The New Broadwalk is a school which requires improvement.
Overall effectiveness: how good is the school? 3
Main findings |
| Pupils described their school as a happy and safe place. They told inspectors that staff help them to improve their attitudes to learning. Leaders deal with problems, including bullying, swiftly and effectively. |
| Pupils benefit from the support of staff, who get to know them well in a short space of time. This helps pupils to rebuild confidence in themselves. Pupils learn to trust adults. Their attendance improves. Pupils learn the importance of building strong relationships with their peers. |
| Leaders have thought carefully about the design of the curriculum in response to pupils’ additional needs. Leaders expect pupils to catch up with learning that they have missed due to being excluded or absent from their previous schools. |
| Leaders make sure that staff have a clear understanding of the additional vulnerabilities that pupils have as a result of their SEND. Staff are vigilant in identifying the potential safeguarding risks that pupils face. Leaders respond appropriately to the concerns that staff raise about pupils. Leaders make sure that pupils receive the support that they need to stay safe. Pupils learn how to keep themselves and others safe while they are online or in their wider community. For example, they learn about the risks associated with drugs or knife crime and how to access suitable help. |
| Pupils benefit from some of the learning that leaders have planned for their personal development. For example, pupils reflect on moral dilemmas, and topical issues affecting the environment. Pupils learn about looking after their own health and well-being. They understand how to keep themselves safe, especially in their relationships with others. However, leaders do not provide pupils with a suitable programme of careers education. There are limited opportunities for pupils to develop their own interest and talents. This means that pupils’ preparation for their next stages of learning and adulthood is not as effective as it could be. |
The New Broadwalk is a GOOD school
The school’s capacity for sustained improvement: 2
Teaching and support staff work extremely well together. They ensure that their classrooms are bright and welcoming. Pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development is promoted well. For example, pupils who were spoken to explained that they know and understand the school’s agreed code of conduct. They work hard to gain points for good attitudes and behaviour. They learn about the importance of respect and tolerance for staff and for each other. They develop their social skills when catering for the local community during planned coffee mornings.
There is a clear emphasis on the importance of attending school and lessons. The attendance of most pupils improves significantly compared to when they were in their previous schools. Inspectors observed pupils settling quickly to their work with good attitudes to learning. Teachers and support staff are very skilled in assessing pupils’ learning abilities and then planning programmes to meet their individual needs. As a result, there is a good balance between the level of support they give and the extent to which they challenge each pupil in their learning.
Pupils enjoy learning. They are confident when reading out aloud in class, for example when studying ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Dickens. They make progress in their reading after being assessed on arrival at the school. They respond well to staff enactment and modelling of characters’ speech and intonation when reading from a shared text. Teaching support staff help to engage pupils, such as when they are learning about how to use a protractor when measuring different angles.
The core skills of reading, writing and mathematics are promoted well through other subjects. For example, pupils studying Victorian London showed imagination and creativity when designing colourful and informative posters and displays. Staff ensure that any errors in workbooks across different subjects, for example in spelling, are picked up and shared with pupils.