Tudor Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership in special educational needs and its impact on teaching and learning by:
  • allocating sufficient time for the special needs coordinator to contribute to the plans for pupils’ support packages and to check the quality of teaching and learning of all pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • ensuring that the special needs coordinator is familiar with the school’s information and nationally published data about pupils’ learning and attendance
  • providing expert guidance and training for all staff who teach pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Ensuring that pupils make as much progress in other subjects as they do in English, mathematics and science by:
  • devising and implementing an effective and manageable system for gathering information about pupils’ progress towards the targets set in the national curriculum for each subject
  • using information about pupils’ achievement in each subject to identify strengths in teaching and where it can be improved
  • raising expectations for pupils to consistently apply their knowledge, skills and understanding of literacy when they write about what they have learned in other subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The new headteacher and the deputy headteacher set high expectations for all pupils to achieve well both academically and in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Their ambition has been pivotal in moving the school forward rapidly. They are determined in their approach to improving the quality of teaching, learning and safeguarding and they lead by example.
• Overwhelmingly positive feedback from the staff questionnaire and Parent View is testament to the leadership team’s strong leadership. Staff feel valued, are well supported and are proud to work at the school. Without exception, all staff members who wrote a comment in the staff questionnaire attributed the rapid improvements that the school is making to the headteacher’s inspiring leadership.
• Staff are receiving good-quality training and development to develop their professional skills. Effective support packages are designed for staff needing extra help.
• Leadership is incisive. Decisions taken to make changes are based on secure evidence gathered about the school’s performance. Internal evaluation of the school’s work is accurate. Priorities selected for action in the school’s future strategic plans are the right ones moving forward. Teaching is monitored rigorously and staff’s performance is formally appraised annually.
• The headteacher has raised staff’s awareness and understanding of the pupil premium. There have been large-scale changes to the deployment of adults and to the provision of resources to achieve better outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. The impact of this is already apparent. For example, Year 5 and Year 6 disadvantaged pupils’ access to a new breakfast club has demonstrably improved their attendance and punctuality and contributes to their good progress.
• Pupils are accessing a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain and promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. It is currently under review to link subjects together in themes with the intention of providing pupils with a rounded learning experience that captures their interests and increases their engagement even more.
• Use of the physical education and sport premium is under review. Currently it funds staff to provide extra-curricular clubs and to enable pupils to take part in inter-school competitive sports. The school is seeking to recruit a good-quality sports coach to further extend provision and further increase participation rates.
• The school has a good reputation among parents. Almost all of the respondents to Parent View would recommend the school to another parent. Staff commented that, ‘Parents are delighted with Reading Drive’. This provides them with regular opportunities to come into school to share a book with their children in the morning. The new parent–school contact book enables those parents who may not be able to come into school to retain regular contact.

