Brookfield Park Primary School

Brookfield Park Primary School

Address: School Lane, Chapel House, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 8EH Unique reference number (URN): 134603

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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This school requires special measures

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders have established a well-thought-out curriculum in the early years. They ensure that staff know what children should learn. Staff make close links with parents and carers to support children’s wellbeing and learning.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff know how well children are progressing academically, socially and emotionally. This is because teachers design activities carefully, talk to children and check what they are learning. Staff model the use of important words. They interact with children deliberately during activities. This develops children’s communication skills. Staff help children to hold a pencil and form letters correctly. Staff also teach phonics consistently well, so that children learn how to read. Children enjoy listening to exciting stories. They learn how to recognise numbers and how to count. They have the opportunity to practise new learning, such as writing stories and creating a bug house.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities so that barriers to learning are reduced. These children progress well through the curriculum. Teachers make sure that children develop friendships as they learn to take turns and share resources. Children feel safe and happy because of the routines that staff have put in place.

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Early years Expected standard

Overall, children learn well across all areas of learning. As a result, they are ready for learning in Year 1.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have provided training to staff, which helps them support pupils’ wellbeing. Staff support pupils who feel unhappy or worried. Pupils know they can speak to someone if they need help. Parents, carers and pupils value the pastoral support that the school offers. Pupils have been helped to manage their anger and anxiety.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have developed a well-thought-out programme to support pupils’ personal development. This programme is taught regularly by staff. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep healthy and safe. They know how to keep safe online. Pupils understand the changes that happen to their bodies as they get older.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils understand fundamental British values, such as tolerance, and speak of respect and fairness. They understand democracy and equality. Pupils see this in action as they vote for their school 'Member of Parliament' to make decisions on their behalf.

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Needs attention

Pupils understand that they live in a multi-cultural country, but they are less aware of religions other than Christianity.

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Needs attention

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, enjoy the special jobs they have in school. Year 6 pupils value the buddy roles they have with children in the Reception Year. Here, they share books and help the youngest children settle into school life.

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Needs attention

Pupils learn about careers and have hopes for the future. They attend workshops at a local university to help build their aspirations. Pupils enjoy the wider opportunities that after- school clubs offer. These include sports, drama, art and support for homework. Pupils visit concert halls to hear a professional orchestra. They also visit the zoo to learn about animals that are endangered. These opportunities help them to pursue and broaden their interests.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have not acted swiftly enough to ensure that pupils attend school as often as they should. Their systems to monitor pupils’ absence are not wholly successful. When leaders provide the necessary support to help some pupils attend school more regularly, there is a positive impact. However, this does not make enough difference to all pupils. As a result, pupils’ attendance rates, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, are consistently below the national average. There are many pupils who remain persistently absent, so they miss out on learning.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Pupils behave well in class, when moving around the building and during social times. They warmly welcome visitors to school and show respect towards adults and to each other. Pupils follow the school rules. They say that bullying is rare. If it does happen, leaders deal with it swiftly.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have established quiet areas in all classrooms. These areas help pupils, including those with SEND, to manage their emotions and behaviour quickly. Staff have received training to support pupils to manage their emotions. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of pupils being suspended for poor behaviour.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders do not have high enough expectations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or disadvantaged pupils. These pupils are not supported to achieve as well as they should. Leaders’ processes to check how the extra support that is provided helps pupils to overcome barriers to learning and/or wellbeing are not consistently effective. Consequently, leaders are unable to fully measure the impact of their work.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Pupils with SEND are identified as they start school in the early years. Leaders engage with external agencies to put support in place for pupils. Individual plans identify what steps

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Urgent improvement

should be taken to help break down pupils’ barriers to learning. However, staff do not use this information well enough to meet the needs of these pupils.

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Urgent improvement

The school’s own resourced provision provides a safe and suitable learning environment for pupils with SEND who have multiple needs. This helps the pupils it serves to progress well from their starting points due to the well-considered curriculum and staff expertise in this provision.

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Urgent improvement

Mostly, leaders help pupils who are known to social care by successfully using additional funding to overcome barriers to wellbeing. They also use this funding to develop pupils' vocabulary and communication.

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Achievement Urgent improvement

The published data for national tests and assessments indicates that Year 6 pupils attain as well as other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. However, this masks the weaknesses in what pupils across the school know and can do. Pupils do not achieve well. Overall, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, do not make the progress that they should through the curriculum. They do not learn what they should in a wide range of subjects. They are ill- prepared for their learning in some subjects, such as science, history and music, when they enter Year 7.

