Brotherton & Byram – is a GOOD school!

In an almost unprecedented amount of time, we are delighted to announce that following our inspection at the end of March 2014, we have been judged by Ofsted to be a GOOD school in all areas.

In our school, we passionately believe all children have the entitlement to an education that is of high quality and offers them the best opportunities both during their time here and in the future. In less than a year the school has transformed from being a school in special measures to being judged as good on all counts – a remarkable speed of improvement.

Our school  is now a place where the whole school community pulls together, where teaching is good and getting better, where children are happy to come to school and find lessons exciting, where attendance and behaviour have vastly improved and where families are proud to send their sons and daughters.

“This is an exceptional achievement,” said County Councillor Arthur Barker, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Schools. “We work hard in this county to create a sense of partnership and teamwork so that schools, parents, governors and the authority can all work together to create the highest standards of education possible for our children. Staff and the whole community at Brotherton and Byram  must be congratulated for these dramatic improvements at the school on every level.”

Inspectors stated that ‘pivotal’ to the school’s journey out of special measures was the headteacher’s high expectations and a “determination to provide all pupils with the very best educational experiences”.  Ofsted noted that staff members at all levels, along with the governing body, also share the headteacher’s ambitions for the school and said that improvement is sustainable.

As a result of hard work and high ambition over the past months the school has now achieved the following:

.Classes that are exciting and interesting places to learn with activities that “keep pupils on their toes”;

Rapid improvements to teaching – the majority is now good with a whole – school focus on making teaching “the best that it can be”;

The attainment of Year 6 pupils in 2013 above average in all subjects; significantly high numbers of pupils exceeding expectations, particularly in reading;

Pupil behaviour good with dramatically improved attitudes to learning over the past year;

Pupil attendance improving term on term with persistent absence dramatically reduced;

Very productive relationships with parents and carers, including grandparents;

Increased opportunities in physical activities with a specialist coach, competitions with other schools in a variety of sports such as netball, gymnastics and tag rugby and skiing lessons for year 4 pupils at the local facility in Castleford.

The appointment of a home/school pastoral manager for the school to develop direct links with families and the creation of a “Hub” as a family room in the school where pupils can also go to discuss their feelings with a dedicated member of staff, has also had a significantly positive impact.  Relationships generally have improved and behaviour is better all round.

Gail Brown said the most important development was the creation of a good team ethic where accountability was everyone’s responsibility. Respect for others and the development of self-esteem now underpinned the school’s relentless drive to raise standards of teaching and learning at every level: “We are already on the journey to becoming outstanding.  We value everybody’s contribution to this journey – children, parents, local authority, teachers and all our support staff – and we are backed by a governing body that is passionate about the school”.