Brookwood Primary School

Inspection of Brookwood Primary School Connaught Road, Brookwood, Woking, Surrey GU24 0HF

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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 Good Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Wendy Thomas . This school is part of Bourne Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Alex Russell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Andrew Field, who is responsible for this school and 21 others. 23 and 24 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Brookwood Primary School’s HEART values of ‘Happiness, Enthusiasm, Aspiration, Respect, and Togetherness’ pulse through this school. They are important to everyone. As a result, this is a warm, positive and inclusive school. Where staff know pupils and their families well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work and play, harmoniously. They behave very well and enjoy positive relationships with each other. Pupils hold a clear sense of right and wrong. Many pupils join at different points of the school year. Whenever they join, each new pupil gets the help that they need to settle in swiftly. New pupils adjust well, as they quickly learn the school’s behaviour routines that help everyone learn well. The school provides learning and wider opportunities that pupils enjoy and benefit from. Pupils achieve well and are suitably prepared for the future. They say they are encouraged to be respectful, and they are.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school that works hard to meet the needs of all pupils, no matter what their background or situation. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are given the knowledge and tools that they need to access the full curriculum. Staff know these pupils very well and inspire them to be successful.

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better?

The expertise and experience available in the trust have supported the school in designing an ambitious and well-designed curriculum. It builds pupils’ knowledge well from the early years to Year 6. The curriculum identifies what pupils should know in each subject and leaders have made sure that content choice is logically sequenced. Leaders have thought very carefully about the mixed-age class and have successfully developed the curriculum so that pupils do not unnecessarily repeat the same content.

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better?

Teachers have sound subject knowledge. In some subjects, however, the activities that teachers design are not considered well enough. This means that pupils sometimes do not build the knowledge or skills that they need well enough. Teachers use assessment correctly to understand what pupils know. For example, teachers check how much pupils remember at the start of every mathematics and phonics lessons. This enables teachers to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge. However, this is not the case in all subjects. In some foundation subjects, teachers do not check what pupils remember accurately enough. This means that pupils may develop misconceptions, which makes it harder for them to learn new things.

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better?

Pupils with SEND are fully involved in all aspects of school life. The school identifies the additional needs of these pupils well and provides effective support for them, including in the early years. Reading is a priority. Leaders introduced a new phonics programme recently. All staff received training and have secured the expertise that they need to teach early reading well. Books are matched to the sounds pupils are 23 and 24 April 2024

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learning. Staff use assessment to identify pupils who need extra support. This helps pupils become confident and fluent readers.

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Staff manage pupils’ behaviour consistently well. As a result, learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. The school is working hard to improve pupils’ attendance. For example, leaders have implemented a range of initiatives, taking every opportunity to remind families about the importance of regular school attendance, but this is not fully understood by all and attendance for some pupils is far too low. These pupils miss valuable learning and fall behind.

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The school is committed to pupils’ personal development, as well as their academic success. It organises a range of opportunities so that pupils can explore existing interests, discover new ones, and take on responsibilities. Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils participate in these activities. Chess is particularly popular and every pupil learns to play.

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Younger children get off to a good start in their education when they start Reception. Children in early years are happy. Staff and children form positive relationships. They help children to manage their feelings and emotions and begin to take care of themselves. Staff make sure that children learn to communicate with each other and use a wide range of vocabulary in their speech. Leaders have created a curriculum that identifies what children should know by the end of Reception. However, this needs further refinement to ensure that all planned activities support children to learn more over time.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about their experience of working at the school and they share the vision of the school. Governors and trustees have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas that they need to develop.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The work that teachers sometimes give to pupils does not match the intended curriculum. This means that pupils do not get to practise the small steps of knowledge or skills as well as they need to. The school should continue to train and develop teachers’ subject knowledge so that they can make informed choices about the tasks given to pupils.  In some foundation subjects, opportunities for checking what pupils know and can do are sometimes missed. This means that pupils’ misconceptions are not always rectified both at the point of learning and after. The school should ensure that teachers are supported to check pupils’ understanding systematically in 23 and 24 April 2024

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lessons and use this information to quickly address misconceptions or gaps in pupils’ knowledge.  The attendance of some pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged, is too low. This means that some pupils are missing too much of their education. Leaders should ensure that they strengthen their work with parents and carers so that that pupils’ attendance improves.

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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 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). 23 and 24 April 2024

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CEO of the trust

Date of previous inspection 15 October 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is part of Bourne Education Trust.  This school currently uses one registered and one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. 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. 23 and 24 April 2024

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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 lead inspector held meetings with local governing committee, and with a trustee. She held a separate meeting with the CEO.  Inspectors took account of the views of parents through their responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, and parents’ free-text comments. Inspectors also talked with parents on the morning of the first day of the inspection.  Inspectors gathered pupils’ views through meetings, visits to lessons and discussions at other times of the school day.  Inspectors took account of staff’s views during meetings with them and through their responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey.

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Inspection team

Ginny Rhodes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Kirstine Boon Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 April 2024

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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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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