Brooklands Primary School

Inspection of Brooklands Primary School Palfrey Heights, Brantham, Nr Manningtree, Suffolk CO11 1RX

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 October 2022

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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 Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Good

Ofsted has not previously inspected Brooklands Primary School as an academy school under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 as, until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections.

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Overall effectiveness Good

Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection of the predecessor school. 18 and 19 October 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their time at Brooklands Primary School. Pupils have high levels of attendance. They enjoy their lessons and are positive about how well staff look after them. Pupils behave well in lessons and during their break and lunchtime. Older pupils enjoy looking after younger pupils. They like showing younger pupils how to play games. Children in the early years benefit from an outstanding start to school. They achieve exceptionally well and are well prepared for Year 1.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff teach pupils about what healthy relationships are. As a result, pupils have positive relationships with each other and with adults. Pupils appreciate the support adults give them in school. They know that adults will help them when they have problems. Bullying is rare. Staff will deal with it effectively if it does happen. Consequently, pupils feel happy and safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils strive to ‘be the best they can be’ during lessons. Pupils have a range of opportunities to learn about careers. As a result, pupils have high aspirations for their future. Pupils see themselves as ‘difference makers’ and enjoy opportunities to make changes to the school and local community, such as creating a local wildflower meadow.

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better?

There is a well-sequenced curriculum that clearly identifies the important knowledge pupils need to learn. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum builds on what pupils already know and can do. Training supports staff to deliver the curriculum effectively. This means that, overall, pupils achieve well. Some curriculum plans have been in place longer than others. In these subjects, teachers adapt the curriculum well for all pupils. For example, in reading, staff skilfully adapt their teaching to support pupils to read fluently. In a small number of subjects, the curriculum is newer, so teachers are not as secure at matching the work pupils do to the intended learning. This means pupils do not always learn and remember what leaders want them to.

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better?

Leaders identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work with staff to identify how best to support these pupils in class. Most of the time, pupils with SEND receive the support they need to achieve well. Leaders have worked to improve their systems for identifying what support pupils with SEND need. Leaders have not yet embedded these changes across the school.

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better?

Leaders prioritise reading across the school. Children learn phonics as soon as they start Reception. They quickly begin to develop their fluency in reading. As pupils become more fluent, staff check their understanding of what they have read. Leaders identify pupils who need extra support with reading. Staff help these pupils to become more fluent. Pupils enjoy reading. They appreciate the range of stories they can choose from the school library. Pupils also enjoy the stories they read as a whole class, which inspire them to read stories and authors on their own. 18 and 19 October 2022

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Children in the early years achieve exceptionally well. Leaders have carefully reviewed the curriculum and identified how it links to the Year 1 curriculum. More experienced leaders help less experienced curriculum leaders to develop their understanding of their subject in the early years. There are many opportunities for children to learn all areas of the curriculum. Staff are highly skilled at adapting the curriculum to meet the needs of all children. Staff expertly teach routines to children as soon as they start school. Children learn independence and self-control. They show these throughout the school day. Children display very positive attitudes to all their learning. This includes when they find learning hard. Children are very well prepared for Year 1.

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Leaders have high expectations of behaviour. Pupils behave well in and out of lessons. Leaders carefully plan a range of opportunities that develop the talents and interests of pupils effectively. For example, all pupils learn to play a musical instrument. Pupils are well taught about different cultures and religions. The ‘reading spine’, for example, exposes pupils to a range of stories from different countries and cultures. Pupils learn how to keep safe, including when online. Pupils develop a good understanding of democracy through the curriculum but also through the elections for the school parliament.

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Leaders have prioritised developing staff’s subject knowledge, and they have had success with this. Leaders manage staff’s workload and well-being effectively. Staff appreciate this help. They are proud to work at the school. The vast majority of parents would recommend the school. Trustees monitor the work of the school. They challenge leaders about the progress pupils are making.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders complete all required pre-employment checks on adults in the school. Trustees regularly monitor safeguarding procedures, and hold leaders to account for these. Leaders ensure that pupils understand how to keep safe. Pupils know there are trusted adults in school to talk to if they have concerns. Staff understand the safeguarding issues in the local area. They know the process for reporting concerns. Safeguarding records are clear and detailed. Leaders ensure that they act quickly when staff raise a concern. They access support from other professionals in a timely manner to get pupils the help they need.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, curriculum plans are newer than in others. This means they are less well embedded. Leaders must ensure that all subjects are consistently implemented so that pupils achieve well in all areas of the curriculum. 18 and 19 October 2022

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 In some subjects, teachers do not consistently adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all pupils. This means pupils do not always learn and remember what leaders want them to. Leaders must ensure that teachers are trained to adapt their teaching in all subjects so that pupils learn and remember what they are taught.

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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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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. 18 and 19 October 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Brooklands Primary School is part of Orwell Multi-Academy Trust. The trust delegates some powers to a local governing committee.  There is a nursery and before- and after-school care on site, which is run by an external provider.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The school holds a number of accreditations from external bodies.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science and art. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with 18 and 19 October 2022

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subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors scrutinised safeguarding policies, the school’s record of background checks of adults at the school and a sample of child protection files. Inspectors also spoke with trustees, governors, leaders and staff about safeguarding practices at the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders, staff, members of the trust, local governors and pupils.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including behaviour logs, bullying records, attendance records, pupil records, minutes of local governor committee meetings, trustee monitoring records, school improvement plans and school policies.  There were 124 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View,

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which were considered alongside 73 free-text responses.  There were 30 responses to the pupil survey. Inspectors also spoke to pupils throughout the inspection to gather their views.  There were 19 responses to the staff survey. Inspectors also spoke to staff throughout the inspection to gather their views.

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Inspection team

Michael Williams, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Heather Hann Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 October 2022

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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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