Ashbrow School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Since the last inspection, the standard of education that children receive declined.

Current leaders have made changes in the school which are beginning to make a difference. They have raised expectations of pupils' learning and behaviour by introducing a new behaviour policy and a redesigned curriculum. Some of these changes are beginning to have a positive impact on the experience of pupils.

However, some of the changes that leaders have made are not fully embedded. The curriculum in the early years does not give children a strong start in their education. Some changes have been made very recently in this area but there has been insufficient time to see what impact ...this has made on children's learning.

Pupils feel safe in this school. Relationships are built on trust. Pupils understand and act according to the school values of 'care, respect and kindness'.

They know that adults will support them if they have worries. There are positive relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning.

Staff establish clear expectations for how pupils should behave. Pupils feel listened to and feel cared for. They understand what bullying is and how to spot it.

Pupils show respect and manners, and look for opportunities to help each other. Incidents of bullying or inappropriate language are infrequent, but when they do happen, leaders deal with them swiftly. Pupils who need support to regulate their emotions receive targeted and effective support.

Pupils love to access the newly developed outdoor learning area.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have recently undertaken work to raise the ambition in the curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Subject leaders have considered themes and concepts they wish pupils to learn about.

In some subjects, such as art, the precise knowledge and vocabulary that leaders want for pupils to have are clear, but in others, such as geography, this is not as clearly defined. In curriculum subjects where the knowledge and vocabulary are less clearly defined, sometimes, teachers do not give pupils learning experiences that help them build their knowledge over time. Teachers check pupils' understanding in lessons.

However, these checks do not precisely give them the information they need about gaps that pupils may have in their understanding from previous parts of the curriculum.

Curriculum subject leaders regularly check how well their subjects are mapped out in each year group from term to term and year to year. These checks tell leaders what subject knowledge is being taught and what pupils' attitudes are to these subjects.

However, the checks that leaders make on their subjects do not enable them to quickly identify and address areas where lesson content could be further developed to help pupils to learn the crucial knowledge identified.

Leaders have chosen a phonics curriculum which enables pupils to learn the sounds of letters that they need to know, in an appropriate order. The books that pupils are given to read match the phonic knowledge that they have learned.

Staff have received training to teach pupils how to read. Pupils who need additional help with reading are identified and supported. However, in phonics lessons and the catch-up sessions, there are inconsistencies in the way that teachers teach pupils to read.

Pupils are not shown how to recognise letters and read words in the same way.

Children in the early years do not get the start to their education that they deserve. The curriculum they experience is underdeveloped and poorly understood by the staff delivering it.

Children do not have opportunities to develop their vocabulary. Interactions between staff and children vary in quality. Many interactions do not support children to learn.

Routines are not well established. Children do not have the opportunities they need to become independent and resilient learners. Leaders have recently started to address these weaknesses in the early years.

However, these changes are at the very earliest stages and it is too soon to measure the difference that this is making for children.

Leaders have ensured that the personal development offer for pupils is meaningful and appropriate to the context of the community they live in. Older pupils are able to talk in detail about how the 'Awareness Curriculum' that leaders have developed has helped them to understand and be aware of risks such as gangs and drugs.

They talk maturely and sensibly about what they would do if they faced these circumstances outside of school. Pupils know about the main world faiths and have a clear understanding of different family structures and protected characteristics.

Governors are clear in their commitment to safeguarding.

They make checks to ensure that what leaders are telling them is reflective of what is happening in school. They have systems to check that the money received through the pupil premium and sports premium funding makes a difference to pupils' education and fitness. Staff feel well supported by governors and senior leaders in relation to their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a strong understanding of the local safeguarding risks to pupils. There are clear systems for staff to share concerns.

Leaders act on these concerns swiftly. Staff receive regular training and updates to understand the safeguarding policy updates and particular risks within the local community. Leaders work with external agencies to provide more targeted help for families and pupils.

Pupils are taught about how to keep themselves safe. They are given important information about issues which are likely to affect them in the community, such as knife crime and gangs. Pupils talk about how this knowledge helps them to be aware of the world beyond the school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The early years curriculum is not clearly defined. As a result, children do not have meaningful experiences across the seven areas of learning and are unprepared for their learning in key stage 1 and beyond. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum children experience is clearly defined and understood by staff so that children are able to build their skills, knowledge and learning behaviours during their time in the early years and be better prepared for key stage 1.

• There are inconsistencies in the teaching of early reading. As a result, all pupils, but particularly those who are the lowest attainers, do not receive the precise teaching or targeted support that they need to become fluent readers. Leaders should ensure that the checks leaders make on the teaching of early reading quickly identify and address these inconsistencies in both group phonics and catch-up support sessions.

• In foundation subjects, leaders have not defined with clarity the knowledge and vocabulary that they wish for pupils to learn and have not subsequently considered the order in which this needs to be taught, so that pupils build their knowledge over time. As a result, in some foundation subjects, teachers choose activities which are not designed to support learning as effectively as they could. Leaders should ensure that there is a shared understanding of the knowledge and vocabulary that pupils will learn, and the order in which this should be taught, so that pupils are able to retain and build on this knowledge over time.

• The checks that teachers make on pupils' understanding in lessons across the curriculum do not identify precisely the gaps in pupils' knowledge. As a result, pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to revisit the aspects of the curriculum where their knowledge is not secure. Leaders should ensure that teachers use accurate assessment to identify what curriculum content pupils need to learn next, or need to revisit to secure their knowledge.

• Curriculum subject leaders do not use the information they gain from monitoring their subjects to support teachers to teach their lessons. As a result, some lesson activities do not closely match the intended knowledge that is mapped out across the curriculum. Subject leaders should ensure that they identify and remedy any inconsistencies in how well lesson content will enable pupils to learn the crucial knowledge they need, step by step, in each subject.