The Brook Special Primary School

Inspection of The Brook School Adams Road, Tottenham, London N17 6HW

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding 11–12 September 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school and they feel safe here. The school is calm and friendly. Adults help pupils to understand the importance of being kind to each other. Bullying is not tolerated in any way.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not learn to read as well as they should. Some teaching and planning in other subjects do not meet pupils’ needs well. Sometimes, expectations are not high enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff work well together to make sure that pupils are well cared for. They provide a range of support, including helping pupils with their speech, physical development and eating.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about the world around them, including other countries. They go on exciting school trips to museums and art galleries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders make sure that staff help pupils to communicate. We saw pupils using lots of resources, including technology, to communicate with others around them. They learn how to communicate their learning, thoughts and feelings. They know the importance of taking turns and making choices.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils attend nearly every day and behave well.

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better?

The headteacher has tackled the issues that she identified when joining the school two years ago. However, reading has not been given the focus it should. There are too many weaknesses in how pupils learn to read.

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better?

Teachers and support staff have not had training to become experts in teaching phonics, including in the early years. Some parents and carers that I spoke to told me that children do not bring reading books home. Some staff who work with pupils do not model literacy effectively. The governing body has not prioritised challenging leaders to improve reading.

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better?

Staff organise activities that help pupils to prepare for secondary school and beyond. For example, they practise travelling on public transport and understand how to eat healthily. Some parents told us that their children enjoy family outings now because of the school’s help.

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better?

Pupils spend breaktimes with pupils from the primary school that shares the site. We saw that they form friendships and play with confidence and happiness. Leaders set up opportunities to help pupils to take part in social activities. They organise a week- long summer school in August which includes sports such as swimming. They also provide popular clubs, including art and cooking, to extend pupils’ wider interests. 11–12 September 2019

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Some staff have secure subject knowledge and use it well to help pupils to learn. For example, in music, pupils learn to play instruments, including the glockenspiel and guitar. Pupils use a range of sensory resources to help them, such as when counting in mathematics.

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Leaders are introducing new plans for what pupils should learn in each subject and when they should learn it. This is because previously, some subjects were not planned well. However, leaders have not given enough thought to the knowledge and skills in modern foreign languages that they want pupils to learn.

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Leaders provide training for all staff. However, not enough teaching helps pupils to learn more and remember more. Sometimes, adults tell pupils the answers rather than getting them to think for themselves, for example when reading unfamiliar words.

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Some adults do not deal with off-task behaviour quickly. This can sometimes stop other pupils from being able to concentrate and learn.

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The early years is a happy and nurturing part of the school. Children have plenty of opportunities to play and explore. Their emotional and physical development flourishes. Staff create moments of surprise and wonder that capture children’s curiosity.

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Parents are positive about the school. They said that communication with the school is excellent.

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Staff told us that leaders listen to them and think about their workload when making decisions. Staff enjoy working at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have excellent knowledge of the potential risks that could affect pupils. They encourage and support pupils to look after themselves. This includes learning how to stay safe and be healthy.

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Safeguarding

Leaders offer a wide range of support to pupils and families, including dedicated family support and specialist therapists. Staff share information quickly and make sure that they take actions to provide families with help as soon as they can.

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Safeguarding

Parents were full of praise for the practical support that they receive from the school. They said that they have no worries about their children’s safety and well- being here. 11–12 September 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The approach to planning and teaching reading across the school has too many weaknesses. It is not coordinated or systematic. Therefore, leaders need to create a strategy and training programme for phonics, so all pupils learn to read as best they can.  The governing body has not prioritised reading. Therefore, governors need to sharpen the checks they make on this part of the school’s work, providing strong support and challenge to leaders on the improvement of reading.  The school is launching its new curriculum plans. Leaders need to make sure that all units of work are well planned, sequenced and adapted to pupils’ cognitive ability. Teachers and support staff need further training to identify and plan the subject content that they want pupils to know and remember, including in modern foreign languages.  Some teaching, including that of support staff, does not help pupils to learn as much as they could. Leaders should ensure that all staff are well trained and have

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

the knowledge, pedagogy and literacy skills to teach subject content in a way that best meets their pupils’ needs.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 11–12 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110378 Type of school Special

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 16 October 2018

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Broadwater Inclusive Learning Community and shares a school site with the Willow Primary School and the Broadwater Children’s Centre.  All pupils at the school have an education, health and care plan.  Most pupils have autism spectrum disorder and additional learning needs. There is an increasing number of pupils joining the school with more complex learning needs.  There are more boys than girls at the school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is high.  Pupils come from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds.  The school has the International School Award (2018–21) from the British Council.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with a range of senior staff during the inspection, including the 11–12 September 2019

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headteacher, the senior leadership team and members of the governing body. The lead inspector also had a telephone call with a representative of the local authority.  We evaluated the quality of education at the school by looking at four main subjects. These were reading, communication, mathematics and music. We met with a range of staff, pupils and leaders, as well as making visits to lessons, looking at pupils’ work and listening to pupils read.  We carried out a range of activities to look at safeguarding. These activities included meeting leaders, talking to staff, parents and pupils and reviewing a range of school documents and records.  We also evaluated responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys. There were no responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s questionnaire for parents. However, the lead inspector met with several parents and reviewed the school’s survey of parents’ views.

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Inspection team

Sam Hainey, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Kanwaljit Singh Ofsted Inspector 11–12 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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