Bream Church of England Primary School

Bream Church of England Primary School High Street, Bream, Lydney, Gloucestershire GL15 6JW

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and governors do not ensure that safeguarding processes are followed correctly. This places pupils at some risk of harm.  Since the previous inspection, pupils’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has declined, including in 2018. This has accrued gaps in pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding which are taking time to resolve.  Leaders ensure that the curriculum provides coverage of different subjects and a range of experiences for pupils. However, the curriculum is not yet well designed to ensure the best outcomes for pupils.  Leaders are gaining skills and confidence to monitor teaching and learning. However, this is not focused strongly enough on the groups that are still underachieving the most.  Governors are not yet effective in holding leaders to account without external support.  Attendance has remained stubbornly low, particularly for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

disadvantaged pupils.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils, particularly the most able, are not consistently high.  Teachers’ assessment of reading and phonics is not good enough. Consequently, the lowest achieving pupils are not supported well in order to overcome barriers to read well.  Leaders ensure that children in Reception are prepared for Year 1. However, some children in the early years have difficulties with their personal, social and emotional development, which holds them back.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Since her start in October 2018, the interim executive headteacher has been leading the school with determination and ambition. There is tangible improvement so that the school is providing an acceptable standard of education.  Pupils are now catching up well in English and mathematics. This is ensuring that most are prepared for the next stage in their education.  The interim executive headteacher, along with other leaders, has reinvigorated the school’s vision and mission. This has rapidly improved pupils’ behaviour.  The morale of pupils and staff is high. They recognise the improvement made following the interim executive headteacher’s arrival and are committed to continuing to improve.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Governors must ensure that those responsible for responding to safeguarding allegations are fully trained to implement the correct procedures to keep pupils safe.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that: – governors have the relevant skills and knowledge to hold leaders firmly to account and secure the necessary improvements, including pupils’ attendance – the pupil premium strategy is fully evaluated to raise the achievement and improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND – the curriculum is carefully designed to promote the best possible outcomes for pupils across the range of subjects – leaders align their monitoring and evaluation closely to the particular groups or cohorts of pupils that are underachieving the most.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve pupils’ achievement and the consistency of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by: – raising teachers’ expectations to address the remaining gaps in pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding, including the most-able pupils – ensuring that recently implemented systems to support identified pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged and/or those with SEND, work effectively to diminish differences in attainment and progress – implementing a robust strategy for the teaching of early reading and phonics so that all pupils, including the lowest-achieving and disadvantaged pupils, read with fluency, confidence and understanding.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders should ensure that they further improve children’s personal, social and emotional development in the early years, particularly those children who are disadvantaged or need further support, to achieve the best possible outcomes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders should continue to improve pupils’ behaviour so that this is consistently good in all classes and situations, particularly in key stage 1.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance and of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate due to weaknesses identified in the school’s safeguarding arrangements.  Furthermore, since the previous inspection, leaders and governors have been too slow to identify and address the declining standards seen in pupils’ outcomes. This delay has led to gaps in pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding that continue to be a barrier for some current pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.  However, following the arrival of the interim executive headteacher in October 2018, there has been rapid improvement, such that the quality of education is now of an acceptable standard.  On her arrival, the interim executive headteacher quickly identified weaknesses in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. She has been instrumental in establishing new processes and systems to hold teachers to account. These and other ‘non- negotiables’ have provided a firm foundation to guide teachers and raise their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

expectations of what pupils can achieve.  The interim executive headteacher, along with other school leaders, has reinvigorated other staff and pupils through the school’s vision and mission. Leaders have successfully raised the morale of staff and pupils. As a result, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development has improved. Pupils show a willingness to learn and an understanding of the importance of values in improving their attitudes, interaction and behaviour towards each other.  Leaders ensure that the curriculum provides a coverage of subjects, with a range of experiences, including enrichment activities and clubs. The effective leadership of science is having a particularly strong impact on improving the depth of pupils’ understanding in this subject. However, the curriculum is not designed well enough to ensure that pupils develop the subject knowledge and subject-specific skills they need.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

