- The school keeps pupils safe. Pupils behave well towards each other.
- The recently appointed interim headteacher, with the good support of the local authority, has clear plans to make sure the school improves quickly. Full report In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. What does the school need to do to improve further?
- Quickly improve teaching to raise the achievement of all groups of pupils by making sure that all teachers:
- always have high expectations of how hard pupils should work and what they should achieve
- use assessment information to guide their planning so that work set in lessons is consistently at the right level for all groups of pupils
- set interesting and challenging activities so that pupils do not become distracted and learn well
- check pupils' understanding effectively throughout lessons and adapt their teaching if necessary
- establish clear expectations for spelling, punctuation and grammar for each year group
- plan and teach lessons that build effectively on pupils' existing knowledge, understanding and skills
- give helpful feedback to pupils which enables them to improve and make strong progress.
- Improve leadership and management at all levels by:
- implementing a rigorous and effective system to check all aspects of the school's work, including provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, ensuring that the evaluations are based on pupils' achievement
- ensuring that all teachers develop a good subject knowledge in mathematics
- giving reading a high priority in the school and encouraging pupils' enjoyment of reading
- making sure the curriculum is broad and balanced and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
- Improve the early years by:
- ensuring that children are consistently provided with a range of interesting activities that promote effective learning, particularly in the outdoor area. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school's use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers. Inspection judgements Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate
- Leadership and management are inadequate because leaders have not done enough to improve teaching and raise achievement. Leaders have not generated a culture of high aspirations in the school and have not made sure that all groups of pupils make the progress they should. As a result, the quality of education provided by the school has declined since the previous inspection.
- The leadership of the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is weak. The leader does not make frequent enough checks on the additional support that these pupils should get. For example, although support plans show that some pupils with special educational needs will read every day with an adult, this extra support does not happen. As a result, pupils do not catch up with their reading as they should.
- English and mathematics leaders do not know enough about the pupils' achievement in their subjects. This is because they do not check the quality of work in pupils' books rigorously enough. As a result, they are not well placed to bring about improvements.
- Teachers are given advice about how to improve their teaching but are not always made aware that the progress of pupils in their class is inadequate. This means that teachers have an unrealistic view about the quality and impact of their work.
- The range of subjects taught is not broad enough. Although subject plans, made available to parents on the school's website, show a good variety of activities across different subjects, pupils' books show that this does not happen. As a result, pupils do not get the chance to make good progress or practise their reading, writing or mathematics skills in a range of other subjects.
- While the curriculum contributes appropriately to pupils' personal development, it does not promote pupils' cultural development effectively. Pupils do not learn enough about the different cultures in Britain or about the importance of democracy. This means that they are not well prepared for life in modern Britain.
- Some parents spoken with during the inspection, as well as those who responded to the online questionnaire, show concern about the changes in staff over the last few terms. However, several parents commented on the improvements in communication between home and school since the arrival of the interim headteacher.
- The school supports the personal well-being of pupils effectively. A family liaison officer provides extra support to pupils whose welfare may be causing concern. She meets each week with the interim headteacher to make sure help is provided where it is needed. The school's website gives parents lots of good information about how to keep their child safe and healthy.
- The website also gives good information to parents about how to help their child learn at home. Parents are welcomed at the Friday assembly where they can find out about what their child has been learning and share in the celebration of pupils' work.
- The local authority has provided a great deal of support in order to stop its decline. This has included additional time from consultants, reviews of the school's effectiveness, training for the governing body and the appointment of an interim headteacher. It has also arranged for support from a national leader of education. The impact of this has been limited because, until the arrival of the interim headteacher, leaders did not follow suggested actions in a systematic way.
- The newly appointed interim headteacher works well with the local authority. In the few weeks since taking up her post, she has improved communication with parents and set a clear direction for the school. However, it is too early to see evidence of her impact upon pupils' progress, so the school's current ability to make improvements is not proven.
