Brunswick Park Primary School

Brunswick Park Primary School Picton Street, Camberwell, London SE5 7QH

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Since the previous inspection, senior leaders have raised the quality of teaching and assessment to improve pupils’ progress. This work is now evident across all subjects. Leadership of the early years is also effective.  The revitalised governing body has been instrumental in improving the school. It both challenges and supports school leaders; governors are proud and yet uncompromising about the school’s development.  Staff are committed to providing pupils with a balance of excellent care and guidance and academic challenge across a range of subjects. This prepares pupils well for secondary school.  Pupils in all year groups make good progress. Leaders make effective use of coaching and monitoring to target support wherever needed.  Teachers know the pupils very well and capture pupils’ interests.  Teaching is good overall, although while some teaching provides exactly the right balance of challenge and practice, it can vary. For

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

instance, where staff subject knowledge is weaker, progress is less strong.  Teaching improves pupils’ skills strongly in reading, writing and mathematics, as well as in other subjects, including physical education (PE) and music.  Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do well because care is taken to plan work that meets their individual needs.  Pupils’ attendance has improved over time, and this reflects the importance placed on it by leaders and staff. It is now above average for all groups of pupils.  Pupils show great respect, tolerance and kindness towards others. They are very well behaved and willing to work hard. Leaders ensure that pupils are very well cared for, and make excellent provision for their personal development.  In the early years, the good provision in the Nursery and Reception classes means that children make strong progress and are very well prepared for Year 1.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils in the additional resource provision do well because of careful curriculum planning, high-quality interaction and excellent care and support.  The school works well with parents and carers to raise standards. A small number feel that more could be done for all of the school’s pupils and those with most need.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching across all key stages so that pupils make outstanding progress in all subjects by: – addressing inconsistencies in teachers’ subject knowledge to further improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment – ensuring that work is sufficiently challenging and routinely meets the needs of all pupils.  Continue to develop effective parent partnership as an effective means of raising outcomes for pupils by ensuring that parents of all pupils are fully engaged with their children’s education.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Following the previous inspection, school leaders have maintained with great diligence the school’s work on raising expectations and improving the quality of education that pupils receive. Their aim is to ensure that pupils attain to the best of their abilities and benefit from memorable learning experiences in all subjects. As a result, standards have risen in all subjects.  Leaders have a comprehensive view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Their very detailed plans for improvement focus on the areas in need of most attention. The impact of leaders’ work is shown by the clear improvements in the quality of teaching made in recent years. This is most evident in the teaching of writing and mathematics and a range of other important subject areas, including PE and music, where standards are continuing to rise.  Middle leaders contribute enthusiastically to the school’s work to raise standards. They

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

work with teachers, focusing on the quality of work produced by pupils in their areas of responsibility. Their work is leading to improvements in how well pupils are being taught and is starting to address the remaining inconsistencies in the quality of teaching where teachers’ subject knowledge is not as strong as it could be.  Leaders use assessment information skilfully to hold teachers to account for their pupils’ progress. Leaders monitor standards and progress judiciously to give them accurate information to identify and support pupils at risk of underachievement. Teachers now use this information to plan learning that meets pupils’ needs. Nevertheless, some inconsistency remains in the extent to which teaching meets the needs of pupils of all abilities.  Leaders use the pupil premium funding well to support the learning of disadvantaged pupils. Bespoke extra help for those pupils who need to catch up forms the basis of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

this work. Consequently, disadvantaged pupils are now making the same progress as other pupils nationally.  The primary physical education and sport premium enables the school to provide specialist equipment and some teaching experiences which the pupils asked for, including, for instance, lessons in circus skills. Pupils benefit from a good range of clubs and extra-curricular activities, such as competitive sporting events. These opportunities are effective in promoting pupils’ fitness and enjoyment of physical activity.  The school makes very good provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This is helping pupils to acquire a thorough understanding of life in modern Britain. The school’s deeply held values place mutual respect at its core, which contributes positively to the life of the school.  The curriculum at Brunswick Park is broad and diverse. Leaders have carefully

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

maintained pupils’ entitlement to the national curriculum while at the same time doggedly improved the teaching and progress rates in reading, writing and mathematics. The curriculum is enriched by specialist teaching of PE and music.  The school has received useful external support from the local authority’s school improvement service. This service has a good understanding of the school and has provided advice and consultancy to support leaders’ work to raise standards.  Leadership of the additional resource provision is good. The provision gives much- needed stability and ensures that children and pupils are well cared for and have access to a wide curriculum appropriate to their individual needs.