Consequently, outcomes are not strong.  Leaders’ evaluation of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, as well as pupils’ outcomes, is accurate. This is ensuring that the right priorities for improvement are identified. However, new or recently introduced activities or systems are fragile and are yet to bring about the consistency in improvements that is required. Consequently, there are still too many deficits in some pupils’ learning, in particular for the most able, disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.  Middle and some senior leaders are still developing the skills, knowledge and expertise to be fully effective in holding colleagues to account. They are responding positively to the challenge provided by the executive headteacher and making some astute observations. However, there is more to do to ensure that their work is finely honed to target particular groups and cohorts of pupils that are underachieving.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders are now ensuring that the additional funding for pupils with SEND and pupil premium (PP) is spent appropriately. Leaders have designated this funding to ensure that provision, including interventions, is supporting the right pupils. However, some of this has happened only very recently and requires further evaluation and refinement.  Leaders are implementing internal accountability systems effectively, for example ‘pupil progress meetings’ and staff appraisal, in order to increase rigour and raise expectations. Despite some systems being recent and, therefore, still evolving, they are having the desired effect of improving teaching and learning across the school.  Leaders are ensuring that teachers and other staff benefit from the appropriate training and continuing professional development (CPD) needed to improve the school. For example, visits to other schools and work with external advisers and consultants are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

supporting teachers to improve. CPD is well matched to the priorities of the school’s raising attainment plan (RAP).  During this academic year, leaders have worked effectively with other partners, including the diocesan officer and the local authority’s link ‘performance adviser’. Targeted work through the RAP and ‘project team’ has been instrumental in securing many necessary improvements. For example, effective support in the early years has strongly improved the quality of the provision so that the statutory requirements of the early years framework are fully met.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are not yet effective in holding senior leaders to account. They are still reliant on the support of the local authority. As a result, they have not been able to tackle weaknesses quickly enough. Consequently, prior to the appointment of the interim executive headteacher, the school declined into a critical condition.  Following the intervention of the local authority, by providing essential training and brokering additional high-quality individuals to join the governing body, and the recruitment of the interim executive headteacher, there are signs of improvement. Governors now demonstrate a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities, for example through visiting the school to evaluate some key aspects of the RAP for themselves.  Despite this, the impact of the governing body is still too variable. New processes and systems have not been embedded or secured for long enough as governors are

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Governance of the school

continuing to ‘find their feet’ through their roles and responsibilities.  However, governors are receptive and keen to learn from previous mistakes. They are taking a full part through the RAP to improve their own performance.  Governors now have a more accurate understanding of the quality of education. In other aspects of the school’s work, they do not receive the information they need to fulfil their statutory duties. Governors recognise that securing the school’s future and building leadership capacity is essential and are taking actions to achieve this.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Leaders and managers, including governors, do not ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. There is a lack of awareness of some of the procedures that are to be followed. In particular, procedures following complaints against members of staff are not implemented robustly or appropriately to meet statutory requirements. Consequently, pupils are placed at an increased risk of harm.  Leaders, including governors, are not checking well enough that the school’s policies for safeguarding pupils are being implemented effectively. For example, governors have not checked that staff have the training they need, that complaints are properly investigated, or that record-keeping is fit for purpose.  Besides these aspects, however, pupils, staff and most parents say that this is otherwise a safe school. Pupils know how to stay safe in different situations. For

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Safeguarding

example, they know the ‘SMART’ acronym for online safety, and how to respond in the event of a fire evacuation.  Pupils also say that they feel safer now due to improved behaviour and conduct seen around the school on a day-to-day basis. Raised expectations have established an orderly environment so that pupils move around the school, interact and learn safely together.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Leaders’ focused and relentless support has ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved during the year. However, there remains too much variation between subjects, classes and cohorts so the quality of teaching is not yet good.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils, particularly the most able, are not high enough. There are still too many times when pupils are not sufficiently challenged in their learning. Consequently, some pupils’ progress is hampered, and they are unable to meet the highest standards in the range of subjects.  Teachers’ assessments of learning in the early stages of reading and phonics are not sufficiently robust or refined to take full account of what pupils know, understand and can do. This means that pupils are not building on their prior skills and knowledge to make consistently good progress, particularly the lowest-achieving pupils who need to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