Governance of the school

• Governance is improving rapidly.
• Governors are well informed about their roles and responsibilities in ensuring that statutory requirements are met. They are strong supporters of the school and ambitious for continuous improvement.
• The new chair of the governing body has undertaken extensive training to support her in fulfilling the role effectively. Similarly, safeguarding training has ensured that the governor responsible for monitoring safeguarding is up to date with current statutory guidance.
• The governing body elected to undertake an external review of governance, which is currently under way. This is typical of governors’ commitment to developing their knowledge, skills and understanding of the role. They are keen to address quickly any weaknesses that the review identifies.
• All governors know the school well and visit regularly to look at progress towards targets set in the school’s plans for improvement.
• Governors are familiar with internal information about pupils’ achievement and other data that enables them to compare pupils’ performance with that of other pupils nationally.
• Spending of pupil premium and the physical education and sport premium is monitored diligently. Governors are rigorous in keeping up to date with the achievement of disadvantaged pupils who are a target group for improvement. A governor has taken on the role of pupil premium governor, with direct responsibility for keeping a watchful eye on the progress that disadvantaged pupils are making.
• Scrutiny of minutes of governing body meetings shows that governors have become increasingly confident in holding leaders to account for pupils’ achievement. They provide leaders with support and challenge in equal measure.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The designated safeguarding lead is properly trained to fulfil the role. The school’s systems and record keeping are of high quality to ensure that no pupils slip through the net.
• Leaders have created a culture of shared responsibility for everyone to safeguard pupils. Safeguarding is seen as an essential priority by everyone. A staff member commented that, ‘staff at Tudor take the safety of children very seriously and follow the policy’. The safeguarding governor checks that this is sustained.
• Following useful advice from the local authority to strengthen safeguarding arrangements, leaders and governors have made essential adjustments to ensure that safeguarding meets requirements. Parents are supportive of the current arrangements.
• The safeguarding policy has been updated and it is implemented consistently. The policy reflects the latest guidance from the Department for Education.
• The single central record of statutory checks on all staff and adults working with pupils is completed properly to ensure their suitability to work with children. Requirements for recruiting staff are followed carefully and documents to evidence this are held securely in staff files.
• Staff receive regular training and updates about safeguarding to ensure that they are kept informed of any key changes. All staff and governors have received training in the ‘Prevent’ duty to ensure that they are alert to possible signs of radicalisation and extremism.
• Staff log their concerns about potentially vulnerable pupils in writing and the designated lead takes action quickly to follow these up. The designated lead retains an overview of every action taken to ensure that referrals and actions are completed on time.
• Confidential information is kept in good chronological order for easy access and retrieval of information.
• Monitoring of health and safety is robust to minimise risks to pupils’ safety.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in music, history, science, and art and design as well as in English and mathematics. They also looked at a wide selection of written work in all year groups. Overall, they were good and strongest in the early years and upper key stage 2.
• Evidence showed that good teaching in English and mathematics is enabling most pupils to gain ground in their learning rapidly from very low starting points at the beginning of the school year.
• Teachers are making good use of their handbook for assessment to support their curriculum planning in English and mathematics. They know precisely what pupils already understand and can do so that they can plan what they need to learn next. They set work at the right level of difficulty for pupils with differing needs and abilities, including the most able pupils, and provide them with useful feedback about how they can improve.
• Teachers regularly discuss with senior leaders the progress that individuals and groups of pupils are making in English and mathematics. This identifies any pupils who are falling behind. Extra help is arranged quickly.
• In the absence of a system for gathering information about how well pupils are learning in subjects other than English, mathematics, science and computing, teachers do not have the same good knowledge of pupils’ progress and attainment over time.
• Teachers ensure that pupils are learning all that they should in each subject. However, they are inconsistent in checking that pupils’ written work in other subjects mirrors the standards they achieve in English.
• Relationships are strong in all classes and this lends confidence to pupils’ learning. Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well so that learning proceeds without interruption. Pupils work hard because staff expect them to.
• Phonics is taught systematically from the early years onwards. The impact of effective phonics teaching is evident in most pupils’ proficiency in applying their knowledge to read and write unfamiliar words.
• Teachers further extend pupils’ reading skills through regular timetabling dedicated to the teaching of reading. They choose literature that interests pupils and challenge them by drawing out their own ideas and understanding of the text. New stock in the library and a new reading scheme provide pupils with a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books to choose from.
• Effective leadership of mathematics is helping teachers to develop their confidence and skills in teaching pupils how to solve problems and apply reasoning skills. This is work in progress. Teachers use practical equipment and images well to support pupils’ learning in mathematics. They use questioning effectively to probe pupils’ thinking and understanding.
• Specialist intensive teaching for pupils who speak English as an additional language supports their learning well and enables them to make good progress.
• Teachers take responsibility for planning additional provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This enables these pupils to make progress but not as much as others are currently. The teacher responsible for special educational needs does not have sufficient time allocated to offering teachers specialist advice in planning their programmes.
• Parents receive regular information about their children’s progress, as confirmed by their responses in Parent View.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils move sensibly around the building and play safely outside. Levels of adult supervision are good at breaktimes. Staff are visible and approachable. First aid is administered promptly when pupils have minor injuries and each incident is recorded carefully and passed on to parents if appropriate.
• Parents, staff and pupils confirmed that safety is a priority at Tudor. Pupils of all ages told inspectors that they feel safe. They have been taught to take three steps if someone upsets them in the playground, starting with ‘stop, I don’t like it’, and ending with, ‘I’m going to tell a teacher’ if the conflict cannot be resolved easily.
• Pupils have an extensive understanding of e-safety. The oldest pupils mentioned that a change of behaviour, feeling depressed or changes in emotions may give rise to a friend being at risk of harm from online activity or cyber bullying. They knew about the potential dangers of the internet, including strangers who may approach boys and girls asking for personal information. Importantly, they knew what to do to seek help.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils show positive attitudes to learning. They enjoy school and look after tools, toys, books and other resources carefully. They listen attentively and follow adults’ instructions quickly, without fuss.
• Pupils of all ages mix with each other well. They show respect towards each other and adults. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through the curriculum. Many of the comments pupils made demonstrated that they are reflective, thoughtful individuals who are prepared well by the school to be good citizens in the future.
• Overall, pupils’ attendance is close to average. In particular, disadvantaged pupils’ attendance is rising rapidly this year when last year it was unacceptably low. Breakfast club, homework club and booster classes especially have all helped to promote their better attendance.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The main reason why outcomes require improvement when other aspects of the school’s work are good is that, overall, pupils’ current attainment is lower than it should be. The better than expected progress that most current pupils are making from low starting points is enabling them to catch up quickly. Consequently, attainment this year is showing consistent improvement in most classes and especially in Years 5 and 6.
• In the 2016 national tests in Year 2, most pupils attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics but too few of the disadvantaged pupils achieved the standard. In Year 6, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics was below average, but an above-average proportion reached the higher standard. The most able pupils achieved well.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ overall performance was below average in 2016. The school’s data shows an expected rise in standards in the 2017 tests in all subjects.
• From different starting points, the current progress made by disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language exceeds expected progress for other pupils nationally. Current progress for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is close to that expected.
• The written work seen in pupils’ topic books often does not mirror their achievement in English and it does not match the good quality of the topic work that is on display. Pupils are not taking enough care in the presentation of their work in their topic books. Many pupils make careless mistakes that they do not make routinely in English.
• Pupils read widely and often. The younger pupils enjoy bringing their parents into school to read with them. This new initiative has been a huge ‘hit’ with parents and pupils alike and adds to their enjoyment in reading.
• Last year, not enough pupils in Year 1 in achieved the expected standard in the national phonics screening check. This year, the school’s assessment figures show that a significant rise is likely.
• Pupils make good progress in computing and science. Outcomes in science last year in Year 2 and Year 6 were average. Pupils also sing beautifully and with gusto.
• Pupils are well prepared for learning in Year 1 when they move from Reception and when they transfer to secondary school at the end of Year 6. Importantly, they read well, which is key to their future success across the full range of subjects.

