Frequently Asked Questions

We have extensive information on what is taught in each year for each subject on our Curriculum Overview page.

Our GCSE results over many years have been very good, resulting in Brookfield being one of the highest achieving schools in Hampshire. This is because, at Brookfield. there is a positive learning environment, with great teachers and hard-working students.  

Teachers will ensure that the learning environment is focussed and will teach carefully sequenced lessons that enable students to secure key learning before moving on.  Strategies used in the classroom are those that the evidence tells us have the most impact on learning and include: teachers modelling how to do something live whilst explaining their thinking process as they do it; recall activities - where knowledge is revisited to help embed it in the long-term memory; and guided and independent practice - where students are supported with a skill until they are ready to undertake it on their own. 

We have introduced our Brookfield ‘common language’, key words focussed on learning, which enable teachers and students to talk more knowledgeably about how learning happens.  We want to equip our students with an understanding of the techniques and practices that enable them to learn best and allow them to continue as effective learners for the rest of their lives.

We believe it is important for students to have ambitious but achievable GCSE targets, and for students to know if they are achieving in line with their own ability.  All Year 7 students  have GCSE Target Bands, which comprise two grades, for instance a target band may be grade 6-7.  Targets are typically based on KS2 scores in English and Maths because success in these subjects has proven nationally to be an effective indicator for most other subjects. As students move into Year 9 we then set targets as a single grade. 

Our targets are challenging however, we would never want a student to feel any distress because they are not reaching their targets, or indeed to feel uninspired because the targets feel too low.  In either case we are happy to adjust targets based following discussions with the student, parents and teachers.

Brookfield is a large school with 1820 students, however we make our school feel smaller by using our House system. We have 7 Houses, each led by a House Leader, with approximately 260 students split equally between year groups. Within each House there are 11 vertical tutor groups of about 25 students, each comprising of approximately 5 students in each year group. This enables the tutor (and House Leader) to work with a small number of students in each year group, and therefore be able to support them in their phase of the school (e.g. Year 9s selecting option subjects, Year 7s making the transition into Brookfield from their junior school, Year 11s focusing on revision).

The vertical tutor group structure enables cross year working usually in the form of family groups. It also provides opportunities for older students to mentor and support younger students developing their leadership skills whilst allowing younger students to seek support and advice from the older students. The tutor group meet every day for a 25 minute Personal Development (PD) session.  The structure of our house system allows students to have a sense of belonging to their family group, PD group, their house and the school as a whole.

Despite out size of the school site, at break and lunchtimes there are many spaces that students can enjoy including some specific areas for younger students only. The landscaping and canopy areas enable students to comfortably enjoy their break and lunchtime with their friends. Additionally, there are 6 locations that food can be bought across the school site.

Students may also take the opportunity to join clubs at lunchtime and after school enables students to develop themselves and meet other young people.

As discussed above, the House system and the vertical tutor grouping supports the cross-year group working. In tutor groups, students will work in “family groups” where there is one student from each year group working together. Competitions between PD groups and houses foster cross-year relationships. Our Friday PD sessions are more flexible, with students having an input into the activities they do. All of these activities will develop personal characteristics of respectfulness, resilience, leadership, self-confidence and kindness. The focus of flexible Friday is around “better together” again enabling students to have a sense of belonging to their family group PD group and their house.

All subject evenings are in the calendar at the start of the year. These are an opportunity for teachers to speak to each teacher of their child about progress in each subject. These occur once per year, and twice in Year 10, and are supplemented by tutor evenings, and the Year 7 maths and English subject evening, where Year 7 parents have the opportunity to talk to the tutor of their child, and to their maths and English teacher respectively.

Subject evenings provide time to speak to each of the child’s teachers, so collectively there can be 10 or more separate appointments on an evening, which we currently run online via video call which facilitates an efficient experience.

To supplement these scheduled opportunities to speak to staff, Brookfield quite unusually permits direct access to staff via email at all times, so questions or concerns, or even positive messages can be communicated at any point, rather than waiting for a scheduled event.  We do of course ask that a reasonable period is granted for staff to respond, as naturally the children in their lessons and PD groups will take priority during the day. 

At Brookfield we expect all students to be ready to learn, be respectful to themselves and others and to be responsible for their actions.

When students fall short of these three expectations, we have a firm and fair sanction process, together with supporting students to modify their behaviour for the future. We will always offer support in various forms and may offer restorative conversations so that there is understanding and reconciliation.

In the classroom we have a 4-step escalation process - the student will be reminded, then given a warning, will be moved in the classroom (and a behaviour point given), then relocated to another classroom (and a detention given). We also have guidelines that categorise behaviours and their appropriate sanction to ensure that we are fair and consistent across staff.

There are different sanctions that can be put in place. In the first instance this may be a behaviour point, and these are logged on EduLink. Parents can access this information at any time. There are 20 minute after school detentions for not meeting the school expectations. This can escalate to a 1hr 15min SLT detention usually within the same week. Within all the detentions there is a restorative element where a reflection sheet is completed or a restorative conversation is had with the teacher.  This aims to ensure student reflect on their behaviour and can plan to preventing further similar issues. There are also detentions that happen at break or lunchtime for reasons such as lateness, or behaviour at unstructured time (outside of the classroom).

There are more serious sanctions such as supervision (supervised learning and working with a member of staff, not in the normal classroom) and suspension (not being allowed into school and working from home during school hours).

Behaviour at Brookfield is very good, and a large many of our visitors’ feedback to us to say that the school is calm, even though we have a large number of students on site. Students understand the 3 expectations at school, to “Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Responsible”. However, we have 1820 students aged between 11-16 years and therefore sometimes things will happen. We deal with these situations quickly and effectively.

In every school there will be occasions of unkindness, usually from friendship breakdowns. In every school there will also be some bullying, however we will deal with this in a quick and efficient manner.

Each year we celebrate anti-bullying week, focusing on empowering our students on how to avoid bullying type behaviours. We also promote anti-bullying themes throughout the school tear through various mediums including, but not limited to our PSHE curriculum, PD assemblies, student leadership team, and student voice. Further information regarding our approach to anti-bullying can be found on our Parent Portal which is accessible by parents/carers of Brookfield students. (email parentportal@brookfield.hants.sch.uk)

There is access to toilets before, during and at the end of the school day. We aim that students use the toilets before school, at break and lunch time and after school, to ensure they do not miss any learning in their lessons. However, there will be times that a student may need the toilet during lesson time and teachers will allow this. It is marked on the register as a “4” and as parents you will be able to see this on EduLink. Teachers will use professional judgement to ensure a student is not using this as a reason to miss their learning.

Our younger year groups (Year 7 and 8) have specific toilets they can use solely, however, these year groups do still have a choice to use any toilet around the school site. The entrance doors to the communal areas of each set of toilets are latched open, to ensure that we are we can monitor the toilets without compromising students privacy. We have CCTV on the entrances to the toilets and the communal wash hand basins. We have allocated duty staff outside the toilets at break and lunchtime to ensure they are used appropriately by students.

Vaping by young people is a national issue, and accordingly we have vape-detectors in some of our toilets, with a program of installation into every toilet. There are strong sanctions and targeted educational work that are taken if a student vapes on the school site.

At Brookfield we give the opportunity to contact teachers and other members of staff directly. This is not always the case in many schools. This gives you direct communication with the staff that you may need to speak to. However, we recognise that many staff have a full commitment of teaching, and other responsibilities, therefore we always state that we will respond as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours.

A child has a special educational need or disability (SEND) if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them, in addition to what is provided for their other peers. SEND can affect a child’s ability to learn and influence the way they learn best.

Children may have other learning needs outside of SEND such as English as their second language or due to missing time in education for various reasons. The SEND and Pastoral Support Teams also provide support for children who are Looked After, Previously Looked After and those with medical needs.

The SEND Team is central within the whole school curriculum in supporting and enhancing children’s learning. Alongside our teaching staff, the SEND Team seek to meet the needs of individuals by identifying barriers to learning and implementing appropriate intervention strategies to overcome these barriers.

This can broadly affect their:

• Ability to understand/process information socially, and in learning.
• Reading, writing and numeracy skills.
• Ability to concentrate and focus on a task.
• Emotional or mental health: difficulty maintaining a positive self-esteem and feelings, leading to anxiety or low mood.
• Behaviour: difficulty learning to regulate their emotions; and challenges in social situations and the way they talk to adults and other children.
• Sensory and/or physical ability, including visual, hearing, motor coordination and spatial awareness skills.

Full information about SEND can be found in the Brookfield SEND Information Report.

