John Bramston Primary School

Inspection of a good school: John Bramston Primary School Newcastle Avenue, New North Road, Hainault, Essex IG6 3EE

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 September 2023

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Outcome

John Bramston Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have created a strong sense of community at this school. Pupils, and their parents and carers, receive a warm welcome each day from a staff team that knows them well. Pupils, in turn, are polite and courteous. They know that staff care about them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe. They said that they always have someone they can talk to at school. Staff demonstrate and encourage pupils to display the school’s core values. These include, for example, being responsible, showing respect and being resilient. Pupils listen to each other and enjoy playing together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils. In lessons, pupils are attentive and eager to learn. They work hard and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take full advantage of what the school offers. They appreciate the range of clubs that are on offer to them, such as karate, cooking and ‘curiosity club’. Pupils enjoy taking on more responsibility as they get older. They value becoming eco-rangers, peer monitors and well-being ambassadors, for example. Pupils said that these roles make them feel proud and help them to improve their school.

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

Leaders have designed a broad and balanced curriculum. Across all subjects, they have thought carefully about the knowledge and skills that pupils should learn and remember. The curriculum clearly sets out the order of learning, from the early years to Year 6. Leaders have considered how knowledge and skills link together. This helps pupils to build on earlier learning as they progress through the school. Pupils have opportunities to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. For instance, in the Nursery class, children begin to learn the words associated with number through early counting activities. They enjoy singing number songs while stretching and moving. 26 and 27 September 2023

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The school makes sure that staff have secure subject knowledge and the resources they need in order to teach well. Important subject content is regularly reviewed to help ensure that pupils remember it in the long term. That said, in some curriculum areas, pupils have gaps in their knowledge. This is the case in subjects where pupils have a long period of time between their lessons and few opportunities to recap previous learning. This hinders pupils from building a secure body of knowledge.

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The school prioritises the teaching of reading. Staff are well trained and teach phonics consistently well. This starts in the early years, where children learn about the sounds letters make, explore vocabulary and listen to stories and rhymes. Pupils in Reception and Year 1 read books which are matched to the sounds they have been learning. Pupils who find reading more difficult get additional support. This quickly enables them to become confident and fluent readers. Older pupils enjoy reading the diverse range of texts available in the well-stocked, attractive reading areas.

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The school is skilled at identifying pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff ensure that these pupils receive the help that they need to learn and are included in all aspects of school life. The school works closely with parents, such as when setting and reviewing individual pupils’ targets.

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Pupils are rarely distracted in lessons. They have positive attitudes to learning. The school is aware of where attendance needs to be better and has a clear strategy to support pupils who do not come to school as regularly as they should.

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The school teaches pupils about differences between people, including with regard to various traditions, religions and beliefs in society. The celebration of diversity is an important part of pupils’ daily experiences. Pupils are encouraged to develop a strong sense of justice and to understand that everyone should be treated equally. They are taught the importance of values such as democracy and liberty. For example, pupils spoke enthusiastically about many of the articles contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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Leaders consider staff’s workload and well-being when making decisions. Morale is high and staff are proud to work at this school. The governing body makes regular checks on the school’s effectiveness. As a result, governors have a full picture of what is happening and a clear vision for the future of the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 26 and 27 September 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, pupils struggle to recall essential knowledge or skills that they have previously been taught. This is because, in some subjects, there are long gaps between pupils revisiting their prior learning. The school should ensure that pupils have sufficient opportunities to recall and revisit prior learning.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2013.

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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.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 26 and 27 September 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.johnbramston.redbridge.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other school leaders.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited lessons, looked at samples of pupils’ work and spoke with teachers and pupils. For the reading deep dive, he listened to pupils read to a familiar adult. The inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects. 26 and 27 September 2023

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 The inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body. He also spoke to a representative of the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school.  The inspector spoke with some parents at the school gate and considered parents’ responses to the Ofsted survey, Ofsted Parent View.  The inspector met with a range of staff and pupils during the inspection. He considered their responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Chris Birtles, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 26 and 27 September 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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