catch up quickly.  The implementation of interventions and the targeted support for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are beginning to provide some of the vital support that these pupils need. Leaders ensure that individual learning plans are being implemented with agreed personal targets. However, as yet, these are still having variable impact as leaders and teachers become more accustomed to the new expectations and ways of working.  Teachers and adults have positive relationships with pupils in lessons. Pupils are willing participants in lessons and are keen to share their knowledge and work with others.  There are some strong examples of teachers ensuring that pupils understand how to improve their work. For example, in Year 4, pupils are given precise next steps or challenges, and the time to sit and respond to these. As a result, the quality of pupils’ writing and the substance of their work is improving.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Pupils understand how individual lessons form part of a larger sequence of work, for example in planning and drafting work towards writing a newspaper article. Consequently, on these occasions, pupils are developing greater resilience and aptitude through their work over time.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate. Leaders’ and governors’ understanding of their responsibilities regarding pupils’ welfare is not fully secure. Leaders’ responses to safeguarding allegations have not been completed with the due diligence required. This poses a risk to pupils’ safety and well- being.  There are times in some younger classes when pupils do not respond well or lose focus. This leads to low-level disruption and interferes with the progress and enjoyment for other pupils.  However, at other times, particularly in key stage 2, pupils are motivated and apply themselves well. This disparity reflects the different personal, social and emotional development of different cohorts and the differences in the quality of teaching in the school.  The overall attendance of pupils has remained stubbornly low, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. This directly impedes these pupils’ learning

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Personal development and welfare

and affects their preparedness for the next stage in their education.  However, leaders are working proactively with others to improve pupils’ attendance. For example, the effort of the family support worker is paying dividends for some, particularly vulnerable pupils and families. Although absence is still high, there has been a marked reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently absent.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement because pupils’ attitudes to their learning are not always consistently positive and behaviour overall is not yet good.  The interim executive headteacher has been fastidious and relentless in improving pupils’ behaviour. She rightly saw this as an initial priority. The subsequent work of all staff to implement new systems based on the school’s vision has been effective. As a result, most pupils now behave in the manner expected of them.  Leaders have taken a strong stance to improve behaviour. Following an initial surge in exclusions, these have now greatly reduced and are minimal. This has helped to establish the norm for expectations of behaviour in the school. Exclusions have been implemented proportionately and legally.  Pupils understand the importance of the school’s rules and values. They talk confidently and knowledgeably about these, based on the school’s Christian foundation

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Behaviour

and distinctiveness. For example, some Year 6 pupils spoke articulately about how the school’s values of ‘friendship, truth, perseverance, trust, compassion and respect’ affect the lives and experiences of all in the school community.  Furthermore, pupils show a deep understanding of different cultures, citing examples from their studies of comparing India and the United Kingdom. This promotes cultural tolerance and develops pupils’ understanding of individual liberty so that they are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, there has been a significant decline in pupils’ achievement. For example, just over a quarter of pupils attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 in 2018. This was well below the national average of 64%.  Similarly, the progress of pupils in key stage 2 was well below average in writing and reading (2018), the latter being well below the national average in consecutive years.  Pupils’ attainment in reading and, particularly, writing in key stage 1 in 2018 was also below average.  Due to this decline, there are too many current pupils who are still having to ‘catch up’ from a legacy of weak achievement. Gaps in pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding are apparent, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.  Gaps in pupils’ knowledge include: weaknesses in their vocabulary in reading; basic punctuation and grammar in writing; and the ability to reason consistently well in

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

mathematics. These barriers currently impede the progress of too many pupils.  In addition, some of the most able pupils in the school are not yet consistently reaching the standards of which they are capable in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check are broadly in line with national benchmarks, including for current pupils. However, the school’s programme for the teaching of phonics is not effective enough in enabling the lowest achieving pupils to catch up quickly. This impacts on how well these pupils can apply their phonics to read with increasing fluency, including some in Year 2. This is compounded by a poor choice in some of their reading books, which are too difficult for them and cause pupils to pause and stumble over too many words.  However, leaders have now fully implemented and evaluated a range of assessments to check the attainment of every pupil in reading, writing and mathematics. This has

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

been helpful in targeting pupils and cohorts across the school. As a result of direct intervention and improved teaching, standards across the school are rising.  The majority of pupils are starting to catch up. Outcomes are improving so that pupils are steadily being better prepared for the next stage in their education. As such, although achievement is not yet good, pupils are now receiving an acceptable standard of education. There is also an increase in those pupils working at, or towards, the highest standards.  Pupils with SEND have personalised learning plans. Targets are appropriate, including for those with education, health and care (EHC) plans, to enable pupils to overcome particular barriers in their learning.  Across the school, there is strong evidence of improving writing, including pupils’ handwriting and pupils producing writing with flair and creativity for different purposes. Pupils are now demonstrating a willingness and skill to write at greater length and

