Broxbourne CofE Primary School

Inspection of Broxbourne CofE Primary School Mill Lane, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire EN10 7AY

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Inspection dates: 15 and 16 November 2023

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding at its previous inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has not been inspected under section 5 of the Act since January 2012. 15 and 16 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has ambitious aims to prepare pupils for long-term success. Consequently, high-quality learning experiences are made a priority for all pupils in the school. Pupils love to come to school and engage fully with lessons and the wider opportunities on offer. As a result, they achieve highly and excel as individuals. There are high aspirations for all pupils, regardless of their starting point or needs. They receive exceptional levels of care and support. As a result, pupils have equal access to a first-class experience that helps them to succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The reliable routines pupils follow from the early years support them to feel confident. They appreciate the guidance adults provide and learning about the important knowledge they need to keep themselves safe. Pupils are happy, highly resilient and willing to take on challenges in lessons. They show high levels of respect and demonstrate impressive levels of empathy for others. This is seen in the impeccable way pupils conduct themselves in lessons and at playtimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are prepared excellently for their future learning. They develop academic ambition and the personal and social skills they need to thrive in the future. They leave school empowered to positively impact their world.

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better?

Leaders at all levels in the school share a vision for excellence. Through their daily work, leaders, staff and governors champion the value of inclusivity. This ensures that the school provides for every individual equally well. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve highly.

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better?

The school has devised a detailed and ambitious curriculum. Plans are demanding and expect pupils to gain a broad range of knowledge. From the start of the early years, the goals of the curriculum go beyond the expected. At every stage, pupils have the chance to apply their growing knowledge in relevant, real-life contexts.

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better?

Starting in Nursery, children learn new concepts in a logical and structured way. Children explore and learn early mathematics independently, through a meaningful range of tasks. This approach builds a strong foundation for future learning. Pupil knowledge progresses in well-defined steps, year by year. The quality of learning in lessons is impressive. This is because teachers have very secure knowledge of the subjects they teach. As a consequence, pupils gain an excellent understanding and a wide vocabulary. Pupils have the confidence to expressively share their thoughts and ideas.

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better?

The school’s approach to developing staff expertise is notable. This is true in the teaching of phonics and early reading. Staff use proven approaches to help pupils learn. Pupils rapidly gain the phonics knowledge and confidence to read words and sentences. Staff check that pupils remember what they know. If needed, staff provide helpful, high-quality support to help pupils keep up. Pupils practise reading 15 and 16 November 2023

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using books that align with their stage of reading. The matched books support pupils to build fluency and confidence. As pupils move through the school, books continue to be a cherished feature of both learning and life.

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Teachers use routine assessment in all subjects to check whether pupils remember. Teachers respond by shaping lessons to provide extra rehearsal and practice, if useful. This means pupils recall with ease the ‘sticky’ knowledge needed for future learning. Staff know pupils with SEND very well. They strive to make appropriate adaptations to help these pupils get the most out of each lesson. Precise support also helps pupils facing other social and emotional barriers to learning.

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The school’s dedication to pupils’ wider development is exceptional. Pupils access a well-designed range of quality extra-curricular opportunities. As well as clubs and trips, pupils benefit significantly from expert visitors. Pupils explore the world with the help of poets, authors and professional musicians. This contributes well towards pupils’ own goals and aspirations.

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Leaders’ engagement with parents is a strength. An established forum identifies priorities for equality, diversity and inclusion in the school. This work supports meaningful discussion and impacts positively on pupils’ learning and experience. This includes exposure to a broader diversity of books and their key characters. This exciting work is already inspiring practice in other schools in the region. Staff also have the secure knowledge to connect lesson content to these key issues. In response, pupils are reflective about cultural differences. They are free to celebrate their individualities with their peers. This contributes to the excellent conduct seen around the school.

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Governors consider the well-being and workload of staff and hold leaders to account. Governors have a secure understanding of their roles. They conduct visits to school and track school development priorities with skill. Leaders enable staff to focus their time on delivering exceptional provision for pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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. 15 and 16 November 2023

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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). 15 and 16 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 January 2012, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There has been a change in headteacher since the previous inspection.  The school is a Church of England school in the Diocese of St Albans. As a school designated as having a religious character, it was subject to a separate section 48 inspection in January 2017 and was judged to be Outstanding. The next section 48 inspection is due to take place within approximately eight years.  The school provides term-time before- and after-school wraparound childcare for pupils in the school.  The school does not currently make use of alternative provision.

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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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 15 and 16 November 2023

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and a range of other staff to explore provision across the school, including curriculum design and provision for children with specific needs, including SEND.  The lead inspector met with five governors, including the chair of governors. A separate discussion was held with a school improvement partner from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in four areas of learning: early reading, science, modern foreign languages and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with curriculum leaders, looked at curriculum documentation, visited lessons, spoke with teachers and staff, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at

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samples of their work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: 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.  Inspectors also spoke with children about their experiences of school life and their learning in lessons to understand what it is like to be a child in this school. Inspectors reviewed 164 responses to the Ofsted pupil survey and observed the behaviour of children in classrooms and around the school site.  Inspectors considered 120 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, including 112 parents’ free-text comments. Inspectors also considered 26 responses to Ofsted’s survey for school staff.

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Inspection team

Kristian Hewitt, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Lawrence Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 November 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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