Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School

Inspection of Breachwood Green Junior Mixed and Infant School Oxford Road, Breachwood Green, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 8NP

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 2 and 3 February 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this welcoming school. There is a strong sense of community. Pupils follow the school’s ethos of working together ‘to be the best they can’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils readily take on extra responsibilities, such as being sports ambassadors or school councillors. Pupils willingly support others. They feel proud of their achievements and the contribution they make to the school life. Pupils are encouraged to be aspirational and to think how they can make a difference in their community and the wider world. This contributes well to pupils becoming responsible, caring citizens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Pupils listen carefully to instructions. They engage positively with their teachers and with each other. Pupils learn to celebrate kindness. They are kind and caring towards each other. Pupils play happily together at breaktimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that bullying hardly ever happens. They are confident that there is always someone they can talk to who will help them resolve any worries they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are positive about the work of the school. They appreciate the kind and caring ethos in which their children learn. Parents valued the regular contact they had with school during the pandemic.

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better?

Leaders have carefully considered the curriculum, which is designed to help pupils build their knowledge across a broad range of subjects. Pupils are well supported to access the ambitious curriculum, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff are well trained to support the specific and complex needs of some pupils, so they too are successful alongside their peers. However, some aspects of the curriculum are new. Leaders have not yet evaluated the full impact of the changes they have made in order to ensure that pupils learn and achieve as well as they can.

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better?

Pupils get off to a good start with learning to read. The teaching of phonics is clear and consistent. In Reception, children start learning to read from the moment they join the school. This approach continues systematically throughout pupils’ first years in school. Pupils read books that enable them to practise the sounds they are learning. As a result, they become confident and fluent readers. Pupils who are not making as much progress as they could in reading are quickly identified and given the extra help they need. Leaders promote reading well and teachers read to pupils regularly. This helps pupils gain an enjoyment and love of reading that continues through their time at school. 2 and 3 February 2022

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Leaders provide staff with the guidance and training they need to teach the curriculum well. Teachers check carefully what pupils can do and use the information well to plan lessons that build on what pupils have learned before. In some subjects, such as in art and design, pupils can easily talk about colour mixing using appropriate technical language and vocabulary, which demonstrates they remember what they have learned before. However, this is not the same in all subjects in the school’s two-year curriculum cycle. Teachers are not consistent in ensuring that pupils have learned the key vocabulary they need to secure important knowledge and understanding.

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Children start well in Reception. Adults are caring and consistent, and they quickly establish clear routines. Adults have developed a purposeful environment where children enjoy learning and playing together. Children are encouraged to sing, talk and share rhymes. Children develop their interests in the world around them. Children gain the knowledge they need and are well-prepared for learning in Year 1.

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Leaders ensure that the curriculum to support pupils’ personal development is effective. Pupils learn to respect different cultures and beliefs. They learn about different kinds of relationships. They can talk about the strategies they can use to support their positive mental health. Pupils develop positive attitudes towards others and towards their learning. Pupils are well prepared for their next stage of education.

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Governors make a positive contribution. They know the school well and offer effective challenge and support for leaders. Governors work effectively and well with school leaders to ensure that the school continues to improve.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff are well trained. They are alert to the potential signs that a pupil may be at risk. Staff understand and follow the school’s safeguarding procedures. Staff report concerns promptly. Leaders take the action required to ensure that pupils and families access the support that they need.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are confident to report any worries that they have. They are taught appropriate strategies to help them stay safe, including when using the internet.

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Safeguarding

Governors check that leaders are fulfilling their safeguarding responsibilities effectively. This includes rigorous pre-employment checks.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some aspects of the school’s curriculum are new. Subject leaders have not had the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of these changes to their two-year 2 and 3 February 2022

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curriculum cycle. This means that subject leaders do not know whether the changes they have made are helping pupils to learn and achieve as well as they can. Leaders should evaluate the changes to the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum is being implemented well in all subjects.  Teachers do not routinely plan opportunities for pupils to practise and deepen their use of key vocabulary across all subjects. As a result, some pupils are not able to remember how to use key words in their correct context. Leaders should ensure that teachers implement the intended curriculum well across all subjects.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 2 and 3 February 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10200525 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.breachwoodgreen.herts.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 February 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, many new governors and some subject leaders have been appointed to their new roles.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteacher and members of the school’s leadership team.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, 2 and 3 February 2022

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spoke to teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs coordinator and the leaders with responsibility for disadvantaged pupils.  Inspectors met with the chair of the local governing body, and five members of the local governing body.  Inspectors met with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors looked at the single central record of pre-employment checks. They spoke to leaders, school staff, governors and pupils to review the school’s arrangements for safeguarding.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start of the school day. They considered the 44 responses made by parents to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including 28 free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the 11 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff and the 44 responses to Ofsted’s pupils’ questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Nick Rudman, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Hayley O’Dea Ofsted Inspector 2 and 3 February 2022

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