Additionally, all information on Brookfield SEND can be found on our SEND web page. 

There is an extensive offer of co-curricular clubs that students can attend after school or at lunch time. These clubs are all detailed on our web site (see the link below). Throughout the academic year there may be different clubs offered. This changing offer reflects the sports seasons and local leagues as well as seasonal school events. Attending one or more of our co-curricular clubs is a great opportunity for any child to develop their personal characteristics, to learn new skills and learn new friends with whom they share a common interest.

The list of current clubs can be found on our Co-curriculum Enrichment web page.

A trusted adult, is a member of staff at school, with whom your child feels confident speaking to and about any concerns they may have. This is usually their tutor, as this is in most cases their first point of contact, and they are someone your child will see every day at school during their PD session. As part of their role, your child`s tutor will check on their wellbeing and they will have regular discussions with them regarding their school experience. Where needed your child`s tutor may pass their concern on to your child`s House Leader and wider pastoral team, this is to ensure that appropriate action can be taken to resolve the issue.

It is important that students are punctual to all lessons. Punctuality is an important life skill that not only supports learning for students, it also ensures they are prepared for the world beyond Brookfield. The start of all lessons will be reviewing previous learning, practising recall of information, or stating a new topic with new information. Therefore, it is vital that students do not miss out on these important learning elements. 

In the morning the first school bell will ring at 8.25am, and this will indicate when students move to their period 1 lesson. All students should be on site by 8.25am at the latest, and preferably by 8.20am. If a student is not in their first lesson by 8.30am then a late mark “L” will be indicated on their register for this lesson.

For those that arrive through the school gates after 8.25am, it is unlikely they will be able to arrive at their lesson on time, and they will inevitably be late. It is important that students arrive on time each morning.

Any lesson that a student is late will be indicated by an “L” on the register, alongside this there will usually be details how many minutes late they were. Parents/ carers can view this information on EduLink.

If a student is late 3 times or more for a particular subject, then their subject teacher will set a 20-minute after school detention. For students who are persistently late we will have discussions with them regarding this and we will consider what appropriate support is required alongside any escalation of sanctions. We expect our students to be on time every time to their lessons.

We want to see all our students at school every day, however we do understand that there are times when this is not possible due to reasons such as illness or medical appointments. The Government sets an expectation of at least 95% attendance, and we will always strive as a school to meet this. We know that the only way to do this is through positive relationships with parents, consistent messages from home and school and through sharing information, concerns and worries.

Our attendance team is always available to have discussions with parents, and we will regularly share information with you on your child`s attendance rates. However, you are able to see this on EduLink.   

As a school we will always give the benefits of high attendance and this will include

• Academic success. Research consistently shows that students with high attendance rates achieve better results. Any absence can create gaps in understanding.
• Building character and well-being. Being present at school is not only about academics; it also fosters the development of essential characteristics such as resilience, self-confidence, and leadership. Moreover, daily interactions with peers and teachers contribute positively to your child’s emotional well-being.
• Providing support. Our school environment is designed to provide both pastoral and academic support. By attending school regularly, your child will benefit from the guidance and resources both available in the classroom, and by our extensive pastoral team.

We will also provide information on attendance percentages and how these equivalate to days and lessons missed over the academic year of 190 days 

The front gates provide a controlled access during the school day and provide students and staff a safer environment. A perimeter fence and controlled access in common in many primary and secondary schools.

In the morning the pedestrian and vehicle gates will close by 8.25am. This ensures that students are on site at the latest by 8.25am, and preferably by 8.20am, and gives them enough time to get to their period 1 lesson starting at 8.30am.

In the afternoon the vehicle gate will open at 3.30pm. With the end of the school day being 2.40pm and 2.45pm, having the vehicle gates closed will provide a safer environment for those walking across the pedestrian crossings in our car parks, and students leaving after our co-curricular clubs. Community users of our facilities, at the earliest will arrive by 3.30pm.

You can enter the school site when the gates are closed (8.25am and 3.30pm) if there is a need, such as dropping something off for your child or a prearranged visit / meeting. To enter the school site, you would use the intercom on the main pedestrian gate or the car park gate and speak to our receptionist team.    

If there is a temporary need for you to use the vehicle gate within school times, please contact our reception team, who will forward your request to the appropriate team, and then if agreed can discuss with you how this would work.