Brookside Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 27 January 2026

The staff at Brookside ensure that pupils are welcomed into a calm and caring atmosphere at the start of each day. Pupils, including those in the specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (specially resourced provision), feel valued and safe. The relationships that pupils have with staff are very positive. The school’s approach to dealing with occasional incidents of misbehaviour ensures that pupils are nurtured to treat others with empathy and understanding. Reported incidents of bullying are rare. Should they occur, leaders address them assertively. Pupils enjoy learning, and many attend well. Staff adapt learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who are disadvantaged, to ensure that they study a suitable curriculum. In the specially resourced provision, pupils make positive progress from their starting points because of the way in which staff make learning accessible. Here, there is a clear focus on basic skills and small steps of progress. However, leaders' expectations for the achievement of pupils in the rest of the school, including children in the early years, are not as high as they should be. Tasks are not consistently well matched to children's next steps in the early years. Basic errors in pupils’ writing across the school have not been addressed well enough by leaders and staff. Consequently, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Pupils feel fully involved with the life of the school. Older pupils have responsibilities that enable them to be positive role models in the school community. Leaders' use of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils ensures they access a broad range of experiences. There are opportunities for all pupils, such as playing a musical instrument, tennis lessons and a range of after-school clubs and competitions. The programme for pupils' personal development is a strength of the school. It covers a wide range of aspects in depth so that pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that errors in pupils’ foundational knowledge in writing are addressed effectively at an early stage in their learning so that these errors do not persist.
• In the early years, leaders should ensure that activities and interactions fully promote the intended learning.
• Leaders and governors should address the school's improvement priorities more rapidly to raise the attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 2.

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