Attenborough School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Information about the school

Robert Browning School is a Service Children's Education (SCE) first school serving the children of the British Forces personnel living in and around the town of Paderborn in northern Germany. Approximately 60% of pupils have a parent or carer who has recently been or is still deployed overseas. Almost all pupils are of White British heritage; the number of pupils from minority ethnic groups, or who speak English as an additional language, is low.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, including those at school action or who have a statement of special educational needs, is below average. The number of pupils joining or leaving school at different ti...mes of the school year is very high; in the current Year 4 class, over 50% of pupils have joined the school since Year 3. Provision for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage is located on four sites.

Children in the school's Foundation Stage 2 classes are based in the main school. Children who attend Foundation Stage 1 are accommodated in one of three settings: in Normandy nursery, opposite the school, and the Dempsey and Teddy Bears' settings which are located a short drive away from the main school. The school holds a number of accreditations, including Healthy Schools Status and the Silver Arts Marks award.

The school is also one of four pilot schools participating in the Children's University.

Key findings

This is a good school. It is not yet outstanding because some inconsistency in the quality of teaching remains and pupils' writing skills are not routinely developed across the curriculum.

Pupils achieve well and build effectively on the outstanding progress made in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The high quality provision for children aged 3 to 5 years underpins the progress they make. The vast majority of parents and carers are very happy with their child's education; 100% of their questionnaires upheld the view that their children make good progress and feel safe in school.

Inspectors confirmed they are correct and that their children's good achievement is supported by their good behaviour and attitudes to learning. The school's provision to meet the needs of pupils who are disabled, have special educational needs, English as an additional language or who have joined the school at different times, is effective. Intervention strategies to aid learning are well focused and complemented by effective partnerships with parents, carers and others to aid the pupils' good achievement.

Although pupils achieve well from their different starting points, their writing skills are not routinely developed across the curriculum. Teachers' marking does not routinely ensure that the skills pupils are focusing on in literacy, for example, are highlighted in other subjects. In addition, while most pupils know their immediate targets for improvement in literacy and mathematics, they are not clear what they are working towards in terms of their attainment.

Performance is managed well. As a result, teaching is good overall, and some outstanding teaching was observed during the inspection. However, where satisfactory teaching remains, teachers do not consistently use assessment information to ensure that pupils are challenged to do their best in lessons.

In addition, some pupils lack the confidence to apply their skills to more challenging tasks even though they have good ideas on how to do this. The middle leaders have developed well since the last inspection and make a positive contribution to the senior leadership team. Benefitting from the strong leadership of the headteacher and deputy headteacher, the staff present an effective team that is well placed to continue the good improvement made.