Breckon Hill Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Breckon Hill Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Breckon Hill is a school that celebrates the diversity of the many different ethnic groups who attend.

The school's curriculum ensures everyone feels welcome and proud of their school. There is a focus on preparing pupils for life outside of school by teaching them to 'work hard and be kind'. Pupils show positive attitudes to their learning.

They have a clear understanding and acceptance of pupils from a wide range of backgrounds. Pupils know about many different religions. Pupils told an inspector, 'Learning about different beliefs teaches us to understand and respect.'
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The behaviour policy is applied consistently by everyone. Staff build positive relationships with pupils. This ensures there is a calm atmosphere inside and outside of the classroom, including in early years.

Incidents are quickly dealt with by staff. Pupils know they must follow the rules. They say that adults deal with any unacceptable behaviour in a fair way.

This helps pupils who are new to the school to quickly 'fit in'.

Bullying does not happen very often. Leaders follow procedures to record and follow up incidents so that pupils learn to make better choices.

Pupils know about different types of bullying and know how to tell someone when they have any worries. Specially trained adults are on hand to support pupils when needed.

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

All leaders are united in the same vision for the school, aiming for pupils to achieve as well as they can.

This ambition includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and pupils who speak English as an additional language. The curriculum has been carefully planned in all subjects to ensure it builds towards pupils gaining the knowledge they need for future learning. Leaders understand the challenge of planning a curriculum for pupils who arrive and leave the school at different times throughout the year and from a variety of different backgrounds.

They manage this well by prioritising pupils' personal and social development. Leaders recently assigned a member of staff to manage provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language. A focus on developing vocabulary is supporting pupils in learning language and vocabulary well.

However, some teachers do not take into consideration what pupils have learned before and do not adjust the sequence of their teaching to make sure pupils' current work builds on this.

Teachers have a good knowledge of the subjects they teach. They work together to support each other and share good practice.

They are proud to work at the school and benefit from a variety of training from school leaders and external specialists to ensure they are well supported to deliver the curriculum. However, some teachers do not consistently ensure that pupils know the most important knowledge they need to remember.

In early years and key stage 1, teachers implement the curriculum in a consistent way.

They present subject knowledge clearly, providing pupils with visual aids to support cultural differences and deficits in cultural capital. For example, during a story session, the teacher showed pupils pictures of rhubarb and spinach to illustrate what they are. Pupils were then able to join in a discussion about the book.

Teachers in early years and key stage 1 check pupils' understanding through discussion and observation, adapting their teaching and making quick assessments to inform next steps in learning. They ensure their own speaking, listening, writing and reading of English support pupils in developing their language and vocabulary well. This is helping pupils to remember more of what they have learned.

However, this practice is not consistent in every class across the school. For example, in some science lessons in key stage 2, gaps in knowledge and misconceptions had not been considered or addressed. Leaders' checking of how the curriculum is being delivered in English and mathematics is well established.

However, it is not as well developed in other subject areas, such as history. The way teachers adapt their teaching to tackle pupils' misconceptions and diminish gaps in learning is variable. This includes adapting learning for pupils from a wide range of backgrounds, those who are new to the school and pupils with SEND.

Staff teach phonics and early reading sessions well, making sure pupils learn phonic knowledge quickly. There are thorough systems in place for adults to regularly listen to pupils read in school. Pupils practise reading with books that match their phonics knowledge.

Pupils who fall behind in reading receive extra support. The systems in place support pupils who speak English as an additional language to read and speak English quickly. Pupils enjoy reading from the wide range of books available to them.

Older pupils are keen to read and have their own copies of class novels.

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is adept at assessing and ensuring that the needs of pupils with SEND are met. Some pupils with SEND access additional support which helps to meet their needs.

Leaders are tenacious in their pursuit of securing additional help and support for pupils. For example, some younger pupils are given additional time and support to do exercises to improve their handwriting.

Staff enjoy working at the school.

They appreciate the support leaders give for their workload. Leaders are working hard to ensure the many visits that were planned for pupils before the pandemic are reinstated as soon as possible. Inter-school outdoor sport tournaments, which pupils say they especially enjoy, carried on through the pandemic.

Boxing, multisport, coding and gymnastics are some of the activities enjoyed by pupils. There are strong links with families and the local community through activities such as visits to the local care home to support the residents.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Safeguarding is at the centre of the school's culture. Regular training and positive relationships ensure staff are knowledgeable and vigilant. Staff are alert to the potential risks that pupils may face in the community.

They know how to report any concerns they have about pupils' safety or welfare. Leaders are swift to identify the support families need. They work with external agencies to provide extra support if required.

The curriculum teaches pupils about the risks they may face as they grow. As a result, pupils are aware of safeguarding risks and know where to get help if they need it.

Leaders check adults' suitability to work with children through their recruitment process.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have identified that some teachers do not have a clear understanding of how to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all pupils, including pupils with SEND and pupils who speak English as an additional language. As a result, some pupils do not develop detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum so that they achieve well. Leaders should ensure that all teachers know how to present subject matter clearly, check pupils' understanding of what they learn and identify misunderstandings.

• Some subject leaders, for example in history, have not had the opportunity to regularly visit lessons to make sure the curriculum for their subject is being well implemented. This means they do not know how effectively the curriculum is being taught. Leaders should ensure that clear systems are in place to enable subject leaders to check how well the curriculum is helping pupils to remember what they have been taught.

• An increasing number of pupils join the school at different points of the school year. Many speak English as an additional language and have SEND. Leaders have not yet decided upon a systematic approach to assess pupils' knowledge and understanding.

As a result, teachers do not have the necessary information quickly enough to adapt their teaching to meet the wide range of pupils' needs. Leaders should implement a system to enable teachers to understand the different starting points of pupils so there is no delay in matching pupils' work to their abilities.Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2017.