Brookwood Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Brookwood Primary School's HEART values of 'Happiness, Enthusiasm, Aspiration, Respect, and Togetherness' pulse through this school. They are important to everyone.

As a result, this is a warm, positive and inclusive school. Where staff know pupils and their families well.

Pupils work and play, harmoniously.

They behave very well and enjoy positive relationships with each other. Pupils hold a clear sense of right and wrong. Many pupils join at different points of the school year.

Whenever they join, each new pupil gets the help that they need to settle in swiftly. New pupils adjust well, as they quickly learn the school's behaviour routines that help... everyone learn well. The school provides learning and wider opportunities that pupils enjoy and benefit from.

Pupils achieve well and are suitably prepared for the future. They say they are encouraged to be respectful, and they are.

This is a school that works hard to meet the needs of all pupils, no matter what their background or situation.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are given the knowledge and tools that they need to access the full curriculum. Staff know these pupils very well and inspire them to be successful.

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

The expertise and experience available in the trust have supported the school in designing an ambitious and well-designed curriculum.

It builds pupils' knowledge well from the early years to Year 6. The curriculum identifies what pupils should know in each subject and leaders have made sure that content choice is logically sequenced. Leaders have thought very carefully about the mixed-age class and have successfully developed the curriculum so that pupils do not unnecessarily repeat the same content.

Teachers have sound subject knowledge. In some subjects, however, the activities that teachers design are not considered well enough. This means that pupils sometimes do not build the knowledge or skills that they need well enough.

Teachers use assessment correctly to understand what pupils know. For example, teachers check how much pupils remember at the start of every mathematics and phonics lessons. This enables teachers to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge.

However, this is not the case in all subjects. In some foundation subjects, teachers do not check what pupils remember accurately enough. This means that pupils may develop misconceptions, which makes it harder for them to learn new things.

Pupils with SEND are fully involved in all aspects of school life. The school identifies the additional needs of these pupils well and provides effective support for them, including in the early years. Reading is a priority.

Leaders introduced a new phonics programme recently. All staff received training and have secured the expertise that they need to teach early reading well. Books are matched to the sounds pupils are learning.

Staff use assessment to identify pupils who need extra support. This helps pupils become confident and fluent readers.

Staff manage pupils' behaviour consistently well.

As a result, learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. The school is working hard to improve pupils' attendance. For example, leaders have implemented a range of initiatives, taking every opportunity to remind families about the importance of regular school attendance, but this is not fully understood by all and attendance for some pupils is far too low.

These pupils miss valuable learning and fall behind.

The school is committed to pupils' personal development, as well as their academic success. It organises a range of opportunities so that pupils can explore existing interests, discover new ones, and take on responsibilities.

Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils participate in these activities. Chess is particularly popular and every pupil learns to play.

Younger children get off to a good start in their education when they start Reception.

Children in early years are happy. Staff and children form positive relationships. They help children to manage their feelings and emotions and begin to take care of themselves.

Staff make sure that children learn to communicate with each other and use a wide range of vocabulary in their speech. Leaders have created a curriculum that identifies what children should know by the end of Reception. However, this needs further refinement to ensure that all planned activities support children to learn more over time.

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about their experience of working at the school and they share the vision of the school. Governors and trustees have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas that they need to develop.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The work that teachers sometimes give to pupils does not match the intended curriculum. This means that pupils do not get to practise the small steps of knowledge or skills as well as they need to. The school should continue to train and develop teachers' subject knowledge so that they can make informed choices about the tasks given to pupils.

• In some foundation subjects, opportunities for checking what pupils know and can do are sometimes missed. This means that pupils' misconceptions are not always rectified both at the point of learning and after. The school should ensure that teachers are supported to check pupils' understanding systematically in lessons and use this information to quickly address misconceptions or gaps in pupils' knowledge.

• The attendance of some pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged, is too low. This means that some pupils are missing too much of their education. Leaders should ensure that they strengthen their work with parents and carers so that that pupils' attendance improves.

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