Brook Green Centre for Learning

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils' social, emotional and academic achievement. Pupils aspire to do well at the school and are successful learners.

They value learning a range of subjects. Pupils are well prepared for the world beyond school.

Pupils learn exceptionally well to interact in socially appropriate ways.

They are Well mannered, respectful and kind. Pupils have very strong, trusting relationships with staff and each other. They learn to form healthy relationships through the highly effective personal, social and health education programme.

Through voting for the school council, pupils learn about the importance of democracy.
...r/>Pupils learn to manage their emotional responses to the world around them. They value the house points system that rewards positive behaviour.

Consequently, pupils behave well, both in lessons and around the school.

Through the curriculum, pupils develop their physical health very well. For instance, they swim regularly, and many learn to ride bicycles for the first time.

All pupils learn about the natural world through outdoor learning. For example, pupils learn to create art using the symmetry of leaves and plants in the woods that surround the school. All pupils in Year 9 and Year 10 enthusiastically participate in the Duke of Edinburgh awards.

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

The school's drive to ensure that all pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) thrive is shared by staff. Many pupils have missed a lot of schooling and have gaps in their knowledge by the time they arrive. The school has prioritised the development of pupils' communication skills, including reading and writing across the curriculum.

Pupils' literacy skills are checked carefully on entry to the school. This ensures that those who struggle, study an appropriate early reading programme. Consequently, pupils learn to read well.

The school has led staff training in adaptive teaching strategies to meet pupils' identified needs in reading and writing in all subjects. In many subjects, staff use assessment information effectively to adapt the ways in which they teach reading and writing. However, in some subjects, this is not yet routine and pupils struggle to access learning successfully as a result.

Pupils learn a well-planned curriculum in many subject areas, which enables them to build on their prior knowledge well. For instance, the mathematics curriculum supports pupils to develop strong knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to help them learn more complex concepts. The curriculum is ambitious and challenging, ensuring that pupils are well prepared for their next steps.

For example, in science, pupils were observed formulating hypotheses and methodologies knowledgeably for their experiments with magnesium strips.

Pupils learn an exceptionally well-designed personal development curriculum. It prepares them very well to be informed citizens of twenty-first century Britain.

The careers programme is coherently structured, enabling pupils to build incrementally on their knowledge as they move through the school. Through the strong relationships with staff, pupils are exceptionally well supported to make informed decisions about their next steps. The school ensures that pupils access a range of trips and visitors to enrich the curriculum.

For example, pupils visited Lille in France to enhance their study of French. Through the curriculum, pupils learn about different faiths and cultures very well. The school succeeds in shaping pupils' characters exceptionally well.

The school monitors pupils' behaviour very well. It ensures that bespoke support is provided to help pupils manage their behaviour. The school is a calm, orderly learning environment.

It has worked hard to improve the attendance of pupils. Through strong pastoral support, the school has forged strong relationships with pupils and families to ensure that most pupils attend well. However, pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding do not attend school as regularly.

Governance is strong. Governors gather a breadth of information with which to challenge and support the school. Staff are overwhelmingly proud to work at the school.

Parents and carers are effusive in their views of the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment about pupils' reading and writing knowledge is not used with precision in some subjects.

This information is not used to inform adaptations to the teaching of reading and writing in these subjects. This means that some pupils struggle to learn successfully. The school must ensure that assessment information about pupils' reading and writing knowledge informs appropriate adaptations to the teaching of all subjects.

• Pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding do not attend school regularly enough. This means that they do not access learning as well as they could. The school must ensure that parents and pupils understand the link between school attendance and achievement so that these pupils attend more regularly.