Schools & FE · Report card

Birches Green Primary School

Inspected 23 Jun 2026 · published 8 Sept 2026 · URN 150054

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Aliki Constantopoulou (lead), Debbie Newman, Harjit Chahal, Sara Wood

What we read, and from where

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Achievement verified
Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour verified
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching verified
Expected standard
Early years verified
Expected standard
Inclusion verified
Expected standard
Leadership and governance verified
Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing verified
Strong standard
Framework verified
Report card
Inspection datesingle source
23 Jun 2026
Inspectors verified
Aliki Constantopoulou, Debbie Newman, Harjit Chahal, Sara Wood
Postcode verified
B24 9SR
Name on report verified
Birches Green Primary School
Safeguarding verified
Met
URN verified
150054

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Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

AchievementExpected
Attendance and behaviourExpected
Curriculum and teachingExpected
Early yearsExpected
InclusionExpected
Leadership and governanceStrong
Personal development and wellbeingStrong

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+40Positivemore positive than 16% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praiseconsistentlyenjoyeffectivepositiveclearhappyfeel safestrength

Criticismnot alwayserrorsnot yetseriousnot high expectationsconcernsdisruptionpersistent absence

How the report reads, start to finish

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FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical

Findings1562w+31
Leadership260w+72
Safeguarding51w−11
What needs to improve150w+75

Strengths

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Concerns

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Next steps

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What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages: 16
Words of findings: 2,020; about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level: Hard; Flesch 49, typical 43
Average sentence: 20 words
Next steps: 4; typical 3
Hedged sentences: 11%; “some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 51%Leadership 9%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 5%About the inspection 33%

Full report text

Birches Green Primary School

Address: Birches Green Road, Erdington, Birmingham, B24 9SR Unique reference number (URN): 150054

p.1

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.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

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

p.1

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.

p.1

Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have brought together 2 schools with very different pasts, one that was doing well and one that had been judged to be failing, into a single school with a shared identity, higher ambitions for pupils and a much-improved culture. People who know the school agree about how far it has come. Governors, trustees and the chief executive have seen the change for themselves over time, and staff are overwhelmingly positive, agreeing that behaviour is well managed and that the school is well led.

p.2

Leadership and governance Strong standard

Governors and trustees know the school well and ask leaders the right questions. Between them, they bring a useful range of skills and experience. They keep a close eye on the things that matter most, and they are willing to learn when something goes wrong, improving how they do things afterwards. They trust leaders, but they also look out for them, keeping an eye on how much they are taking on. The trust gives the school well-judged support, stepping in closely when needed and standing back as the school has grown stronger.

p.2

Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders think carefully about staff workload and wellbeing. They have cut unnecessary marking, protected staff time and made a point of recognising people's efforts. Staff feel trusted and valued. Training and professional development are highly valued. Leaders are honest about what is going well and what still needs work, having spotted and acted on areas such as early reading. It is this clear-eyed understanding of their own school, alongside everything they have achieved in difficult circumstances, that makes leadership and governance a particular strength.

p.2

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school does more than offer pupils opportunities because it makes a real difference to them. A well-planned programme, based on how the brain works, gives pupils a shared way of talking about their feelings and helps them manage their own behaviour. Leaders check how well this is working, and far more pupils now have ways to calm themselves and cope when they are upset.

p.2

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils talk confidently and thoughtfully about healthy relationships, mental health, staying safe online, differences and the many kinds of families. They have a secure understanding of fundamental British values, built up through assemblies, culture days and visits to different places of worship as part of religious education. Pupils also take on real responsibilities, standing for election to the school council or as house captains and helping younger children as reading leaders. They see their ideas put into action, such as during the school's culture day. Visitors, including the police and a theatre group, further widen pupils' understanding of how to stay safe and treat others well. Relationships, sex and health education is suitable and kept under review, and parents and carers are consulted about it.

p.2

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Several clubs run throughout the week, and the school ensures they are open to everyone. Places are funded for pupils who need them, and some are offered directly to pupils who would benefit most so that cost or circumstance is never a barrier. Alongside sports, pupils take part in music, learning instruments and performing to audiences beyond school. Pupils value the trips and competitions on offer. Pastoral support is well organised, and the school

p.2

Expected standard

regularly asks pupils how they are feeling and acts on their responses, including when it raises a concern about a pupil's safety. The care leaders take to ensure that every pupil can fully participate, whatever their circumstances, is a real strength of the school.

p.3

Achievement Expected standard

Leaders have focused the curriculum and teaching on enabling all pupils to reach their potential, and achievement has improved markedly. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics rose substantially this year, narrowing the gap to other pupils nationally, and pupils achieve consistently well in the Year 4 multiplication tables check.

