Brookside Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 September 2022

At Brookside, every child is a valued member of the community. Staff make sure that everyone can join in special occasions, such as sleepovers at school. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Some pupils attend the specialist provision, known as 'The Riverbank'. They flourish in this setting and in the classes that they join. Parents praise the progress that they make. Staff know the pupils really well. All pupils can explain who they could tell if they were worried about anything. They say that when things go wrong, adults do sort the problem out. Pupils find it hard to recall any bullying but clearly understand what it is. The playground is a happy place to be. Pupils are proud of the range of languages that their peers know. They like the fact that many faiths are represented. Pupils say, 'It would be boring if we were all the same!' They look forward to learning more about different cultures. Leaders have made some changes to the curriculum. They want every child, including those with SEND, to read really well by the time they leave. There is still some work to do to embed these new approaches.

What the school should improve

• There is an ambitious new curriculum in place for the teaching of phonics. However, it is not yet fully embedded. Leaders should ensure that all staff get the chance to become early reading experts. They should deepen staff knowledge of precisely how the new curriculum should be implemented so that pupils become fluent early readers who understand what they are reading.
• In a few subjects, the sequence of learning still needs to be refined. Pupils do not always connect their current learning with what they learned before. Leaders should ensure that staff have the chance to develop their subject knowledge further. They should make sure that subject leaders continue to check what pupils recall and continue to refine the curriculum.
• Some of the checks that those responsible for governance make have lacked rigour. They have not checked as well as they could that the actions that leaders are taking are making the difference that they want to see. Those responsible for governance should continue to challenge the information that they are given. They should make sure that that the new systems that they are introducing are checked robustly.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)