Braiswick Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Braiswick Primary School Apprentice Drive, New Braiswick Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 5QJ

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Outcome

Braiswick Primary School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Claire Russell. The school is part of the Learning Pathways Academy, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Andrew Smith, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Darren Cross.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school. The nurturing environment means they are safe and ready to learn. Pupils know that staff are always available to help them if they have any concerns. This supports them to feel, and stay, safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils reflect these in their kind and respectful attitudes, both in lessons and around school. Pupils demonstrate the school’s rules of ‘be kind, be safe, be responsible’ throughout the day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know staff have high ambitions for what they should learn. Most pupils achieve well in mathematics and reading. Pupils are calm and settled, so their learning is not disrupted. They find lessons interesting. This is because the school has given care and attention to the curriculum and how it is taught.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a carefully designed programme of personal development. They enjoy the different clubs on offer, such as sports, choir and gardening. These help pupils to learn new skills and develop their interests. Pupils celebrate and respect their diverse school community. For example, ‘Culture Day’ celebrates all the different languages spoken at the school and associated cultural elements, such as national dress.

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

The school has ensured that the curriculum sets out, in a logical order, the important knowledge and skills for pupils to learn. This sequence begins in the early years and builds progressively, year on year. This sets pupils up for success as they move through the school and beyond. However, in a few subjects, the frequency of teaching is not 2 and 3 July 2024

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regular enough. This means that some pupils struggle to remember and build on key facts and knowledge in these subjects.

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The number of pupils who leave and join the school during the academic year is above average. Many of the pupils who join the school speak English as an additional language. Leaders and teachers noticed these pupils needed more support to become confident readers and writers. As a result, the school has finely tuned its approach and systems for the teaching of early reading and writing skills. For example, in the early years, teachers focus on important language skills. Consequently, children learn the sounds that letters make and how to write them correctly. Staff check that children know the meanings of new words.

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Children begin learning to read as soon as they join the Reception Year. Staff are well trained in teaching early reading. They carefully check pupils’ understanding and ensure that pupils’ reading books match the sounds they know. The school provides swift and effective additional support for pupils who need to catch up. Pupils quickly become confident readers. Teachers build on this success by steadily introducing pupils to more complex and varied literature as they move through the school. For example, Year 6 pupils passionately justified their favourite characters from a Shakespeare tragedy.

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The school carefully identifies how the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) can be met. Staff work with parents, carers and external professionals to create bespoke pupil plans. Where appropriate, staff make subtle adaptations to lessons, such as providing additional resources in mathematics, so that pupils with SEND achieve well.

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Pupils’ behaviour is a strength of the school. Leaders and staff consistently apply rules and routines. They have created a learning environment that encourages pupils to explore and take calculated risks. For example, at lunchtimes, pupils from across the school kindly support one another in building dens, playing in the mud kitchen, composing dance routines and helping each other to negotiate a ‘balance barrel course’. The school takes effective action to ensure pupils attend school frequently.

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The school has ensured that pupils’ personal development is promoted well. This includes effective support for pupils’ mental health. Subject teaching, assemblies and visitors provide opportunities for pupils to learn about diversity and equality. Elections to the school council and eco-council firm their understanding of democracy. Pupils embrace and respect difference.

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Governors and trustees hold leaders to account effectively for school improvement. Trust leaders provide effective training for staff. This shares and grows expertise and ensures staff are well supported to perform their roles well. Leaders’ decisions take teachers’ workload into account. This promotes their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 2 and 3 July 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, the frequency of teaching is not regular enough. This means that some pupils struggle to remember and build on key facts and knowledge in these few subjects. The school should ensure that the organisation of the frequency of curriculum delivery in these few subjects enables pupils to secure key concepts in their long-term memory and build on their 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2018.

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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). 2 and 3 July 2024

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CEO of the trust

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 July 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school runs ‘The Grow’, alternative provision on the school site.  The school uses the services of one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

 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 their evaluation of the school.  Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  The inspector spoke with the chair of the trust, the chief executive officer, members of the local governing body, the headteacher, subject leaders and a variety of staff.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and 2 and 3 July 2024

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looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  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 reviewed a range of documents, including local governing body meeting minutes, the school’s self-evaluation document, the school’s development plan, records relating to behaviour and attendance and the school’s equalities plan.  The inspector spoke with parents about their children’s experiences of the school and considered 104 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including 73 free-text responses. The inspector also considered 43 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and 33 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Stephen Cloke, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 2 and 3 July 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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