Brooklands Primary School

Inspection of Brooklands Primary School Medebourne Close, Casterbridge Road, London SE3 9AB

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 January 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Good

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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

The co-heads of school of this school are Emily McGrath and Sarah Armstrong. This school is part of the Maritime Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Nick Osborne, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Tiffany Beck. There is also an executive headteacher, Joanne Wilkinson-Tabi, who is responsible for this school and two others.

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Overall effectiveness Good

Ofsted has not previously inspected Brooklands Primary School under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. However, Ofsted previously judged Brooklands Primary School to be outstanding before it opened as an academy.

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Overall effectiveness Good

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 May 2012. 24 and 25 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Brooklands Primary is a warm and welcoming school. Pupils, staff and families are proud to be a part of this school community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have taken effective steps to ensure that their ambitious aims for the curriculum, including in early reading, are realised in practice. Staff understand and implement this vision well. They know how to support pupils gain and remember knowledge, and this means that pupils achieve well. Nevertheless, some aspects of the school’s work to promote pupils’ achievements are not fully embedded. This means that, sometimes, pupils are not learning knowledge as deeply as leaders intend.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and are kept safe. They are taught how to keep safe online. They trust adults to deal with any issues, such as bullying. Pupils know that staff are there to help them if they have any worries. Pupils play happily together at social times. Older pupils care for younger pupils by being their buddy and supporting them during playtimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the range of experiences beyond the academic curriculum, such as educational visits and extra-curricular clubs. Pupils have the opportunity to be part of the pupil parliament or to become one of the school’s eco-warriors.

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better?

The leadership and management at this school are exceptional. At all levels, there is a tangible commitment to supporting the Brooklands community as well as ensuring that pupils achieve highly. The trust board and local academy committee know the school well. They provide a highly effective balance of support and challenge. Decisive and reflective action is taken in the best interests of the pupils. The professional development of all staff is prioritised and thoughtfully planned out, with a focus on strengthening their expertise in teaching the curriculum. Staff feel very well supported and that their workload and well-being is taken into account.

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better?

The school’s curriculum is ambitious. Starting from the early years, curriculum thinking clearly sets out the precise skills and knowledge that pupils need to learn. The key vocabulary that pupils need to remember in each subject has also been carefully mapped out. The in-depth curriculum thinking supports teachers’ subject knowledge very well. However, some of this curriculum is new. This means that it has not yet had time to be fully embedded and, in turn, have an impact on some of pupils’ outcomes, including in statutory assessments. As a result, while pupils learn and recall important knowledge in a subject, there are times when their understanding is not as secure and detailed as leaders expect. Leaders and staff are working at pace, in collaboration with other trust schools and with support from trust leaders. Effective approaches are being put in place to support pupils’ learning and enable them to develop a deep body of knowledge across the curriculum. For

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example, teaching provides pupils with carefully selected opportunities to recap and recall their prior learning. Regular checks on what pupils know and can remember are used to ensure that they do not develop gaps in understanding.

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Pupils with SEND are fully included in all aspects of school life. Any additional needs are quickly identified and support is put in place. Staff training ensures effective adaptations in lessons so that pupils with SEND learn well alongside their peers.

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The school prioritises reading. A sharp focus and investment in staff training has resulted in a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics. Daily phonics lessons teach pupils the sounds that letters make in a systematic manner. Pupils have lots of opportunities to practise using these sounds to read words. Pupils that are falling behind have extra phonics lessons and support. This ensures that they catch up swiftly. The books that pupils read are closely matched to the sounds that they know. This helps them to become confident and fluent readers. The focus on reading continues as pupils get older. A well-thought-through whole-school approach to reading ensures that pupils continue to develop their reading fluency and understanding of what they read. A love for reading is promoted through the daily ‘collective cuddle’, where pupils are immersed in a story. Author visits and book fairs help to get pupils enthused about reading. Pupils also have reading buddies and a

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whole-school ‘reading champion’ initiative encourages reading at home.

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Children in the early years get a positive start. The environment is engaging, with clear routines and expectations from the start. This helps to prepare children for their learning from Year 1 onwards.

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Pupils enjoy school. They are polite and respectful. In lessons, pupils are focused on their learning. They respond promptly to adult instructions and commands. Any low- level disruption that does occur is swiftly dealt with, so that it does not disrupt pupils’ learning. There are clear procedures in place to monitor and track pupils’ attendance. The school supports families well to overcome any barriers to their children attending school.

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The provision for pupils’ personal development is broad and has been well considered. The school’s core values of curiosity, resilience, excellence, aspiration, togetherness and empathy are used to guide pupils and prepare them for their future. Pupils are taught that everyone has the right to be treated with respect and that not all families are the same.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 24 and 25 January 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some aspects of the curriculum are new and not fully embedded. Although staff understand and implement the school’s curriculum well, there are a few aspects that need to be embedded further so that pupils’ learning deepens as leaders intend and pupils remember detailed knowledge in the long term. The trust and the school need to continue supporting leaders and staff to fully embed the school’s curriculum so that it has the intended impact on pupils’ learning.

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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 ’ 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). 24 and 25 January 2024

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School details

Headteacher Joanne Wilkinson-Tabi (Executive headteacher) Emily McGrath and Sarah Armstrong (Co- heads of school) Website www.brooklandsschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Maritime Academy Trust.  The school does not make use of any 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.  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.  The inspectors met with the executive headteacher, the heads of school and other leaders. Inspectors also met with the chair of trustees, the chief executive officer, 24 and 25 January 2024

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the deputy chief executive officer and two other trustees, as well as the chair and vice chair of the local academy committee.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and religious education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also reviewed the curriculum in some other subjects.  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.  The inspectors also considered the staff and parents’ responses to Ofsted’s surveys.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in the playground and at lunchtime.

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Inspection team

Julie Wright, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Emma O’Connor Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 January 2024

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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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