Early years provision Good

• Learning in Nursery and Reception is fun filled and action packed. Children have access to a full range of engaging activities to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding through purposeful play in all areas of learning. Most make good progress from starting points that are generally at a lower stage of development than is typical.
• The proportion of children attaining a good level of development at the end of Reception has risen steadily over time. Nonetheless, it has not yet reached the national average.
• Good teaching engages children in conversation to develop their thinking and their speaking and listening skills. Children who speak English as an additional language benefit from the good modelling that adults provide through their talk and interaction with children.
• Children have plentiful opportunities to practise reading, writing and number skills. Good leadership ensures that an appropriate balance is achieved of targeted teaching by adults and opportunities for children to take the lead in deciding what activities they want to try.
• Children behave well and mix well. They work alongside each other, happily sharing toys and tools. Their good personal, social and emotional development helps them to develop as confident, independent learners.
• Staff make creative use of the limited range of resources available to support learning. However, the headteacher is on the case. New resources have already been purchased and funding is being allocated to improve the range of resources available for outdoor play.
• Welfare requirements for the early years are met. Staff ensure that children learn to play safely.
• Children’s progress is captured in the learning journals and used effectively to ensure that their needs are met well.
• Parents are encouraged to contribute to their children’s development. Advice and help on how to help their children with reading at home, for example, have been useful.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 117109 Hertfordshire 10001052 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 401 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Jenny Howard Rob Weightman 01442 256294 www.tudor.herts.sch.uk admin@tudor.herts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 February 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The new headteacher was appointed from September 2016; the chair of the governing body is also new. The school has doubled in size since the previous inspection.
• This is a multicultural school with pupils from a wide range of ethnicities. Around a third of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.
• The percentage of pupils receiving support for special educational needs and/or disabilities is average. The proportion needing more support through an education, health and care plan is below average.

Information about this inspection

• Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) has the discretionary power to inspect any school in England under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection began as a one-day, short section 8 inspection undertaken by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs). During the first day, the HMI converted the inspection to a full section 5 inspection. The HMI was joined by four Ofsted inspectors on the second day to complete the inspection.
• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes, sometimes jointly with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher.
• Pupils in key stage 1 and key stage 2 read to inspectors and talked about their books.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ written work in their English, mathematics and topic books and on display in classrooms and corridors. The school provided information about the progress that pupils are making currently. Published information about pupils’ attainment and progress in relation to all pupils nationally was considered.
• Pupils were observed having their lunch and at play during the lunch break. Inspectors spoke to pupils while they worked in class and more formally in groups.
• Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the coordinator of special educational needs, the chair of the governing body and three other governors, leaders of subjects, and members of staff responsible for administration.
• The views of 84 parents who responded to Parent View and 36 members of staff who completed the staff questionnaire were considered.
• Inspectors looked at a range of the school’s documentation, including policies and record keeping for safeguarding. The single central record of statutory suitability vetting carried out on all staff, volunteers and governors was checked.
• The school’s information about how well it is performing and its plans for future improvements was evaluated. Minutes of the governing body’s meetings were examined.

Inspection team

Linda Killman, lead inspector Edel Gillespie Vanessa Love Liz Kissane Sean Powell

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector