Barnham Broom Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where pupils feel safe and concerns are acted on.
• Pupils behave well, are polite and respectful, and contribute to a calm, orderly school culture.
• Attendance is in line with the national average, with effective support for pupils with poor attendance histories or complex needs.
• Personal development is a strength, with broad opportunities in music, sport, the arts, clubs and educational visits.
• The choir and Year 6 production are valued by the community and give pupils opportunities to perform.
• Pastoral support and nurturing relationships help pupils feel safe, happy and included.
• Pupils take on responsibilities such as school and eco councils, and older pupils support younger children.
• The PSHE curriculum prepares pupils well for life beyond school, including online safety, relationships, mental health and financial skills.
• Reading is well taught: phonics is well sequenced, catch-up is effective, and pupils become confident readers.
• Pupils enjoy and achieve better in subjects such as history and science, with improving recall, discussion and extended writing.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of strengths and areas for improvement and have made purposeful plans.
• Governors know the school well, provide support and challenge, and monitor safeguarding, attendance and disadvantaged pupils effectively.
• The school has an inclusive culture and provides effective support for pupils with the greatest needs, including through an effective pupil premium strategy.
• Children settle quickly into Reception through strong transition work with families and warm, nurturing interactions.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement in mathematics and writing is below the national average, with gaps in basic skills and knowledge slowing progress.
• Some pupils lack fluency with number facts and secure understanding of place value in mathematics.
• Some pupils do not develop secure transcription and sentence construction skills in writing.
• Curriculum and teaching in early writing and early mathematics are less effective and do not consistently provide high-quality modelling, explanation and repeated practice.
• Some pupils and children in the early years develop gaps in mathematical understanding and early writing.
• Early years teaching quality varies, and adults do not consistently model learning precisely or maintain high expectations.
• Children are not always taught secure letter formation through clear modelling and feedback.
• Classroom routines in some early years lessons are not consistently well established, reducing participation and practice.
• Classroom routines are not always precise enough to maximise learning time, and pupils do not always take sufficient pride in presentation and care of work.
• Inclusion requires attention: SEND guidance is not yet implemented consistently, and classroom adaptations vary in quality.
• Training, coaching and monitoring to help staff implement SEND adaptations are at an early stage.
• Leaders' improvement plans are at an early stage and have not yet secured consistently high-quality educational experiences.
• Leaders have not had consistent opportunities to provide regular feedback to staff on refining teaching.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are well below national averages across reading, writing and mathematics.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools