Setting

Mrs J Florey Headteacher Broadwater Down Primary School Broadwater Lane Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5RP

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parent and carer involvement in children and young people’s education

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, parents and pupils, during my visit on 17 January 2007 to look at the degree and effectiveness of parent and carer involvement in children’s education.

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parent and carer involvement in children and young people’s education

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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parent and carer involvement in children and young people’s education

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with staff, parents and pupils; observation of one lesson and scrutiny of relevant documentation. The judgements are specifically in relation to the degree and effectiveness of parent and carer involvement under the following headings.

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parent and carer involvement in children and young people’s education

The overall effectiveness of the degree and effectiveness of parent and carer involvement in children’s education was judged to be satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards including personal development

The impact of parental and carer involvement on achievement, standards and personal development is satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards including personal development

 Pupils enter the school with standards that are generally well below national expectations. A high proportion of the pupils have below average standards in their communication skills, personal and physical development, and their knowledge and understanding of the world. Standards remain below average Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6855 www.ofsted.gov.uk throughout the school, but pupils make satisfactory progress from their starting points.  The school establishes good links with the parents of children entering the school. The reception staff visit all families in their own homes and all families are invited to a teddy bear’s picnic before the pupils start school. These events help to create a sense of trust and collaboration between the families and the school.  Day to day communication between parents and the reception staff are good. The use of reading diaries has proved to be an effective means of involving

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Achievement and standards including personal development

parents in their children’s learning.  Throughout the school, parents speak highly of the welcoming and caring atmosphere, which helps them to support their children in their academic and personal development.  Targets and topics are communicated to parents on a weekly basis which enables them to monitor their progress.  However, parents do not always have the confidence or ability to help their children in their learning and this is an area for development.  Parents speak highly of the work of the family liaison service in working with them to tackle behavioural and personal issues.  The school’s clear values and attention to the pupil’s personal needs ensure that behaviour is good.  Regular communication by newsletter and attendance at assemblies enable parents to share in the academic and personal achievements of their children.  Attendance is below average and the school has not been successful at

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Achievement and standards including personal development

reducing rates of unauthorised or authorised absence.  Support for families from minority ethnic backgrounds is good and highly valued by them.  The school reacts effectively to the needs of individual families but has not been so successful at involving the parents as a whole in the life of the school.

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guidance

The impact of parent and carer involvement in these areas is satisfactory.

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guidance

 Parents help effectively in the reception class, particularly with children’s reading.  Parents receive clear and regular feedback about their children’s targets.  Consultation evenings are held early in the term so that there is time to address any problems.  Annual reports give clear information on the children’s progress and how to improve their work.  Although parents are given clear information on the topics covered in school and their children’s progress, they do not receive sufficient advice on how to help their children in their learning.  The school gives good clear guidance about transferring to secondary schools and helps families through the process.

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Quality of the curriculum

The impact of parental involvement on the quality of the curriculum is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum

 Parents feel well informed about the curriculum through termly newsletters.  There is a good range of extra curricular opportunities for the children but parents make little contribution to these.

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Leadership and management of parent and carer involvement

Leadership and management in relation to parental involvement are satisfactory.

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Leadership and management of parent and carer involvement

 The day to day knowledge of and response to the needs of particular families is a real strength. The school acts as the champion of families in vulnerable circumstances very effectively.  You successfully maintain an ethos that puts families at the heart of the children’s education and well-being.  The school has recently started to seek the views of parents formally and this is beginning to have an impact on planning.  Although there is some mention of parent involvement in the school’s development plan, this is not precise and is insufficiently linked to other areas of the plans.  Although the school has introduced a number of initiatives to involve families more in their children’s learning, these have not been sufficiently evaluated or followed through to sustain their impact.

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Inclusion

The impact of parent and carer involvement on inclusion is good.

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Inclusion

 The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is high. Their achievement is satisfactory.  The school works hard and successfully with the families of these children and of other vulnerable groups.  The parents of these children speak highly of the individual care and attention that they receive.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 helping parents to understand how they can help their children in their learning and working with other agencies to achieve this  improving and sustaining the level of family involvement in the life of the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop parental involvement further in conjunction with raising attainment and improving outcomes for children.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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