- The governance of the school
- Governors have undertaken a range of suitable training and now visit the school regularly. Since the arrival of the interim headteacher, they receive good information about how well pupils are learning. As a result, they are increasingly aware of the weaknesses in the school's provision and understand that pupils in the school are underachieving.
- Together with the interim headteacher, the governing body has ensured that teachers have appropriate targets linked to their performance.
- Governors have not paid enough attention to making sure that the curriculum, as it is taught, is broad and balanced or that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain.
- The governing body does not have a clear view of the school's use of additional funding. It has not evaluated the impact of the extra funding it receives to support disadvantaged pupils to make sure it has been used effectively to raise standards. It has not checked that the extra primary physical education and sport funding is being used to raise standards and increase pupils' participation in exercise. Part of the funding is used to help pay for the after-school sports clubs but governors have not checked which groups of pupils are benefiting from them.
- Governors show a commitment to the school but realise that they need to continue to develop in order to contribute fully to rapid school improvement.
- The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. One of the first actions by the interim headteacher was to carry out a full review of the procedures for safeguarding and take any action needed to make sure that appropriate systems are in place and are working well. Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate
- Teaching is inadequate. Too much of the teaching that pupils have experienced since the last inspection has been weak. As a result, all groups of pupils underachieve.
- Teachers' expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. This means that pupils are not given work at the right level and their progress is slow. Teachers do not consistently follow the school's marking policy. They do not make sure pupils always respond to the comments that they make and this slows pupils' learning. Additionally, pupils' work is often poorly presented and teachers do not always follow this up.
- Lessons do not ensure that pupils' understanding, knowledge and skills are built on in a progressive, cohesive way. Pupils' misconceptions are not tackled before pupils move on to more difficult tasks.
- The teaching of mathematics is weak. Teachers do not demonstrate a good knowledge about how to teach mathematics. They do not know where pupils are in their learning or what pupils need to do next to make progress. This means that work set is often not at the right level for pupils. During lessons, teachers do not check how well pupils are learning. This means that some pupils are left to struggle with work they cannot do. More-able pupils have to work through activities that are too easy and often do not get on to the more challenging work.
- The teaching of reading is ineffective. There is not enough good teaching of basic skills and pupils do not practise their reading across different subjects. Pupils who struggle to read are not given the extra help they need to learn to read with fluency and precision. The library is not well used to promote a love of reading. Several pupils who spoke to the inspector said that they do not enjoy reading.
- There is some effective teaching of writing. For example, during the inspection, pupils in Years 5 and 6 used interesting words and phrases to describe a Mayan temple. However, this quality of teaching is not consistent through the school. Teachers do not place enough emphasis on the importance of spelling, grammar and punctuation in lessons, or when marking pupils' work.
- Some teaching assistants provide good support to the pupils they work with. However, the quality of the work they do is not checked often enough to make sure that it always meets the needs of the pupils they support. Personal development, behaviour and welfare requires improvement Personal development and welfare
- The school's work to promote pupil's personal development and welfare requires improvement.
- Pupils do not always show positive attitudes to learning. Some pupils told the inspector that sometimes they become bored in lessons. The presentation of their work shows that they do not always take enough pride in what they do.
- All pupils who spoke to the inspector said that they enjoyed playing with their friends. They like their teachers. Pupils attend regularly and the school acts quickly to support pupils whose attendance starts to slip.
- The breakfast club provides a calm, purposeful start to the day for those pupils who attend. Some pupils in Year 6 also benefit from a breakfast and an extra ?booster? learning session before the start of the school day.
- Pupils understand that there are different types of bullying but are adamant that there is no bullying in school. School records show that bullying is very rare. It is dealt with quickly and appropriately when it does happen.
- Pupils know what to do to keep safe. Pupils told the inspector about the importance of using the internet safely. Pupils feel safe in school and all parents who responded to the online questionnaire or who were spoken with during the inspection agree that the school keeps pupils safe.
