Bromstone Primary School, Broadstairs

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are full of enthusiasm for their learning here. Staff help them to build positive habits for learning in the classroom and beyond.

The school provides structured guidance for pupils' playtime activities. This helps pupils, including children in the early years, to share and collaborate across year groups. As a result, pupils, parents and carers alike feel that the school is a welcoming and positive community.

The achievement of pupils is far stronger than current published outcomes data indicates. The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve their best, including the substantial cohort of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). St...aff understand what each pupil needs for them to move forward in their learning.

Behaviour in class is settled and calm. On occasions when pupils find it hard to regulate themselves, staff help them with care and sensitivity. As a result, learning is not interrupted.

Pupils trust the school to resolve any worries or issues. This helps them to feel safe and happy in school. Clubs, educational visits, talent shows and collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company help to nurture pupils' talents.

These also develop their confidence and self-esteem.

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

Although some pupils do not achieve in line with age-related expectations, every pupil benefits from effective support to learn. Alongside this, the school has made sweeping changes to its curriculum over the last few years.

This has led to sharply rising standards, especially in mathematics. In phonics, the school's new approach is helping pupils to become confident readers. Staff make sure that pupils have grasped each sound before moving on.

Weaker readers benefit from targeted support with the letters and sounds that need reinforcing. Pupils in the school's enhanced specialist teaching arrangement (ESTA) receive personalised support to help with their phonics learning. This can include using electronic devices.

Although the percentage of pupils passing the phonics screening check in Year 1 is below the national average, many pupils catch up rapidly by the end of Year 2.

Teachers have been trained on new areas of the curriculum in detail. In most subject areas, the school has a precise outline of the knowledge and skills that pupils should gain at each stage.

This is matched with new vocabulary to help develop pupils' thinking. Staff use this to design activities that build pupils' understanding systematically. For example, pupils in Year 1 begin to develop their geographical skills and language by creating a map of the school.

However, in a few subjects, and in some aspects of the early years curriculum, the sequence of learning for pupils is not as clear. In these instances, the tasks set for pupils do not develop their knowledge in a step-by-step way.

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) is significantly higher than the national average.

Staff are skilled at identifying the needs of pupils with SEND and adapting learning accordingly. For example, children who start reception significantly below age-related expectations follow a programme tailored to their needs.Across the school, teachers demonstrate and explain key ideas clearly.

For example, in mathematics they guide pupils through how to apply their number facts to solve problems. By checking systematically that pupils have understood, staff have rapidly raised pupils' number fluency. Disadvantaged pupils are benefitting the most from the regular repetition and checking of important knowledge.

Where the school's curriculum changes are more established, the impact for pupils is evident. However, where the school is still embedding the new curriculum, such as in English, gaps in aspects of older pupils' learning can persist. At times, this can hinder some pupils from completing tasks fully.

The school's attendance strategy has delivered a sustained reduction in pupil absence. By working closely with families, the school understands and helps to overcome the potential barriers to attendance. This has been particularly successful for disadvantaged pupils, who in turn enjoy the benefits of more time in school.

Although attendance remains below the national average, the school continues to do all it can to promote the importance of attending well.

Staff rapidly establish behaviour routines. In the early years, children quickly take on the habits and expectations of being in the classroom.

In all year groups, and in the ESTA, the atmosphere in lessons is focused and purposeful. This contributes strongly to effective learning.

Beyond academic learning, the school provides extensive opportunities for its pupils.

Pupils enjoy exploring 'big questions' such as why rights exist. This helps them to think about moral issues from an early age. All pupils benefit from the nurturing approach taken by the school, including additional breakfasts and calming spaces.

Leaders and governors have responded strongly to address inconsistencies in the school's provision. Staff have received training to support the high level of SEND needs in the school and to deliver the new curriculum effectively. Leaders are alert to the pressures on staff, and have balanced this with reducing workload in other ways.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has recently moved to a new curriculum model in English. As a result, some pupils in key stage 2 have not securely embedded their previously learned English knowledge and skills.

On occasion, they cannot access the tasks set as fully as their peers. The school should ensure that, as the new English curriculum is embedded, gaps in understanding for older pupils continue to close. ? In some areas of the curriculum the sequencing of the knowledge, vocabulary and skills is not as clearly set out.

The tasks set for pupils are not as focused as they could be on building pupils' vocabulary and knowledge. This means that some pupils, includ-ing some children in the early years, are not developing their language and under-standing as rapidly as they could. The school needs to make sure that coherent se-quencing and planning of knowledge, skills and vocabulary in all aspects of the curricu-lum is used to determine the work tasks that pupils complete.

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