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Governance of the school

 Since the previous inspection, several new governors have strengthened the governing body. They are drawn from a wide professional background, carry out their duties diligently and have acted as a driving force in school improvement. They understand the school’s local challenges well and offer both significant challenge and support to the school’s leadership team. They are keen to promote the school further so that it is fully recognised for the increasingly excellent work which takes place there.  Governors’ focus is rightly on ensuring that pupils do the best they can while at the school. They use their meetings and committee structure to make sure that this remains central to their work. They have taken their own training and development very seriously and are able to offer their considerable expertise to help steer the school towards their vision of excellence.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders ensure that all members of staff are well trained in child protection and have the necessary skills and knowledge to promote pupils’ welfare. The school’s policies and practice are thorough. A strong culture of safety exists in the school. Leaders and staff work closely with parents, as well as external professionals, to ensure that all pupils are supported and as safe as possible.  Pupils are very confident that the school is a safe place; parents and staff at the school who responded to Ofsted’s surveys or spoke with an inspector agreed with this view. Key staff have ensured that safer recruitment training and practice are up to date.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching across the school is good overall. Most teaching shows high expectations of what pupils can achieve and uses time and resources well. Staff have very positive relationships with the pupils.  Some variability in teaching remains. The strongest teaching is located in upper key stage 2, where teachers are able to use their deep insight of pupils’ abilities to plan, pitch and deliver lessons of an extremely high quality. Where teaching is less successful, this is because teachers’ planning does not demonstrate that they have the excellent subject knowledge more commonly seen at the school. On these occasions, teaching fails to capture the interests of all pupils, stalling progress.  The school has been increasingly effective in its approach to the teaching of early reading skills. This has helped to ensure that teaching is sufficiently precise to support pupils in acquiring the knowledge of phonics expected for their age. Staff have good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

subject knowledge and so model sounds accurately and correct pupils when they make mistakes. This helps pupils to use phonics to decode words accurately and fluently.  Senior leaders have consistently placed teacher training and development at the heart of the school. This has been supportive of both long-serving staff members and those who are recent or temporary appointments. All teachers give very clear feedback to pupils as to how their work can be improved, and this has led to increased rates of progress.  Senior leaders have identified weaker aspects of teaching. For example, they are aware that some teachers do not have the very strongest subject knowledge or tend to overcontrol learning and stifle progress. As a result, leaders are ensuring that teachers are involved in ongoing training and development.  Teaching of writing is effective in making tasks challenging and interesting for all pupils. The teaching places emphasis on developing pupils’ use of grammar and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

punctuation to make their writing more interesting to read. In turn, pupils have become avid readers and relish taking books from the school’s excellent library facilities.  Additional adults support pupils with SEND effectively and motivate them to try hard. Pupils know that the staff want them to do well. In turn, this has developed pupils’ positive attitudes towards learning.  Teaching in the additional resource base is good. Small-group and individual work ensures that pupils make good progress. The classrooms are resourced appropriately so that pupils know their routines and are kept safe. An increasing number are also able to integrate into the main school for some of their lessons.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding in both the main school and the additional resource provision. Leaders ensure that the welfare and care of pupils help them to work more effectively at school. Pupils work and play together harmoniously because they are taught to show tolerance of diversity as well as compassion for others. Pupils are also taught to work hard and to demonstrate resilience.  Through the curriculum, pupils develop a strong awareness of different faiths, ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Pupils demonstrate respectful and considerate attitudes and show respect for each other, even if they hold different beliefs or points of view. They are well prepared to play a positive role in modern Britain.  Positive messages about how to tackle and respond to bullying have been helpful to pupils. Pupils say that bullying does not take place at the school, though were it to

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Personal development and welfare

occur, they know the systems that exist to support them. Teachers ensure that pupils are knowledgeable about how to keep safe while working on the internet, including when using social media at home.  Through different subjects, including science, pupils are made aware of key aspects of keeping healthy, such as the importance of a good diet and regular exercise.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding in both the main school and the additional resource provision. Pupils conduct themselves sensibly, both in classrooms and around the school site. This is also true of the behaviour of pupils in the additional resource provision, where their good conduct helps them to achieve well.  Leaders have continued to work effectively to maintain a great sense of community in the school. This is evident in how the pupils care for one another. Pupils in the main school told inspectors how they value having pupils from the additional resource provision work with them, as this gives them a greater appreciation of similarity and difference.  The school communicates well with parents, who are overwhelmingly positive about the school’s work. One parent’s comment, typical of others, was: ‘I am very happy with my child’s well-being, learning, enjoyment and safety at Brunswick Park Primary. The