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Achievement Urgent improvement

Pupils do not secure reading, spelling and writing skills early enough. They struggle to gain phonics knowledge. Often, they read books that are not matched to their reading ability. Pupils do not master a consistent handwriting style. They also do not secure their knowledge of multiplication tables. These weaknesses hinder pupils' progress and achievement in the wider curriculum.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders do not have enough oversight of the curriculum or the way in which it is taught. They do not ensure that teachers know what they should be teaching and when this should happen. As a result, teachers do not teach the full breadth of the national curriculum. Some subjects, other than English and mathematics, receive scant attention during the course of a week, term or academic year.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Teachers' expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. They do not check pupils’ learning. They fail to spot and address pupils' errors and misconceptions. Teachers do not make sure that pupils gain a secure grasp of the basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics to be successful. Although teachers are aware of pupils’ barriers to learning, they do not adapt their teaching effectively to ensure that pupils learn well.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders have not ensured that pupils have enough time over the week to learn. They have put in place a shorter school day, which does not meet the Department for Education’s recommendations.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders have put in place a well-designed curriculum for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities who access the school’s own resourced provision. In this part of the school, teachers are more skilled at adapting activities to meet the needs of these pupils.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have not prioritised the right issues or taken timely action to improve teaching and pupils’ achievement across the school. They do not have oversight of curriculum delivery. Leaders are not aware that the curriculum is narrowed and that some subjects are not taught fully. Their actions to improve pupils’ attendance, especially the attendance rates of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are not fully effective.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders' decision-making lacks urgency and sometimes does not follow national or local authority guidance. For example, leaders have shortened the school day and not ensured that part-time timetables are agreed by all of those who should be involved. This impacts negatively on pupils' learning and wider experiences.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have not tackled the weaknesses at the school quickly enough. They have made recent improvements in the early years and put in place extra help for pupils with SEND in the school’s own resourced provision. However, leaders do not have the capacity to secure the necessary improvements in the school.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Governance is weak. Governors do not check the quality of the school’s work or hold leaders to account for the impact of their actions. Governors do know how additional funding is used. However, they do not know how effective this has been to support disadvantaged pupils to overcome barriers to their learning or wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders consider the wellbeing and workload of staff. However, they have not ensured that staff training supports the teaching of a broad and balanced curriculum.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders and staff have formed positive relationships with parents and carers.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Although pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is typically in line with the national average by the end of Year 6, they do not achieve as well as they should across the whole curriculum. They do not learn everything they should know. The curriculum in many subjects is not taught well or not taught at all. This is because time is wasted and pupils do not spend enough time in school each week.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged, are not well prepared for the next stage in their education. Pupils’ barriers to learning are identified but are not met well enough. Pupils have large gaps in their knowledge. They do not remember important facts. Pupils are not helped to write legibly or to spell accurately. Pupils do not know their multiplication tables as well as they should. Reading books are often too hard for those who are starting to learn to read. Pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged do not attend school as regularly as they should.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils like school and they feel safe. They make good friends and play well together in the adventure or school playgrounds. Staff help them when they are sad or anxious. Leaders deal with any bullying quickly, and this helps pupils to enjoy learning and social times. Some pupils have been trained as peer mentors. They look after others who might be upset or want to play a new game. Pupils are keen to take responsibility as leaders. They show care for one another and are extremely polite to visitors. Pupils want to learn and have positive attitudes to learning. They follow the school rules and generally behave well. They show tolerance for others and develop a secure understanding of what it means to be different.

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Next steps

Those responsible for governance must ensure that there is sufficient capacity within leadership so that the weaknesses in provision are resolved effectively and swiftly. Leaders should ensure that they check the impact of their work to improve the school, including their oversight of curriculum delivery and the impact of the additional support that some pupils who face barriers to learning receive. Leaders and governors must urgently review the curriculum that pupils currently receive. They must ensure that pupils receive the minimum 32.5 hours of education each week, as directed by the Department for Education. They must ensure that teachers deliver the curriculum as intended so that pupils have their entitlement to a broad and balanced education that enables them to achieve well. Those with responsibility for governance must carry out their statutory duties and have oversight over the way leaders fulfil their role, including the use of part-time timetables for

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Next steps

some pupils. Leaders must ensure that staff have consistently high expectations of all pupils. Staff should use the information that they hold to adapt their teaching so that pupils who face barriers to learning and/or wellbeing succeed and thrive. Leaders must ensure that teachers build on children’s success in the early years, so that all pupils secure the basic skills of handwriting, number and early reading to be successful. Leaders should ensure that teachers are equipped to identify and then address misconceptions and errors in pupils’ work. Leaders should strengthen the procedures to monitor pupils’ absence from school and use this information to help pupils and their families to attend school more regularly.

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About this inspection

The chair of governors at this school is Nic Dilworth.

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Team inspectors:

Sharon Cowey, Ofsted Inspector Gary Anders, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place. Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other leaders and staff. They also held discussions with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The inspectors spoke with a representative of the local authority and the school improvement partner.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvements.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The school may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspections we carry out.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The school runs its own unit for pupils with multiple special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. The governing body currently has vacancies. The chair of the governing body has recently taken on this role.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The school is situated on a shared site with a special school for primary-aged children.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

Headteacher: Sarah-Jane Whiteside This data is from 6 May 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2022/23 (final) 55% 60% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (final) 81% 75% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 78% 74% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 68% 73% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 76% 72% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 73% 71% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 67% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 44% 44% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 71% 63% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2022/23 (final) 67% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 50% 59% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 56% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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