Broadstone Hall Primary School

Broadstone Hall Primary School Inspection report

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106034 Unique Reference Number Stockport Local Authority 309010 Inspection number 6 °7 November 2007 Inspection dates Brian Padgett HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 378 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr S Marsden Chair Mr A Heaton Headteacher 12 January 2004 Date of previous school inspection Broadstone Hall Road South School address Heaton Chapel Stockport Cheshire SK4 5JD 0161 4321916 Telephone number 0161 4421064 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 6 °7 November 2007 Inspection dates 309010 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty's Inspectors and an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Broadstone Hall is a large primary school situated to the north of Stockport town centre. Social and economic indicators vary widely within the area served by the school; there are advantaged parts and pockets of significant disadvantage. Overall, social and economic conditions are average. Most children are of a White British background and about one in every five is from a minority ethnic background. Children of Pakistani heritage form the largest minority ethnic group. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including those with statements of special educational needs, is about average. The context of the school has changed since the last inspection. In 2005/06 the numbers of children attending the school rose sharply with the closure of a neighbouring primary school. There is now a Nursery. In July 2007, the school was granted extended school status. The school

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Description of the school

has been awarded several national accreditations since the last inspection: the Healthy Schools Award, the Inclusion Quality Mark and the Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark. [Footnote - The extended schools programme is a government initiative administered by local authorities to extend the range of services and opportunities for children and families in an area, using schools as a base.]

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007

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Grade: 2

Broadstone Hall is a good school. It provides a good quality of education that enables children from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds to be happy at school and to achieve well. It is an improving school. Through good leadership and management and by developing very good teamwork, it has responded successfully to every challenge it has faced in recent years. Two aspects of its work are outstanding. These are the quality of the provision in the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) and the range of extra-curricular activities, particularly of a sporting nature, that are available for children within and outside of the school day. Children make good progress. Three- and four-year-olds get the best possible start to their school lives in the Nursery and Reception classes. In Year 2, at the end of Key Stage 1, children consistently achieve above average standards. Since taking on children from the neighbouring

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Grade: 2

school that closed, standards in Year 6, at the end of Key Stage 2, have fallen. They were above average and are now average. However, this still represents good progress because many of the children who joined the school two years ago had lower starting points than children at Broadstone Hall. Children's personal development is good. They develop good attitudes to learning. They work and play together in harmony. Behaviour is good. Children are developing a good understanding of healthy lifestyles and how to stay safe. Teaching, the curriculum, and the care, support and guidance provided for children are all good. Good features of the teaching are the positive relationships teachers have with their children, the use of teaching assistants which facilitates teaching in small groups, and the very good use of the interactive whiteboards located in each classroom. In the few lessons where teaching is

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Grade: 2

not so effective, this is usually to do with work that is not closely enough matched to children's learning needs. This is a very caring school and staff follow all the required procedures to safeguard children's welfare. It provides a broad curriculum that is well matched to children's different interests whilst providing a clear focus on opportunities to develop their basic skills. Leadership and management are good. The transfer of pupils from the closing school was managed very well and the children are now fully integrated within the ethos of Broadstone Hall. The headteacher has built a very effective leadership team. As a consequence, the school has strength in depth within leadership and management and this has led to consistency in implementing new initiatives. The governors are very involved in the school and very supportive of its work. They have a wide range of skills and experience to offer the school which makes

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Grade: 2

good use of this expertise. For example, governors were instrumental in the successful acquisition of extended school status. This new status within the community ushers in a new phase in the development of the school. With a track record of successful improvement behind it, the school is well placed to improve further.

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Grade: 1

Children generally enter the Nursery with average to below average levels of skills and understanding for their age. They make very good progress across all areas of learning in the Nursery and in the two Reception classes and when they are ready to move into Key Stage 1, they have an improved profile of development. Many children who were at the expected levels for their age at three years are above the expected levels for five year-olds, and several children who were below the expected levels at three years have caught up at five. Moreover, they are 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007 happy and settled at school and develop good attitudes to learning, gain independence and good social skills. All this is due to outstandingly good provision in the Foundation Stage, with expert teaching and encouragement from teachers and teaching assistants, and a high quality

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Grade: 1

of resources. Children get a wonderful start in Nursery with exciting learning opportunities inside and outside. There is a gradual increase in expectations within the Reception classes, so that children make a good start to early reading, writing and mathematics and are well placed to begin the National Curriculum. The Foundation Stage is very well led.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards by matching children's work more closely to their capability, ensuring all children are fully challenged to do their best.