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Behaviour

school's focus on reading enjoyment and achievement is outstanding.’ Leaders realise that effective school communication needs to be maintained and encourage parents to give them feedback which they can use to make the school even better.  Most pupils attend regularly and on time each day. The school has maintained a focus on this area; this has proved very effective and demonstrates the positive attitudes of pupils and parents.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Standards at key stage 2 have been rising since 2016. In 2018, the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. This represented strong progress in reading. In writing and mathematics, their progress was slightly above average. An above-average proportion of the most able pupils attained the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics.  In 2018, the proportion of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check was close to the national average. This is because of the school’s clear commitment to getting children reading as soon as they start at the school.  Current pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This is shown by the school’s assessments of their progress over time, work in their books and their learning in classrooms. This is the result of good teaching over time.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Senior leaders are rightly proud of the school’s achievements, though are in no way complacent. Children in the early years now make a very good start to developing key literacy and numeracy skills, which are then built upon in key stages 1 and 2. Throughout the school, great emphasis is placed on the presentation of pupils’ work, which has resulted in written work being of an excellent standard.  Most pupils clearly enjoy reading, and leaders have ensured that a wide variety of good-quality reading materials are available to them. Book areas are very well resourced, and two large halls have been converted to make first-rate library facilities for pupils. This promotion of reading is helping pupils to broaden their reading as well as improving their vocabulary and comprehension skills.  Careful use of the pupil premium funding is helping to support the good progress that disadvantaged pupils make in all curriculum areas. Their progress in writing is now

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Outcomes for pupils Good

improving because of the school’s careful analysis and the resulting actions.  As a result of effective support, pupils with SEND are fully included in all aspects of learning, and they learn well. Leaders use assessment information effectively to monitor the progress of these pupils and ensure that they receive the help they need to make good progress.  Outcomes for pupils in the additional resource provision are good. Each pupil has specific targets with clear milestones. Parents are involved at every step and this partnership is invaluable.

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Early years provision Good

 The leadership of early years is good. The phase leader, though only recently appointed, has clear plans for improvement and has a solid understanding of the strengths and weaker areas of the current facility. Children learn well and make strong progress from their starting points. The proportion of children attaining a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year is rising steadily, though remains below that of other schools nationally. Children develop very positive attitudes to school life in the early years and are well prepared for moving into Year 1.  Across the Reception and Nursery classes, teachers create a welcoming learning environment, which interests children in activities that they find enjoyable. Skilful teaching ensures that children get plenty of experiences in learning how to read and write. This is clearly exemplified in the Nursery class, where careful use of screening

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Early years provision Good

has created cosy reading dens in which the children enjoy reading.  Children are excited by the interesting topics that staff plan for them. They settle swiftly to work and are very well behaved and respectful towards one another. Children in the Reception class are showing increased skill in writing, with many children able to write clearly and use basic punctuation, including full stops and capital letters in their work when they write sentences based on a book about dogs they have heard in class.  Classrooms are well resourced and staffed so that children can learn independently or with adults, as they choose. Teaching assistants and nursery nurses work very well to support children in their learning, for instance in helping children to write names for their adopted beetles which they had discovered living on a bush in the playground. Children are enthusiastic and work well together, enjoying the activities which take

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Early years provision Good

place both indoors and outside.  Across all classes, children are very well cared for and their well-being is of paramount importance. The school has worked successfully to raise disadvantaged children’s achievement. They are now doing almost as well as their peers nationally.  The school has developed effective partnership working with parents; they are clearly valued and contribute to the assessments made of children’s progress throughout the early years, which starts with home visits before the children start school. A number of parents spoke with great affection about the care their children receive in this key stage.  Children in the additional resource provision are well integrated at various points throughout each day, as well as being well catered for in the resource base.

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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 office@brunswickpark.southwark.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection December 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than most primary schools. The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average. The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above average. The majority of pupils speak English as an additional language.  Pupils come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. The largest group of children is from Black or Black British – African backgrounds, with children from White British backgrounds forming the next sizeable ethnic group.  The school has a 17-place additional resource base called The Base. All pupils in the base are identified as having autistic spectrum disorder and are taught in one of two classes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited classrooms in all year groups, several of which were carried out jointly with members of the school’s leadership team.  The inspection team heard pupils read in Year 2. They talked to pupils in classrooms and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plan and records of pupils’ behaviour, safeguarding and attendance. They also scrutinised assessment information and records of meetings of the governing body.  Inspectors met with teachers and spoke with pupils. A meeting was held with members of the governing body. A meeting was also held with a representative from the local authority. Several meetings were held with the headteacher.  The views of parents were obtained through informal discussions, the 27 responses to the online Parent View survey and 14 responses to the online text facility.  The view s of staff were examined through the 29 responses to the staff survey.

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Information about this inspection

 The views of pupils were analysed from the 22 responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Tim McLoughlin, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Karen Matthews 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

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Inspection team

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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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