get a good job and be successful in later life. They had a very positive attitude to learning. One of them said that the best things about school were ‘learning lots of new things’ and ‘learning in lots of different ways’. They really like the outdoor space and opportunity to use the wooded area in the playground. Pupils also appreciate and use games equipment made available during breaktimes. Pupils’ behaviour during the inspection was excellent in class and around the school. They told me that this was typical and that there was rarely any poor behaviour. They were very confident to talk about the different faiths and cultural backgrounds in the school and said that all the children play well together.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

The overwhelming majority of parents and carers value the support they receive from the school and the progress that their children make. Many said that the school has a ‘family atmosphere’, that the staff know their children well and that older pupils are supportive towards younger ones. Several parents of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities told me that they highly value the support that their child receives. They said that all staff take responsibility for supporting pupils who have SEN and or disabilities and are well trained to do this. Many parents told me that the nurturing ethos of the school has helped their children to make excellent academic progress. Parents were keen to tell me how inclusive the school is and how well children from different religious and ethnic groups are included. However, a small minority of parents expressed concerns regarding the assessment and progress of their children. This was explored with the

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

executive headteacher during the inspection.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records are well maintained and managed. Leaders review logs, such as those for behaviour and attendance, regularly to identify trends or patterns so that risks to pupils are reduced further. You ensure that all staff and governors have appropriate safeguarding training.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

Pupils’ attendance is consistently in line with the national average, and persistent absence has fallen rapidly. Pupils value their education.

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Short inspection of Brookfield Primary School

The parents who talked with me at the beginning of the school day all stated how safe pupils feel at the school. Pupils who spoke to me during breaktime also talked about how happy and safe they are at the school.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders have acted quickly to ensure that pupils consistently make strong progress in writing. Leaders and governors identified writing as an area for improvement and have brought in changes that have had a very positive impact on how well pupils achieve.  Leaders have enriched the writing curriculum to ensure that it engages pupils’ imagination and provides them with interesting themes for their writing. For example, pupils in Year 6 visited Derby Magistrates’ Court as part of their preparation for an extended written exercise about a court case. The standard of the written work produced by pupils is excellent. Pupils’ achievement in writing in key stage 2 is high, with 31% achieving the higher standard.  Leaders make excellent use of the pupil premium funding to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress. They quickly identify barriers to learning and put in place appropriate interventions to overcome them. Leaders

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Inspection findings

work as a team to monitor the impact of the school’s support and act quickly to keep pupils on track. The school’s assessment information shows that a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils are achieving the higher standard across key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Leaders have ensured that pupils make rapid progress during key stage 1 in reading. Their progress is supported by the consistent and effective teaching of phonics through Reception and Year 1.  Leaders identified that attainment in writing was limiting children’s overall attainment at the end of the early years. Leaders assessed the impact of the approach to teaching writing and phonics. They identified the changes they believed would drive standards up and implemented them effectively. The impact has been rapid, such that a substantially higher proportion of children achieved the standard in writing than previously and, as a result, an overall good level of

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Inspection findings

development.  Leaders have ensured that in mathematics and writing, pupils who begin key stage 1 with middle or high prior attainment make good or rapid progress. The barriers to rapid progress that lower-attaining pupils face in these two subjects have not been overcome, and too few catch up and achieve the expected standard.

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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

 more pupils with low prior attainment catch up and reach the expected standard in writing and mathematics in key stage 1  they identify vulnerable groups before they leave the Reception class and support their transition into Year 1.

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

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and the leadership team. I held a meeting with the chair and the vice-chair of governors. I spoke with a representative of the local authority on the telephone. I listened to three pupils from key stage 1 read. You, the head of school and I observed learning taking place during the morning, including in English and mathematics, and learning in the early years. I scrutinised a selection of pupils’ workbooks. I examined a range of the school’s documentation, including its self-evaluation document, its development plan, assessment information and documents relating to safeguarding. I considered the views of parents by speaking with some of them before and after school. I also analysed the 38 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. There were no responses to Ofsted’s survey of staff.

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