Brune Park Community School

Inspection of Brune Park Community School Military Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 3BU

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 28–29 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Brune Park is a friendly and welcoming school. Pupils and staff get along well together. Most pupils enjoy coming to school. They feel safe and well supported. Pupils are tolerant of each other. They understand and appreciate those who are different from themselves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respond well to the high expectations staff have of them. School leaders want pupils to achieve as well as they can, but this can depend on which teacher pupils get.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The academy is generally calm and purposeful. Pupils talk about the improvements in behaviour and teaching, although they say that there are still some lessons where learning is disrupted. Staff know their pupils well. If bullying happens, most pupils are confident that it will be dealt with properly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, especially younger ones, are enthusiastic about the vast range of clubs and activities that take place every day. Examples include manga club, badminton and ‘earthlings’, where pupils consider environmental issues. Pupils also go on trips near and far. These activities are helping to build pupils’ confidence and their understanding of the world beyond Gosport.

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better?

Leaders at all levels, including trustees, are determined and ambitious for the school. They want the very best for all pupils. Membership of the Gosport and Fareham multi-academy trust (GFM) is a major reason behind the improvements being made. Joint working across GFM schools has already helped to make Brune Park a better place for pupils to learn. Staff and pupils feel the school is moving forwards, after a difficult few years.

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better?

Most teachers have thought carefully about the important knowledge they want pupils to learn, and in what order. Some teaching plans, such as in history and mathematics, are well designed and delivered. In these subjects, pupils learn the intended curriculum well. However, in other subjects, such as modern foreign languages and science, the quality of teaching is too variable. This limits the standards pupils achieve in school.

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better?

Teachers are at different stages of their professional development. Some need to develop their skills and subject expertise further so that they can help pupils learn and remember new knowledge more effectively. Some teachers do not always check well enough if pupils have remembered prior learning or grasped new ideas. A large group of capable leaders are taking the right steps to improve professional training and the quality of teaching. 28–29 January 2020

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Leaders make sure that pupils study the full range of subjects in Years 7 to 9. Pupils have a wide range of courses to choose from in key stage 4. Now, more pupils are studying a modern foreign language to GCSE level. This means that more pupils have the opportunity to achieve the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) than in the past.

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Leaders have high expectations of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Some pupils with SEND achieve well because of the support they get. However, others do not achieve as well because classroom teachers do not shape the curriculum enough for their needs.

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Over time, pupils’ attendance has been too low. Leaders are tackling this, and pupils’ attendance is rising. However, many pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged or pupils with SEND, still do not come to school often enough.

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Leaders develop pupils’ wider skills well. Pupils are well informed about relationships, British values and mental and physical well-being. They have timetabled lessons covering personal, social, health and relationships topics, taught by specialist staff. They follow a careers programme that has strong local business links. This prepares pupils well for life after school.

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Leaders have begun work to encourage pupils to read more widely. For example, many pupils in Year 7 are having extra help to develop their reading skills from a dedicated teacher. Although it is early days, there are signs that more pupils are enjoying using the library.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have made sure that systems and processes to keep pupils safe are very thorough. Staff and trustees have regular safeguarding training. Staff report any concerns about a child’s safety quickly and efficiently. Staff know these will be dealt with promptly. Leaders work well with other agencies and ensure that pupils who attend alternative provision are safe.

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Safeguarding

Pupils have regular lessons on how to stay safe from dangers they might routinely face, such as using social media. Pupils feel safe to report any difficulties they have to staff. In the main, they trust that it will be followed up properly.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have a clear vision for the quality of education at Brune Park. Most subjects have well-designed plans in place to make sure pupils learn what they need to. However, in some subjects, pupils are not yet learning the curriculum well enough. Leaders need to continue to support staff to develop their subject 28–29 January 2020

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expertise and pedagogical knowledge so that more pupils know and remember the knowledge they are taught.  Most teachers ensure that pupils are taught the subject knowledge and skills they need. They know what they want pupils to learn. However, some teachers are not checking well enough whether pupils’ learning is sufficiently embedded in their memory. Leaders need to ensure that teachers are confident about what pupils know and remember.  Leaders have planned an ambitious curriculum for pupils with SEND. However, some teachers are not shaping the curriculum well enough for these pupils. This means some pupils with SEND are not remembering what they have been taught sufficiently well. Leaders need to ensure that all staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils with SEND.  Leaders’ strategies to improve pupils’ attendance are working, but attendance

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remains too low. Leaders should ensure attendance continues to improve for all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.

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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. 28–29 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10122193 Type of school Secondary

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1338

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school became a member of the Gosport and Fareham Multi-Academy Trust (GFM) in May 2017. GFM currently supports one other secondary school, two junior schools, a STEM centre (science, technology engineering and mathematics) and a special school, all of which are in Hampshire.  The chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust, worked with the current headteacher and leadership team, as an executive headteacher, from May 2017. The current headteacher formally took up the post in April 2019.  Some pupils in key stage 3 attend The Gateway either full- or part-time. This is a provision, run by GFM, designed to help pupils re-engage with learning.  Some pupils in key stage 4 attend the Enterprise Academy. This is a provision to support pupils’ vocational learning, which is run by GFM.  A small number of pupils attend full-time at The Key, a local authority pupil referral unit.  A small number of pupils attend full-time at St. Vincent, the local further

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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 and members of the leadership group. The lead inspector had a meeting with four trustees and one member of GFM. She also had a meeting with the chief executive officer of GFM.  In order to inspect safeguarding, we looked at the school’s records of checks on staff, the school’s safeguarding policy and the way leaders record any concerns about pupils. We held meetings with the school’s designated safeguarding lead and pastoral staff. We spoke to pupils and staff to get their views on safeguarding.  An inspector visited or telephoned some of the alternative providers used by the school.  We spoke with pupils in meetings and around the school site.  We spoke with a wide range of staff, including teachers and support staff.  We looked at the 90 responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey, and the 299 responses to Ofsted’s online pupils’ survey. We also considered the 72 responses

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Information about this inspection

to the Ofsted Parent View survey, and the free-text responses.  We did deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science, history, and languages. For each of these subjects, we had a meeting with the subject leader to look at their curriculum plans, visited several lessons with leaders, talked to pupils about their work, looked at those pupils’ books and talked to the teachers whose classes we had visited.

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Inspection team

Paula Sargent, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Suzanne Richards Ofsted Inspector 28–29 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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