Brooklands Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Brooklands Primary School 44 St. Johns Street, Long Eaton, St Johns Street Nottingham NG10 1BW

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Outcome

Brooklands Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they feel happy and safe at Brooklands. They are well behaved in lessons and around the school. Staff care for pupils. The vast majority of parents and carers agree. Several parents commented on the kindness of teachers and other adults.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There has been a lot of change at Brooklands over the last few years. There have been three different headteachers, three coordinators for special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the school has joined a multi-academy trust and has gone through the COVID-19 pandemic.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The new leadership team, supported by the multi-academy trust, has brought stability to the school. A specialist team is overseeing SEND provision, led by the trust, until the new leader starts. There is a new behaviour policy and extra support for pupils who need it. Expectations are high and attendance has risen. Pupils behave well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders make sure that pupils can try new things including sports and musical instruments. Older pupils are articulate and thoughtful. They understand that others may have different beliefs or lifestyles. Pupils are kind and respectful. They are well prepared for secondary school and for life in modern Britain.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

From Nursery onwards, the curriculum sets the scene for the full range of subjects that pupils will learn later. Adults encourage the children in the nursery to experiment and to apply what they have learned. For example, they look at famous paintings of waterlilies before painting their own.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Knowledge is set out in a logical order in curriculum plans for every subject. Guidance is particularly detailed in English and mathematics. Teachers use the guidance to make sure that pupils can remember previous lessons and have time to practise new learning. Assessment is regular. Teachers check carefully in lessons to decide what to repeat to 7and 8 June 2023

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make sure that pupils have secured the knowledge they need before moving on. By the end of key stage 2, pupils usually achieve standards in line with national averages for English and mathematics. In 2022, pupils showed that they were particularly good at remembering their multiplication tables.

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Learning to read is a priority. A structured phonics programme begins in Reception. Teachers are well trained. They check carefully that pupils remember new sounds and identify pupils who are not keeping up. Leaders make sure that these pupils have extra help for as long as they need it. Teachers match reading books closely to the sounds pupils know. The programme includes writing practice to help pupils to improve their handwriting and spelling. During the inspection, pupils in Reception were writing short accurate sentences with well-formed letters.

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In other subjects, learning is organised under a big question such as ‘Is change a good thing?’ Subjects such as history and geography are used to develop pupils’ responses. Each subject has its own teaching plan. Pupils are interested in what they are learning so their learning is rarely disrupted by the behaviour of others. However, subject plans do not exemplify how these questions should be answered. Pupils learn and remember the facts, but have limited opportunity to combine and apply them to a subject-related problem.

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Teachers adapt lessons so that pupils with SEND can access the same ambitious curriculum as their classmates. On a rare occasion, teachers change the curriculum for a pupil with SEND. Leaders use the advice of external professionals when making these decisions. Even so, SEND paperwork does not always match the significance of the change.

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Pupils are confident and thoughtful when talking about lessons or about issues such as fairness and diversity. They enjoy reading a wide range of books. They enjoy clubs and activities such as the ‘Children’s Government’. Leaders want the school to be at the heart of its community so that pupils value their backgrounds and are ambitious for their futures.

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Trustees and governors are a strong team. They know the school well and provide extra support when needed. They use reviews to check everything is going well. Teachers and leaders appreciate consideration for workload and speak highly about their training.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The safeguarding team is knowledgeable. All staff are well trained. Adults know the signs that a pupil is at risk. They pass on any concerns quickly. Records are kept securely. They contain enough detail to inform work with other agencies. Leaders make sure pupils get the help they need, escalating concerns if needed. 7and 8 June 2023

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Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. They learn to use the internet safely. They understand that name-calling is not nice. They appreciate the higher fencing around the school.

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All new staff are checked to make sure they are suitable. Trustees and governors review safeguarding systems regularly.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have developed curriculum plans for the foundation subjects which set out the different types of knowledge pupils need to learn, step by step. They have not yet provided explicit guidance for teachers about how to use this knowledge to pose challenging questions in each subject. As a result, pupils do not have enough opportunities to combine and apply what they have learned from different strands of content. Leaders should consider how to build on existing curriculum plans so that teachers have guidance which helps them to understand the distinct nature of learning in each foundation subject.  Documentation underpinning decision-making about SEND provision is inconsistent. Pupils on the SEND register are helped to learn the same curriculum as their peers through tailored adaptation of resources and approaches. On rare occasions, adaptations are significant without evidence of formal assessment and co-production of

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

a plan. Leaders should ensure that they develop and embed rigorous processes for identification and assessment so that all pupils get the right help and support.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Brooklands Primary School, to be good in July 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 7and 8 June 2023

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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. 7and 8 June 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10269140 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.brooklands.derbyshire.sch.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Brooklands Primary School converted to become an academy in July 2019. It joined Flying High Trust. When the predecessor school, Brooklands Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school does not use the services of any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school has received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in her evaluation.  The inspector had various meetings with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. She spoke with the leader of the early years provision and with the trust-led SEND team.  The inspector met with the chief executive officer of the trust, the chair of the trust and two members of the local governing body.  The inspector conducted deep dives in mathematics, early reading and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector spoke with curriculum leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and 7and 8 June 2023

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looked at a sample of pupils’ work. For early reading, the inspector listened to some pupils read.  In order to inspect safeguarding, the inspector checked the single central record and a sample of staff recruitment. Checks were made on staff safeguarding training and on staff knowledge of the school’s safeguarding procedures. The inspector sampled pupils’ safeguarding and safety records.  The inspector took account of the responses to Ofsted’s Parent View questionnaire, a questionnaire for staff and one for pupils.

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Inspection team

Jo Ward, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 7and 8 June 2023

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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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