Setting

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

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Mrs Jessica Balado Brisley Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School School Road Brisley Dereham Norfolk NR20 5LH

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Aided Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 6 November 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Aided Primary School

This monitoring inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector was concerned about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements at the school.

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Evidence

I scrutinised your records of checks of the suitability of staff to work with children, your school action plans, the local authority’s statement of action and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. I held meetings with you, your office staff, three teachers and two teaching assistants, three members of the interim executive board (IEB), two groups of pupils and two midday supervisors. I also visited all classrooms with you to observe pupils in their learning and spoke with pupils informally at lunchtime. I met with the senior teacher from your own school who is providing one day each week to ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are effectively and appropriately supported. I also spoke with parents at the start of the day.

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Evidence

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

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Context

Brisley Church of England Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school and provides education for 70 pupils.

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Context

There have been significant changes since the previous inspection. The substantive headteacher resigned and the local authority has assigned an interim executive board (IEB) to govern the school. Since September, you have taken on the role as the interim headteacher for two days a week. On other days of the week, you also manage your own school located close by. In addition, your senior leader is providing specific support for pupils with SEND.

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Context

There are firm plans for the school to join the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT) in December 2018 and from January 2019 the school will be led by an experienced headteacher from DNEAT while recruiting a substantive headteacher.

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Content

In the short time you have been at the school, you have responded quickly and well to resolve the safeguarding concerns identified at the previous inspection. The governing body has been replaced by the IEB. Members of this board have a wealth of expertise and knowledge and are supporting and challenging you well to raise standards and improve safeguarding. You and your leaders value this support and the improvements it is helping to bring about.

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Content

You have ensured that all staff have had relevant safeguarding training and are confident with the improved systems and processes that are now in place. Staff are using your newly devised concern forms consistently. They are now recording information correctly and know to record all concerns and incidents no matter how minor they may seem. They could talk confidently about recognising the signs in a child’s behaviour that would alert them and the subsequent steps they would take to ensure that accurate information was recorded and then reported to you or the other designated leaders for safeguarding. Your well-kept records show that this is the case and that concerns about pupils’ safety are followed up quickly. You and your designated senior leaders take appropriate action to ensure that pupils in need of additional support receive it.

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Content

Parents I spoke with were positive about your leadership. They informed me that you deal with any concerns that they have quickly and well. Parents also told me they have no concerns about bullying at the school and confirm that their children are happy and safe.

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Content

Pupils also told me that they enjoy school and feel safe. They told me that they can talk to an adult if they have any worries. Pupils also said they trust adults to deal effectively with any concerns that they have. You have made sure pupils have an appropriate level of awareness of the dangers when using the internet. For example, they know not to give personal information online and the risks of doing so. They also know to tell an adult if somebody they did not know contacted them while they were online. Pupils could explain the different types of bullying and struggled to recall any incidents of bullying having taken place. You record all incidents of poor pupil behaviour and address them appropriately within the new behaviour system.

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Content

Staff spoke positively about the new and improved behaviour systems. Staff and pupils told me that behaviour has improved significantly since the previous inspection and that systems are far easier to understand and follow. Pupils could explain the processes that lead to the rewards and sanctions in place.

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Content

Over time, pupils’ behaviour has improved. You acknowledge that there is more to do to establish a firm culture of consistently positive behaviour and mutual respect among all pupils. Although most pupils are polite, respectful and behave well in lessons, at other times, a small proportion of pupils do not show the courtesy and good manners modelled by many of their classmates. This was notably the case during lunchtime in the dining hall, where pupils displayed low-level disruption while lining up for their meal and poor manners while eating their meal. Some older pupils do not set the good examples of responsibility and helpfulness they should to the younger pupils in the school. For example, they told me that they resented having to help clear the dining hall and clean up after the younger children when it was their turn to do so because they missed too much of their lunch break.

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Content

You recognise that there is still more to do to ensure that high expectations of behaviour are communicated consistently by all staff so that pupils recognise that poor manners and inappropriate behaviour are not acceptable. Some adults still do not intervene quickly enough to remind pupils about their behaviour. This is particularly the case when pupils do not play nicely together or use playtime equipment as sensibly as they should.

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Content

You are working effectively with the local authority and the IEB to further improve safeguarding systems. Your office staff are meticulous in ensuring that all checks on adults who work with children at the school are carried out and recorded correctly. Members of the IEB regularly check to ensure that the latest guidelines from the Department for Education (DfE) have been adhered to. Employee files are well maintained, and information is well ordered. In addition, staff training is recorded centrally, making it easy to see training needs and when update training is due.

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Content

Your senior leader is working with several staff members to provide additional strategies for supporting pupils with SEND. This is having a positive impact on these pupils’ engagement and attendance. Pupils with SEND are getting the right support from external agencies and receiving additional funding so that they can access their learning effectively. You are working hard, and with some success, with parents and carers to reduce the levels of pupil absence. Evidence shows that you communicate regularly with parents to ensure that they know the importance of good attendance for their children. However, levels of absence remain too high. You acknowledge that there is still more work to do to ensure that pupils attend school as often as they should.

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External support

The local authority is supporting you and leaders effectively, particularly in its role within the IEB. The local authority says that it will continue to support leaders and the school through the transition into the multi-academy trust.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Ensure that all staff model the high expectations of behaviours they expect from pupils by intervening quickly when low-level disruption occurs.  Review and appropriately amend the behaviour systems to improve the attitudes of the small number of pupils who do not display the courtesy and good manners of the majority.  Work effectively with parents to ensure that pupils attend as often as they should.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the chair of the executive board, the director of education for the Diocese of Norwich, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Norfolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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