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Grade: 2

Children achieve well and standards are average at the end of Year 6. Children in Key Stage 1 build successfully on the really good start they have in Nursery and Reception. This part of the school has not been as affected as the junior department by the transfer of children from the school that closed: once the plan for closure was confirmed, children in Reception were all transferred to Broadstone Hall, providing continuity for children in the early years. The transfer of the Nursery to the Broadstone Hall site has given children in this school an even better start. These developments have enabled children in Key Stage 1 to settle well, and above average standards have been maintained in reading, writing and mathematics since the last inspection. Before 2006, standards at Year 6 were above the average in English, mathematics and science. Since then they have fallen to average. This is explained by the change in composition of the

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Grade: 2

Year 6 classes, which have had children join them late in their primary education with skills, knowledge and understanding below those expected for their age. However, all children make good progress, including those vulnerable to underachievement, such as those with learning difficulties and those who do not speak English well. As children in Key Stage 2 benefit from consistently good quality teaching, the school is gradually raising its targets. Senior management and governors are confident that standards achieved at the end of the Key Stage 2 national tests (SATs) are set to rise in future years.

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Grade: 2

Children's personal development and well-being are good. They work hard and play hard. They are positive about their lessons and they enjoy their breaks. Behaviour is good. There are few instances of bad or inappropriate behaviour and children are confident in the staff's ability to deal with these. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They learn to work cooperatively, make friends with children of different cultures and develop a good sense of what is right and fair. They have a good understanding of what is required to stay safe and be healthy, particularly in relation to sport and physical exercise, because the school provides so many opportunities for children to develop physical skills and enjoy exercise. Through the school council, children are beginning to influence what happens in school and to contribute to charities, although the council is at an early stage in fully developing the pupils' voice within

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Grade: 2

5 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007 school. The development of good attitudes, and the good progress they make, indicates that children are well prepared for the future.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is good. In the lessons seen it varied between satisfactory and outstandingly effective. It is best within the Foundation Stage. These judgements are in line with the school's own evaluation. In a typical lesson at Broadstone Hall, children are given clear expectations of what they are to learn. Relationships between teachers and children are good, children are given varied work to do and very good use is made of up-to-date technology in the form of interactive whiteboards. Support staff make a good contribution to learning, especially for children with learning difficulties. Teaching assistants are valued members of each teaching team. Specialist teachers and coaches bring expertise to lessons in sport, drama and dance, and in teaching French. Some teaching, notably in the Foundation Stage, is so imaginative that children are completely absorbed in their activities. They acquire important skills and knowledge aware only of their

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Grade: 2

enjoyment of what they are engaged in. Because the staff have discussed and implemented what constitutes effective teaching and learning and have come to a shared understanding, most lessons are of good quality. However, in a few lessons, work is not accurately targeted at the learning needs of groups of children of different abilities, so that the level of challenge is not right. Also, in some lessons, too much is done for children, so they do not have the opportunities to take initiative, solve problems and investigate for themselves, as they ought.

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Grade: 2

The quality of the curriculum is good. It has outstanding features. The curriculum covers all that is required and is well matched to children's interests. There is an appropriate emphasis on the acquisition of the basic skills of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT), and these are also taught within other subjects. Children study French, and lessons in personal, social, health and citizenship education contribute effectively towards their personal development. Personal development is also encouraged through residential visits. The curriculum in the Foundation Stage is outstanding. It closely follows the national guidance for children of this age, providing opportunities for children to learn through play across all areas of learning. In addition, children benefit from very good resources and teachers' ability to create imaginative and exciting learning experiences. The range of extra-curricular activities

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Grade: 2

available to children is much wider than is seen in most schools. This level of provision, particularly strong in sport and physical activities, made the school a natural centre from which to develop extended school facilities.