- The school's values of friendship, trust, forgiveness and compassion have been introduced recently by the new interim headteacher. Assemblies are used well to promote them. During the inspection, pupils listened carefully to a story about forgiveness and showed how they might forgive their friends when they fall out with each other. Behaviour
- The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
- In lessons, pupils sometimes lose focus and start to chat among themselves. This happens when learning activities do not interest them or are pitched wrongly so that they are too difficult or too easy.
- Pupils behave well in assembly, on the playground and around the school. Pupils like the newly introduced reward system where they can earn the chance of a prize at the end of the school week. Parents spoken with during the inspection said they appreciate the opportunity to attend the weekly assemblies that celebrate pupils' achievements. Outcomes for pupils are inadequate
- Pupils make inadequate progress in all subjects, including reading, writing and mathematics. This is the case for all groups of pupils, including the most able, pupils eligible for additional funding, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Lower-attaining pupils also make slow progress and do not catch up in the way they should. White British pupils and Traveller pupils make similarly slow progress.
- Pupils make significantly slower progress in reading than most other pupils nationally. This means that too few pupils in the school have reading skills that are expected for their age. This is because the teaching of reading has not been effective for some time.
- Pupils' progress in mathematics is also significantly slower than it should be. In 2015 the proportion of achieved the higher level by the end of Year 6 was noticeably less than that seen nationally. Pupils' books show that pupils currently in the school make inadequate progress in mathematics. This means that too few pupils have the mathematical skills appropriate for their age.
- The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check is broadly similar to the national average. This is because effective teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) in the early years is built on steadily in Year 1.
- Some pupils are beginning to make better progress in writing in Years 5 and 6 but this has not been the case since the beginning of term. Pupils' books show that all groups of pupils are underachieving in writing. This is because basic spelling, grammar and punctuation skills are not built on progressively in every year group. Pupils do not write often enough in subjects other than English. Early years provision requires improvement
- Leadership, management and teaching in the early years require improvement because children currently in the Reception year do not make consistently good progress.
- Good support has been provided by an effective teacher from a local school. This has helped the recently appointed teacher establish the indoor provision so that it provides some interesting activities. For example, during the inspection children were enjoying drawing pictures to show a story about a worm. This built well on their experiences of touching worms and talking about how it made them feel. The outside area, however, is not set up to provide a range of interesting activities that support good progress and encourage children to develop independence. Resources such as overalls and boots to wear outside are not arranged so that children can get ready themselves.
- Adults question children well and make appropriate notes in the children's ?learning journals' to record how well children learn. Any additional funding is used well so that disadvantaged children do as well as their peers. However, sometimes time is wasted when children move from one activity to another and this slows their learning.
- Children behave well. They work and play together cooperatively. Children are well cared for and procedures in place to make sure that they are safe are effective. Staff work well with parents to settle children quickly into school life. Parents spoken with during the inspection said they were happy with the way their child had been welcomed into the school.
- Provision in the early years is better than elsewhere in the school because teaching has been stronger here than elsewhere. The majority of children join the school with typical skills for their age. Last year, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development when they left the Reception year was above the national average. This represented good progress from their starting points and prepared children well for Year 1. School details Unique reference number 118703 Local authority Kent Inspection number 10002358 This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4?11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 102 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Rocyn Williams Headteacher Miss Hannah Peaston Telephone number 01797 344335 Website www.brenzett.kent.sch.uk Email address headteacher@brenzett.kent.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 19?20 September 2013 Information about this school
- The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.
- There are four mixed-age classes for the Reception Year and Year 1, Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6.The children in the Reception Year attend full time
- Most pupils are from White British backgrounds. The next largest group is from the Traveller community.
- The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium, which is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and looked after children, is similar to the national average.
- The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is well below average.
- The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
- The school runs a breakfast club. The school also runs after-school sports clubs until 4.30 pm, for which a charge is made. There is a free homework club on a Friday.
- There have been several staff changes since the previous inspection. The headteacher left in September 2015. An interim headteacher was appointed and joined the school at the end of September 2015. She currently works in the school for four days each week. Two new teachers also joined in September 2015.
- The school receives the support of a national leader of education from a nearby school in Hythe: Seabrook Church of England Primary School.
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