Drapers’ Brookside Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher, leaders and governors are ambitious for pupils and staff and have a compelling vision for the education they want to provide.

They have secured substantial improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils' outcomes across the school. Directors of the multi-academy trust and the local governing body check carefully on all aspects of the school's work. Through robust challenge and support, they make a strong contribution to the school's ongoing improvements.

Pupils make good progress in English and mathematics from below-average starting points. As a result, there has been a sharp rise in standards in the current academic... year across all year groups. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good.

Staff value and benefit from the effective training and support organised by school leaders. Disadvantaged pupils achieve well as a result of good teaching, supported by well-targeted and timely interventions. As a result, differences with other pupils nationally have been diminishing at a fast pace.

Well-planned activities enrich pupils' learning and stimulate their interest. Pupils' personal development and welfare is good. They leave the school well prepared for the next stages of their lives.

Pupils behave well and are eager to learn. There is a strong sense of harmony and respect in this close-knit community. Pupils feel safe.

They know that adults in the school care for them and will help them readily, should they have any concerns. The most able pupils are not challenged consistently well in reading and writing. Teachers do not always move these pupils on to harder tasks when they are ready.

Teaching is not consistently effective in probing the understanding of some boys. Although they made big strides this year, their rate of progress remains slower than that of girls. Pupils have fewer opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in some subjects, other than English and mathematics.

Although attendance shows improvement, it remains below the national average.

Information about this school

The school is average in size. The school became an academy in July 2014 and is part of a multi-academy trust with six other schools.

It is co-sponsored by the Drapers' Company and Queen Mary University. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above that found nationally.

Most pupils are from White British backgrounds, but the proportion of pupils from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds is rising. The proportion of pupils speaking English as an additional language is below average and few are at an early stage of learning English. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The current headteacher has led the school since September 2014, in the first two years as part of a service level agreement, and as a substantive headteacher since September 2016.

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