Co-op Academy Brownhill

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Co-op Academy Brownhill continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school where everyone is made to feel welcome. The well-being of pupils and their families is at the heart of the school's work.

Staff develop strong relationships with parents and carers. They do this, for example, by working closely with local businesses to provide support for families. Pupils enjoy coming to school early to meet with their friends at the school's free breakfast club.

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Many pupils arrive and leave at different points during the school ye...ar.

Most of these pupils arrive with English as an additional language or speaking no English. These pupils achieve well as they progress through the school. Staff ensure that the school is a nurturing environment.

Parents value the care and understanding of staff in helping pupils to feel at home.

The school's curriculum for behaviour and personal development is exceptional. Pupils have a strong understanding of the school's value 'show you care'.

They look after each other through their roles as class buddies. This helps everyone to feel included. Pupils are happy and feel safe in school.

There are high levels of respect between staff and pupils. On the rare occasion that bullying happens, leaders take prompt and effective action.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum.

The important knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn are clearly identified. Staff have the same ambition for pupils with SEND. The support in lessons for pupils with SEND ensures that pupils succeed.

In lessons, staff focus on developing language and making sure that pupils remember essential vocabulary. For example, the well-planned curriculum for French ensures that pupils broaden their vocabulary. Teachers make sure that pupils regularly practise and revisit prior learning.

This helps pupils to remember important knowledge so that they apply what they know to more complex ideas. For example, in mathematics, pupils in Year 6 use all four operations of number to calculate wages and salaries. They apply their strong knowledge of arithmetic to running a bakery business.

Pupils enjoy mathematics and understand it is important for success in the workplace.

Effective support from leaders ensures that teachers implement the new design and technology curriculum well. Pupils develop technical and practical expertise to make products such as a night light for younger children.

Pupils enjoy growing fruits and vegetables in the school garden. They use these ingredients to make nutritious meals.

Leaders ensure that pupils develop a love of books and stories.

Staff have identified the literature that they want pupils to experience. Children in Nursery, join in with rhymes, stories and songs. Children are surrounded by high-quality picture books.

This helps children to listen and to develop enjoyment and understanding of books. Staff teach the new phonics programme well. Pupils who join the school at different times of the year are assessed for gaps in their phonic knowledge.

They work in small groups with staff who provide effective support to ensure that pupils catch up.

In the early years, staff-led activities support children well in their learning. For example, staff model how children should use resources to make numbers that total 10.

Within these activities, children are keen to share their learning and do so with success. However, when children move freely between activities, their learning is less focused. For example, staff do not take the opportunity often enough to develop children's writing skills as well as they could.

This means that children are not prepared as well as they could be for future learning.

The pastoral support in school is exceptional. This includes the support that staff give to families to ensure that pupils attend school.

This year, there has been an increase in pupils' attendance. However, too many pupils miss out on their learning because they are frequently absent. The curriculum for pupils' personal development is a strength of the school.

Pupils enjoy being members of the school council. All pupils can post their suggestions in boxes around school. This ensures that pupils have a say in school improvement, such as in the design of the new school library.

Pupils also appreciate the wide range of clubs on offer, such as dodgeball and chess.

Governors ensure that all pupils benefit from the decisions that leaders make. They work well to bring the local community together.

For example, by providing clothes and beds to families who need them. Staff enjoy working at the school. They appreciate how well leaders support their well-being.

They appreciate that leaders go above and beyond by providing private healthcare.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school.

Staff form trusting relationships with pupils and listen to their concerns. Leaders ensure that staff receive appropriate safeguarding training and regular updates. Staff act promptly to report any concerns.

Leaders work effectively with many agencies to get the right support for pupils and their families. Recruitment checks on those who work in the school are thorough.Staff ensure that pupils learn how to stay safe, including keeping safe online.

Pupils have strong knowledge of healthy relationships. They have an age-appropriate understanding of the dangers of gangs and knife crime.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In the early years, some staff do not have the expertise to support children's learning in all areas well enough.

As a result, some children are not prepared as well as they could be for future learning. Leaders should ensure that all staff in the early years have the necessary knowledge and expertise, including in writing, so that children develop detailed knowledge and skills across the whole curriculum. ? Leaders' work on improving pupils' attendance has not yet had an impact on improving attendance for pupils who do not attend school regularly.

These pupils, therefore, miss out on important learning. Leaders should continue to work with pupils and their families to improve attendance.

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

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

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2014.