Broadfield Community Primary School

Inspection of Broadfield Community Primary School Sparrow Hill, Rochdale, Lancashire OL16 1QT

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 14–15 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Throughout school, relationships between staff and pupils are strong and supportive. Staff have high expectations. They are passionate about helping everyone to be the best that they can be. Leaders and staff take good care of pupils, particularly those who are vulnerable.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe and happy. Bullying is rare and dealt with quickly. Staff go the extra mile to support families. The many new arrivals to the school community are welcomed gladly and quickly involved in all aspects of school life. Pupils are proud of their school. The school council has a strong influence. It recently created a ‘you’ve been spotted’ board to celebrate good behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well and work hard in lessons. They understand how positive behaviour can impact on their learning. However, many pupils still struggle to achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. Staff are working hard to improve the quality of education at the school and to help pupils to close gaps in their knowledge and understanding.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ attendance has improved but persistent absenteeism is still high. When pupils struggle to attend, staff do everything possible to help them get into school. Parents and carers appreciate that staff at Broadfield are committed to helping to improve pupils’ life chances.

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better?

Leaders are constantly looking for ways to improve the school. They are making changes for the better. They make sure that they consider the workload of staff when they introduce new ways of working.

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better?

Leaders believe that reading is the key that opens the door to a good education. However, many pupils struggle to read with fluency and comprehension. Staff promote a love of reading. Pupils told me about their ‘fantastic’ library and how they enjoy listening to exciting new stories and reading with their teachers. Even so, many pupils struggle to read independently because of gaps in their phonics knowledge.

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better?

The delivery of the phonics curriculum was not effective in the past. Leaders are taking positive action, for example by making sure that staff are well trained. While there are signs of improvement, there is still more to do. Too often, pupils’ reading books are not matched closely enough to their reading ability. This means that pupils find it difficult to practise and develop their reading and phonics skills. This slows their development. When pupils fall behind in reading, they do not catch up quickly enough.

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better?

Recent changes to the way that the curriculum is structured are reducing the effects of weaknesses in the past. The curriculum is becoming broad and ambitious. Well- 14–15 January 2020

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considered plans help pupils to build up their knowledge and understanding of the wider world in a structured way. Pupils’ books show that they are learning more effectively. Current pupils know more and remember more. For example, pupils in Year 2 explained in great detail what they had previously learned about The Great Fire of London. Even so, some pupils have gaps in their learning and too many pupils leave Year 6 without achieving as well as they should.

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Pupils celebrate differences in religions and cultures. They are tolerant of views, beliefs and opinions that are different from their own. When new pupils arrive, their pictures are proudly displayed on the ‘Welcome Board’ in the school hall. Pupils and their families are made to feel included in this school.

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Staff are skilful and sensitive in supporting pupils’ additional needs. Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities are included fully in school life and learning. Vulnerable pupils are well supported across the school. Leaders put extra resources in place to help these pupils. High expectations mean that all pupils experience a full curriculum.

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Pupils’ good behaviour supports their learning. Pupils benefit from a range of trips and visits that enhance their learning. They contribute to the school and the wider community. For example, the choir told us about their recent charity tour raising money around the North West.

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Leaders have made important changes that help the youngest children in Broadfield to achieve well. Staff in the Nursery class take time to make children feel safe and secure in school. In the Reception class, there is a sharp focus on developing early language and extending children’s vocabulary. This is especially helpful to those pupils who speak English as an additional language. Other areas of learning, such as physical development, are well provided for. The early years curriculum has been well thought through to meet children’s needs. This helps children to develop the resilience and emotional security that they need to access the Year 1 curriculum.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding at the school. All staff understand the need to protect pupils. They know how to report any concerns that they might have about a pupil’s safety or well-being. Safeguarding records are detailed and well managed. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe.

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Safeguarding

Many pupils start and leave Broadfield at different times during the school year. Good systems are in place to ensure that pupils settle quickly into school life. When pupils leave the school unexpectedly, leaders follow locally agreed procedures to ensure that they are attending a school elsewhere. 14–15 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Changes to the school’s curriculum mean that pupils typically learn all of the national curriculum subjects in an ordered way. However, this change is fairly recent. The previous curriculum was not as effective. This has led to gaps in pupils’ learning. It has also contributed to their weak achievement by the time they leave Year 6. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum plans are delivered consistently well so that all pupils, particularly those who join part way through the school year, know more and remember more in a range of subjects.  Although improving, the systematic teaching of phonics is not yet securely embedded throughout the school. The books that children and pupils read in school are not well matched to the sounds that they are learning. Leaders need to revisit the recent changes to the phonics curriculum and ensure that reading resources are well matched to pupils’ needs. They also need to make sure that

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

those pupils who fall behind are given the help that they need to catch up. This will enable pupils to practise the sounds that they are taught and to read with greater fluency and accuracy.  Despite the consistent and concerted efforts of leaders and the well-being team, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school remains stubbornly high. This has a negative impact on pupils’ learning and achievement. Leaders must continue to reduce persistent absenteeism to give these pupils the best possible chance in life.

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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 are the school and you are 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. 14–15 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10087922 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 January 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The governing body has recently been reconstituted.  A high proportion of pupils enter or leave the school at different times during the school year.

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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 the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders. We also spoke with class teachers and support staff.  We met with several governors, including the chair of the governing body, and a representative from the local authority.  We reviewed a range of documentation. This included school policies, behaviour records and published information about pupils’ performance. 14–15 January 2020

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 We met with the designated safeguarding leader and the welfare team to check the effectiveness of safeguarding procedures and processes. We also checked the single central record and the checks made on newly appointed staff.  We focused in detail on reading, writing, mathematics and physical education. This involved meeting with subject leaders, talking to pupils and teachers, visits to lessons and looking at pupils’ work. We also considered other subjects as part of this inspection.  We observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktime and lunchtime and as they moved around the school. We were accompanied on a tour of the school by the school council.  We spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. We considered the views of 11 pupils, 25 parents and 27 staff through the online questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Steve Kirkpatrick, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Saeeda Ishaq Ofsted Inspector 14–15 January 2020

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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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