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Achievement Expected standard

The most recent phonics screening result is slightly below the national figure, but mobility accounts for much of this, and targeted support is in place for pupils who have not yet passed. Pupils' work in books does not always reflect high expectations for foundational knowledge and skills. In a number of classes, spelling and sentence errors are not addressed and progress is not always evident over time.

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Improving attendance remains a high priority for the school. Leaders have reviewed how they manage attendance and now apply a clear and consistent approach, with a particular focus this year on the pupils who miss school most often. Key staff lead this work, offering families support while also being ready to challenge them where needed, working closely with other services, including the local authority, and using legal routes when necessary. In school, every pupil who has an education, health and care plan is welcomed by a familiar adult each day. Almost all pupils who were previously attending part time have returned to full-time school. Attendance is improving, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who now miss far less school than before.

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Behaviour is positive. Throughout the school day, in lessons and at playtimes, pupils are respectful, have positive attitudes towards their school and enjoy the range of activities on offer. A clear, consistently applied approach to behaviour, built around the school's shared values, underpins this. Pupils say that bullying is rare and that adults always help to sort out any problems. Leaders look closely and honestly at their behaviour records, including where some groups of pupils are involved in more serious incidents than others, and they have trained staff well in calming situations and supporting pupils who have experienced difficulties. Suspensions have fallen, and pupils are only excluded as a last resort once everything else has been tried.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders, working with the trust, have designed a broad curriculum that gives pupils their full entitlement, drawing on the school's own plans and well-chosen published programmes, including for languages. Teachers know their subjects well, and they teach reading and writing in a purposeful, well-organised way. Across subjects, teachers make a point of teaching pupils important words and their meanings, and they give pupils regular chances to recall earlier learning so that it sticks.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Reading is given a high priority. Staff make sure that books are well matched to what each pupil can read and that pupils who need extra help receive it, so that all pupils build the reading skills they need to learn across the curriculum. The way teachers explain and model new learning, particularly when helping pupils to talk clearly about their ideas, is effective.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders ensure that staff continue developing their teaching through coaching and regular training. They have rightly identified handwriting and spelling as priorities and have put clear approaches in place, including a daily handwriting lesson and a step-by-step plan for spelling.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Pupils' books show that they make progress from their starting points, but this is not yet consistent. Spelling and handwriting errors are not always picked up and corrected at the time and corrections are not always followed up on, so some mistakes are repeated.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

The early years give children a settled, caring start. From the moment they arrive to a calm welcome each morning, children feel at home. Adults look after children warmly, kneeling to talk with them at their level, and they are quick to offer reassurance. As a result, children are happy, secure and quick to learn the daily routines. They line up, share, tidy away sensibly and listen well during whole-class times, such as singing and story time.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

Leaders have correctly identified that helping children talk, building their vocabulary and developing their physical skills should come first, and they have put in place helpful support, including a daily session to develop children's speech and language.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

Staff have planned what children should learn across all areas of the early years curriculum, and the teaching of early reading and phonics is well organised. The Nursery and Reception rooms are bright and well set up, both indoors and outdoors, with the potential for children to learn effectively in every area. At the moment though, the purpose of some activities is not always clear as adults do not always make the most of conversations to support children's language development. Leaders are aware of this and are already working to strengthen it.

p.4

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have made inclusion a high priority. They are ambitious for all pupils, particularly those with additional needs, to be supported and fully included in school life. Needs are identified through a clear, graduated approach, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well known to staff.

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Inclusion Expected standard

In most classes, tasks are adapted for the lowest-attaining pupils, with writing scaffolds and targeted phonics interventions in place. In key stage 2, effective questioning helps pupils to discuss and articulate their ideas. Pupils with SEND are happy and purposefully engaged in their learning. Relationships between pupils and staff are a particular strength. The specialist intervention group, Flamingo Class, for pupils with the most complex needs, is developing well and meeting their needs.

p.4

Inclusion Expected standard

Pupil premium funding is targeted to address barriers to learning and is quality assured by governors and the trust. Leaders can point to its impact, including mentoring that has reduced disruption, family support that improves pupils' readiness to learn, and rising attendance for disadvantaged pupils. Pupils known to children's social care, including those placed from outside the area, receive individualised, well-coordinated support.

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