Brookfield Specialist School in Hereford ‘requires improvement’ according to a recent Ofsted visit, but it should be noted that this is an improvement on a visit in 2019 when the school was rated as ‘inadequate’.
The recent Ofsted inspection took place on 12th & 13th October 2021 and it was noted that ‘Brookfield is a happy and safe school. High aspirations,
positive relationships and commitment to individual pupils are clear to see. Leaders are focusing on improving the right things at the right time. They know that there is still work to do to improve the school further, such as ensuring that the new curriculum is consistently well delivered.’
The report went on to say that ‘Attendance is getting better but is not yet good enough. Leaders expect pupils to attend school all the time and are having to work hard to get this message across. The COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting some parentsā and pupilsā confidence in coming to school.’
The report went on to say that school requires improvement in the following areas:
ļ® Leaders and staff are at an early stage of implementing the well-planned and sequenced curriculum, and of developing appropriate systems for assessment. They should ensure that the curriculum is fully implemented in all subjects, addressing any gaps in learning, to enable pupils to develop their knowledge and skills over time. Assessment approaches across the curriculum should be clearly set out so that staff are able to identify and address gaps in pupilsā knowledge.
ļ® Some newly appointed governors do not have enough knowledge and
understanding about the curriculum to be able to challenge leaders effectively. The trust should ensure that governors are suitably trained to enable them to challenge and hold leaders to account for their actions.
ļ® Subject leaders are relatively new to their role. They are not yet ensuring that the curriculum is implemented well. Senior leaders should ensure that subject leaders continue to be supported to further develop their role so that they can contribute to whole-school improvement, including monitoring the implementation of the curriculum.
ļ® Attendance is improving but is still low. Leaders should continue their work with pupils and parents to further improve attendance for all pupils.
ļ® Some pupils struggle to regulate their behaviour at certain times. There has been a recent increase in the use of physical interventions. Leaders should make sure that pupils continue to get appropriate support to self-regulate their behaviour so that physical interventions and behaviour incidents reduce.
Overall effectiveness – Requires improvement
The quality of education – Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes – Requires improvement
Personal development – Good
Leadership and management – Requires improvement
Previous inspection grade – Inadequate
The full report can be viewed at – 50172222 (ofsted.gov.uk)
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
