a school not in a category of concern of Brownhill School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Narda Sestanovic Interim headteacher Brownhill School Heights Lane Rochdale Lancashire OL12 0PZ

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School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 5 November 2024, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school, and to parents and carers, any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders, staff and a representative of the local authority the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also talked with pupils and scrutinised documentation, including that relating to safeguarding and the curriculum. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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School

Leaders have made insufficient progress to improve the school.

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School

The school should take further action to:

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School

 provide suitable training and support for leaders and staff to enable them to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively  finalise its curriculum design so that teachers are clear about the important knowledge and skills that pupils should learn across different subject areas  devise an approach to assessment that enables teachers to check that pupils have learned key knowledge, so that they can identify and address any gaps and misconceptions before pupils move on to new learning.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced significant turbulence in leadership. A new headteacher was in post at the previous inspection. This headteacher resigned during the summer term 2024. You were appointed as the interim headteacher in June 2024. Since you have been in post, you have started to make the changes necessary to improve the school. However, at the same time, the local authority is in the process of defederating this special school from its pupil referral unit. This work is not complete. The defederation process has put some obstacles in the way of your plans.

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Main findings

You have identified that the curriculum in place is not suitable for your pupils. As part of the defederation process, some of the school’s curriculum subject leaders have moved to the pupil referral unit. Many of the leaders and staff who remain at the school are not subject specialists. You have started work on developing a curriculum that meets the needs of your pupils. For instance, you have adopted a published mathematics scheme that provides guidance to support its implementation by non-specialist teachers. Nevertheless, the curriculum design in most subjects is far from finalised. This work is key if the school is to improve the quality of education that pupils receive and the outcomes that they achieve.

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Main findings

Since September 2024, you have broadened the curriculum offer in Year 10 and Year 11. The curriculum now includes a wider range of vocational subjects, including construction. It is too early to evaluate the impact of this work. Nevertheless, offering these vocational subjects in-house is reducing the numbers of pupils requiring alternative provision.

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Main findings

Across school, most staff check on pupils’ learning during lessons. However, you recognise that the current formal assessment systems do not give staff the information that they need to ascertain how securely pupils are learning the curriculum. As a result, too many pupils still have gaps in their knowledge that have been missed. To address this, you have identified a new approach to assessment that you intend to roll out soon. This should help you to establish pupils’ starting points when they join the school and measure their progress as they move through the curriculum.

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Main findings

Recently, you have introduced a new phonics programme in the primary phase. You have ensured that primary staff have had the training to deliver this programme as intended. You have also purchased decodable books so that pupils can practise their reading with books that match the sounds that they know. In key stages 3 and 4, staff have identified weaknesses in the catch-up programme for those older pupils who are struggling readers. This hinders how well these pupils can access learning across the curriculum. To remedy these weaknesses, staff have started to put changes in place, but it is early days. Across the school, staff are beginning to promote a love of reading with pupils. For instance, they have introduced book areas in each classroom. This work is in its infancy, so it is too early to evaluate its impact.

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Main findings

The long-standing chair and vice-chair of governors stood down following the previous inspection. Since then, the governing body has struggled to fill these vacancies. Added to this, there have been a number of changes in the membership of the governing body over the past 12 months. During this time, the governing body has failed to fulfil its strategic functions. The local authority is taking action to address this now. However, this has further impeded the pace of improvement.

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Main findings

Improving pupils’ attendance, particularly at key stage 4, continues to be a challenge. This term, low rates of attendance are being further exacerbated by some pupils who, prior to joining the school in key stage 4, have been out of education for some time. These pupils are being supported to integrate into this school, but this is taking time. Nonetheless, you have reduced the number of pupils on part-time timetables. Added to this, your staff are following up on pupil absences promptly. They are working closely with parents and other agencies to support pupils to overcome any barriers to school attendance.

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Main findings

The school has reached out to some local mainstream and special schools, and a multi- academy trust for support. The local authority has now brokered a comprehensive support package from a local special school to support leaders to make the urgent improvements needed.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the interim chair of the board of governors, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Rochdale. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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