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Grade: 2

This is a fundamentally caring school, committed to the academic and pastoral care and support of all its children. It is particularly caring for the children who are more vulnerable to 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007 underachievement, including those with learning difficulties and those who do not have English as their home language. All the required procedures to safeguard children and ensure their health and safety are in place, although some policies need revisiting more frequently and some procedures require tightening to maintain maximum vigilance. The acquisition of life skills to keep children safe and healthy and to become good citizens is fully recognised within the curriculum, and there are opportunities in lessons for children to discuss emotional and social issues, such as bullying. Teachers give good guidance in lessons and in exercise books to inform children's learning,

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Grade: 2

and the senior staff maintain a robust tracking system to monitor children's progress. Currently, staff are revising the timing of their assessments of children's progress, so that teachers have more time to intervene if children fall behind in their work. The school works effectively with the local authority, other schools and with other agencies connected with children's services to provide specialised support for children. This aspect of its work is set to develop significantly now Broadstone Hall is an extended school. Partnership and communications with parents are good and have improved since the last inspection; for example, by the creation of a first-class website and safe internet links for homework. However, communication and listening to parents was a weaker area of responses in the parental questionnaires returned to the inspection team, so further work is needed to keep all parents fully informed.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good at all levels, although the middle tier of management concerned with leading and developing the subjects outside of the core skills of English, mathematics, and ICT, is yet to be developed fully. It is because of sustained good leadership and management that the school has improved significantly. The considerable challenge of integrating the children from the nearby school that closed was, by all accounts, handled very well, with a clear focus on making things better for the children displaced by the closure. There is no sign today that children come from two schools. The headteacher has shown considerable vision in working towards extended school status, and is now well placed to involve the community fully in the education of its children. Hard work has resulted in the awarding of several national accreditations to the school, including for ensuring that all children benefit from what the school offers (the Inclusion Quality Mark).

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Grade: 2

The leadership team is unusual in its size and designation of responsibilities, and it is working very well: the development of teaching and learning, the development of ICT and the very good integration of the school's development with teachers' professional development are some of the team's successes. The net result of the good leadership and management is a cohesive and unified staff with high morale, confident about meeting new challenges. The school runs smoothly on a day-to-day basis and is clean and well maintained. Governors are very involved in the work and development of the school and provide good support. They are frequently in school and sit in lessons. Many of the governors have professional backgrounds in areas of relevance to the work of the school. Many are or have been parent governors and each has a clearly defined responsibility. They are beginning to constructively question the school's performance. The time is right for the headteacher and governors to

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Grade: 2

7 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007 evaluate more closely the impact of initiatives on outcomes for children in a more systematic way, as they continue to improve the school. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You may remember Mrs Jones, Mr Martin and I visiting your school recently to check how well the school is helping children with their learning and how well they are getting on. I know you talked separately to Mr Martin about your work in the school council. Thank you for doing so. This letter is to tell you the main things we found out about your school. You may want to discuss it in one of your council meetings. Please pass on our thanks to the children for making us welcome and for talking to us. Also, working with Mr Heaton, please ensure that all the children receive a copy of this letter. We judged the school to be good in nearly everything it does. It does some things extremely well, such as in giving children a breathtaking range of things to do before, during and after school, and in providing the best possible start to school life in the Nursery and Reception classes. Children are taught and cared for well. The school has got better each time it has been

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

inspected because Mr Heaton, the governors and the senior teachers lead and manage the school well. Children's achievement is good. Whatever their starting points, nearly all children make good progress in their learning, and this includes the children whose home language is not English and those children who find learning difficult. The children who joined Broadstone Hall from North Heaton have settled well. We saw a lot of happy children who get along well with their teachers and with each other. We believe children's personal development is good and that they are developing into good and responsible citizens. We listened to the school's plans to improve even further. We agreed with them. The main thing is to raise children's standards of work. At present, by Year 6, they are average. Your teachers think children can do better and so do we. As well as being a challenge for the teachers, this is also a challenge for the children: to meet

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the targets the teachers set for them. Perhaps, in your meetings, you could discuss if standards are getting higher and contribute your ideas as to how the improvement can be achieved? 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Broadstone Hall Primary School, 6 °7 November 2007

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