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

depth.  In addition, pupils are demonstrating improvement in being able to recall known number facts and use these to solve larger problems. For example, Year 5 and 6 pupils could mentally solve challenges such as ‘60% of 540’, and explain the significance of numbers to two decimal places.  Pupils’ scientific skills and knowledge are strong. The quality and consistency of work in this subject reflect good outcomes for pupils across the school. Pupils are given good- quality opportunities to explore scientific themes and to investigate authentically. However, work in other subjects such as geography is not yet consistently to this same high standard.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 The shortcomings found in leaders’ wider implementation of safeguarding procedures also mean that the safeguarding arrangements relating to the early years are inadequate. However, mandatory welfare requirements, including paediatric first aid training and supervision, are fully implemented.  Following a significant dip in children’s outcomes in 2018, the early years staff and school leaders have worked well with the local authority to rapidly improve the quality of teaching and provision in the Reception Year. As a result, the children are receiving an acceptable standard of education and the statutory requirements of the early years framework are met.  However, there are times when weak development of some children’s personal, social and emotional development affects their wider ability to listen attentively or learn well in different situations. When this occurs, it interferes with their learning and that of

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Early years provision Inadequate

others around them.  Furthermore, there is not a consistently high degree of challenge to stretch the most able children. There are occasions when activities in lessons limit these children who are capable of achieving more.  Teachers are introducing children to letters and sounds through a daily programme of synthetic phonics. This is providing them with a foundation to learn their phonics for reading and writing. However, at this stage in the year, there are still too many children working below ‘phases’ expected of them. For example, during the inspection, children were securing their knowledge of ‘-oa’, and its corresponding sound, in the middle of simple words, when this should have been learned earlier.  Overall, though, there has been rapid improvement in the early years provision since the start of the academic year, following the arrival and new expectations of the interim executive headteacher. Ongoing training and further development of staff has

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Early years provision Inadequate

been well targeted and received. As a result, the environment is managed and organised well. This helps children to be independent and make clear progress.  Teachers have raised their expectations of what effective practice looks like. They have the skills and knowledge to deliver this. Although the provision is not yet good, leaders are providing effective challenge and support to keep ensuring strong improvement. The early years remains a key strategic part of the school’s RAP.  Teachers also ensure that the breadth of the early years curriculum is now reflected in the activities, resources and areas available to the children. Consequently, children are making progress in all areas of development. This represents a rapid improvement in children’s outcomes. In fact, 80% of children in the current cohort are attaining a ‘good level of development’.  Children can play outside and use a range of equipment to support their physical

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Early years provision Inadequate

development. They handle tools and apparatus well to support their learning in different ways.  Staff have positive relationships with the children. There is a pervading warm and caring ethos which underpins the work in the early years and reflects the school’s aims and vision.  Parents have confidence in the school’s early years team. There are strong transition arrangements with local pre-school providers, particularly the on-site pre-school, where children interact and are involved with the school through different activities throughout the school year.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22–23 November 2016

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Information about this school

 There is an interim executive headteacher working in the school currently. This appointment commenced in October 2018.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Each year is taught in a separate class, except in Years 5 and 6, which are mixed.  Most pupils are from a White British background.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium grant is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is marginally above the national average.  There are currently no children in the care of the local authority at the school.  There is a privately run pre-school located on the school site. This is not managed by the school’s governing body.  The school was judged as ‘requires improvement’ at its previous inspections in January 2013, January 2015 and November 2016.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils learning in all classes across the school. These were sometimes accompanied by the interim executive headteacher or other senior leaders.  Discussions took place with the interim executive headteacher, deputy headteachers, SEND coordinator and subject leaders.  Additional discussions were held with the school’s performance adviser and a separate telephone call with a senior officer of the local authority.  The lead inspector also had a telephone conversation with the school’s link diocesan adviser to gather the views and information from the diocese.  The inspectors gained the views of pupils throughout inspection activities and during breaktimes.  The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books to establish the current quality of work and standards of current pupils in books across the range of subjects.  An inspector listened to a sample of pupils read in Years 1, 2, 3 and 6. This included

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Information about this inspection

scrutinising teachers’ daily reading records and assessments of reading and gaining the views of pupils.  Inspectors spoke with pupils and parents to seek their views of the school. The 15 responses from Parent View and corresponding free-text comments were considered by inspectors. In addition, information from face-to-face discussions between parents and inspectors was considered. Responses from Ofsted’s staff survey were also taken into account. No pupil completed Ofsted’s pupil survey.  Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents, including the RAP, governor visits and minutes, the school’s website, complaints records, the single central record as well as other safeguarding notes and records.  An inspector met with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of the governing board.

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Inspection team

Stewart Gale, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Cottrell 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

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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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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