School Year September 2012 – July 2013
School:BrookeSchool / Date:11th July 2013 / Visit Length: 3 ½ hours / Present:HT/SIP/SLT
Main focus:
Leadership & Management
Overall Effectiveness / Focus of next visit:
Attainment and Progress
Literacy Policy and the teaching of reading
Notes on main focus:
There was a discussion about the recently introduced dress code for staff – this is not compulsory for adults in the school but many are choosing to wear the different coloured polo shirts.Each team of adults wears a different colour and this serves to help pupils at Brooke understand the different roles people have in school. They all know that they can turn to these adults for support as required. There are opportunities to support pupils to understand the need to dress appropriately for specific purposes and this will be used when preparing the older pupils when they are working in the coffee shop or the farm as part of the enrichment activities and wider opportunities for learning that BrookeSchool offers to its pupils. The Senior Leadership is ambitious for its pupils and offers an increasingly wide range of on and off site curriculum experiences. The school has accurately identified that there is a need for appropriate further education opportunities for some pupils with complex needs and is investigating how, through partnership work with a local FE provider, this gap might be filled.
Many pupils have opportunities for integration experiences with a range of local schools and the school also hosts learning experiences for children from mainstream schools.
Achievement and Progress Update
Although the visit took place before a complete analysis of the end of year pupil attainments had taken place, early indications are that achievement has improved and self evaluation judgement is likely to be moved to good. The senior leadership are fully aware of the importance of rigorous moderation processes that are undertaken in cross school groups as well as within the school and seek opportunities for external validation of teacher judgments. Feedback from a recent inter school moderation session in Warwickshire confirmed that school judgements are accurate. The school will investigate requesting a visit from an experienced Early Years Consultant who could be commissioned to support the school to move forward with the moderation of judgements within the early years phase.
Interventions are well documented and costed. They need to be analysed for impact and the school is keen to explore ways to gather “softer” progress measures. The SIP recommends introducing exit interviews at the end of an intervention (or phase in the school). This will be an area of focus in the Autumn Term visit.
Joint Evaluation Activity (Key Stage 4 and 5 Production – Alice Who?)
The SIP joined the audience of the daytime performance of this show. High levels of engagement and enthusiasm from everyone involved contributed to an unforgettable experience for many of the young people. Pupils were confident and performances were excellent. The enthusiasm of everyone was very impressive and everyone will have lasting memories of this special show. The performance illustrated the essence of BrookeSchool as a place where “we believe we can do it”. There were opportunities for everyone to write a short comment about the performance and this will help pupils’ to recognise their achievements.
Leadership and Management
The school currently judge s leadership and management to have moved to good and there is strong evidence to support this judgement. Leadership at all levels is highly ambitious and an increasingly strong profile of teaching, coupled with an improving profile of achievement should lead to this judgement being secure in the early part of the new school year.Leaders are clear about the impact their role is having on raising standards. School leaders hold each other to account well and ensure they have evidence for making their judgements. Subject Leader roles are developing well. The headteacher is keen to further support the leaders and managers to accurately assess teaching and will consider additional training in this area.Information from Governors’ meetings confirms that whilst they fulfil their support and challenge role effectively they are keen to further extend their ability to hold the school leaders to account and may benefit from further support to enable them to do this even more effectively. One way that this will be achieved is by ensuring that the cycle of SIP visits complements the Governors’ focus on an aspect of School Improvement at their meetings.
Overall effectiveness
The school judges this to be good and providing that achievement is as strong as it appears to be then there will be evidence for this. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very well supported with many aspects of this work celebrated on the school’s website.
School Priorities (including any Ofsted key issues)
- To ensure outstanding learning through BrookeSchool.
- To ensure that by 2015 all children or students are making upper quartile progress.
- To ensure that by 2015 all children have access to a skills based creative curriculum that ensures progression and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
- To ensure that by 2015 attendance stays above 95% and that all children and students are able to maintain high levels of concentration, interaction and mutual respect in the school community.
(from Ofsted report January 2011)
- Improve the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in Key Stages 2 and 3, so that all lessons are at least good or better by July 2011, by:-
ensuring that activities are always well matched to the needs and capabilities of all the pupils
raising expectations among middle managers and teachers of the levels pupils can reach
ensuring that all teaching assistants are well briefed so that they promote learning as effectively as possible.
- Improve the quality of communication between staff and pupils by:
providing training for staff on the importance of additional cues for all pupils and especially for those who have difficulties in understanding spoken language
undertaking regular monitoring visits to ensure that good standards of communication are maintained.
The SIP judges that, in those areas that have been discussed and reviewed during the visits the school is making at good progress against these priorities.
Agreed Actions: / Who: / When:
- Send details of the Making our own way project to SIP
- Provide SEF guidance booklet
- Provide details of Cambridge Education training providers
School Improvement Partner Report
Autumn 2012/Spring 2013
ACHIEVEMENT & PROGRESS / The school’s judgement is that achievement across the school is good (July 2013). / The SIP’s view is that the school has evidence to support a judgement of good progress in many areas. There is likely to be additional eveidence to support a judgement of good once all pupil outcomes have been analysed this summer
(Attainment, Progress, Pupil groups & the
closing of any performance gaps, Key skills)
QUALITY OF TEACHING / The school’s judgement is that teaching is good across the schooll (March 2013). / The SIP judges that teaching may well be good over time.
(Pace of progress, Expectations, Subject knowledge, Additional
Support, Reading, Marking, Assessment)
BEHAVIOUR & SAFETY / The school judges this to be at least good with elements of outstanding practice (July 2013). / This will be formally evaluated on a future visit by the SIP.
(Management of behaviour, Attitudes to learning, Safety
Freedom from bullying, Attendance)
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT / The school judges this to be good (July 2013). / There is evidence to support this judgement and will be confirmed in the light of pupil outcomes (July 2013)
(L&M across the school, Leading/Managing the improvement of
T&L, Safeguarding, Self-evaluation & school improvement,
Governance, Curriculum, Engaging with parents/carers)
SMSC
(The quality of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social & cultural development) / The school judges this to be an area of strength. / There is strong evidence to support this judgement (July 2013).
OVERALLEFFECTIVENESS / The school judges this to be good (July 2013). / There is evidence to support this judgement and will be confirmed in the light of pupil outcomes (July 2013)
School Comments