Five Elms Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teachers consistently challenge the most able pupils, to maximise their rates of progress by:
  • intervening promptly to provide the appropriate level of challenge in mathematics at key stage 1 and in English at key stage 2
  • building on pupils’ prior learning and abilities from the start of activities.
• Further improve children’s outcomes in the early years by developing the outdoor provision to successfully reflect the indoor learning in the classroom.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, leadership capacity has been strengthened. The headteacher, along with the able deputy headteachers and governors, have developed a cohesive team who share the same high expectations for pupils’ achievement.
• The local authority provides good-quality support for school leaders to secure further school improvements. They validate the school’s assessment of pupils’ attainment, and have an accurate overview of the improvements in pupils’ performance.
• Leaders have improved the quality of teaching since the last inspection. They have a sharp and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. As a result, little time has been lost in addressing areas to improve pupil progress.
• Senior and middle leaders share responsibilities successfully. They all have a focus on developing challenge for the most able pupils. They understand the school’s progress data well. Leaders effectively hold teachers to account through the school’s robust performance management system.
• Teachers develop an effective and reflective approach to improving their practice. The overseas-trained teachers receive rigorous induction that prepares them well in their roles to meet the school’s high expectations for safeguarding and pupils’ progress.
• Leaders have implemented a successful assessment tracking system that teachers use effectively to monitor pupils’ progress to inform future learning. This enables teachers to swiftly target pupils who are falling behind. As a result, different groups of pupils, including those who have English as an additional language, make good progress.
• A well-designed curriculum successfully meets the needs of all pupils. Leaders have ensured that pupils receive high-quality experiences by using a range of external visitors. For example, pupils’ writing is enhanced through work with a drama and music company. Pupils have many opportunities to develop their basic skills across the range of curriculum subjects.
• Leaders make sure that teaching is lively and stimulates the pupils’ interest. It prepares them well for life in modern Britain. The school council’s voting process enables pupils to see democracy in action.
• The pupils develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural education well. For example, Year 6 pupils were observed discussing complicated moral issues through their guided reading sessions. Work is celebrated well in assemblies, where school values are reinforced. Pupils demonstrate these values in their good behaviour towards each other and staff.
• Leaders have ensured that the pupil premium funding is used effectively. This ensures that disadvantaged pupils have the same opportunities as their peers. As a result, they make the same or better progress compared to other pupils nationally.
• Funding to support pupils with special needs and/or disabilities results in pupils making good progress from their starting points. Accurate assessment and strong relationships with parents ensures that deaf pupils and those with complex needs develop the right skills so that they are well prepared for secondary school.
• The sports premium is being used well. For example, the school is responding to local issues around obesity in young people. Pupils’ fitness is monitored regularly. Leaders evaluate sporting activities to assess which ones have the greater impact on improving fitness levels for pupils. Consequently, pupils have a good awareness of how to stay fit and develop a healthy lifestyle.
• Parents are mainly positive about the school’s work. Those who spoke to inspectors appreciate the teacher’s presence on the playground so they can speak to them when they hand their children over. They are more engaged with the school’s attendance system. Consequently, attendance has improved and is now above the national average. They say their children are kept safe in school.

Governance of the school

• Governors have supported the leaders well with the challenge of recruiting staff. They recognise the effective support senior staff give to new teachers. As a result, they talk confidently about the improvements in teaching and the well-considered training these teachers receive. Together with the leadership team, they have created a culture of high aspirations for all the families at Five Elms.
• Governors are well trained in the recent safeguarding requirements, which means they have a strong overview of their statutory duties. The safeguarding governor ensures that the school’s safeguarding records are fit for purpose.
• Accurate information about the school’s performance from the senior leaders ensures that governors have a detailed knowledge of the strengths and areas for school improvement. They offer appropriate challenge and support to continue the drive to raise standards further.
• Regular visits to the school ensure that governors have a real understanding of the pupils’ achievements. They are knowledgeable about how additional government funding is used to improve the progress of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. They have a good awareness of the effect of the good practice in classes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school records are kept up to date and are fit for purpose. Leaders ensure that safeguarding training is part of the robust induction procedure for new staff. Whole-school training, including identifying when pupils may be at risk of radicalisation and female genital mutilation, is relevant and ensures that staff are confident in raising concerns.
• Pupils are taught how to keep safe through the curriculum. Younger children show a good awareness of ‘stranger danger’. Older pupils talk confidently about not sharing personal information on social media. The school identified areas of online safety to develop through the process of achieving an award for information technology safety. Leaders have ensured that parents are informed of ways to keep their children safe when using online devices. Parents say their children are safe and appreciate the work the school does in ensuring that the safety of pupils is everyone’s responsibility.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Since the previous inspection, senior leaders have worked effectively with new teachers to set high expectations for classroom practice. More experienced teachers are successfully supporting those who are new to the profession. As a result, teaching across the school is good.
• Teachers use questioning to deepen pupils’ understanding of their learning. Where this is most successful, pupils’ responses are more detailed. This ensures that pupils stay focused on their learning.
• Accurate assessment information is used well to inform teachers planning, to ensure that pupils apply their skills and develop their reasoning.
• Teachers demonstrate high expectations to pupils well. Pupils know what they need to do to be successful in their learning. Where time in lessons is used effectively, pupils progress more quickly.
• Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning means they show resilience when grappling with the challenging tasks set by their teachers.
• Pupils from the deaf and complex needs provision make good progress from their starting points. Skilled staff have high expectations of what these pupils can achieve. This enables pupils to develop well at their own pace. High-quality support is evident in class when pupils join their mainstream class.
• In 2016, an above average proportion of Year 6 pupils achieved expected standards in writing. However, leaders recognised that the most able had not been as successful. As a result of high-quality training, teachers have developed a better understanding of how to develop pupils’ writing skills. This is particularly evident at key stage 1, where work seen showed a greater number of pupils are working at the higher standards.
• In 2016, pupils’ results in reading were disappointing. Leaders quickly analysed why the results had not been as high as expected, and swiftly put plans in place to address the identified issues. These included the development of vocabulary and skills that enable pupils to retrieve information from texts and increase their reading stamina. The implemented programmes have been successful. As a result, pupils’ reading skills are improving through regular monitoring of teacher’s delivery of learning and regular assessment.
• Good phonics teaching ensures that pupils develop early reading skills well. These skills are built on successfully as the pupils move up through the school. Pupils heard reading during the inspection demonstrated how they gain fluency and confidence in their reading. The work the school has done to develop boys’ reading skills has been successful. Their attainment is rapidly catching up with that of girls. This is the case in year groups where this had previously been a concern.
• The introduction of mastery in mathematic lessons has improved the rates of progress, particularly for the lower- and middle-ability pupils at key stage 2. Leaders acknowledge more work needs to be done to raise the expectations for the most able, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The staff at Five Elms promote a culture where pupils’ well-being has high status. Pupils trust the adults to keep them safe. They know how to assess risks when using the internet. The school’s digital leaders ensure that any information for their peers is up to date.
• Pupils know what they are good at and what their next steps are. Pupils use the teacher’s guidance effectively to improve their work.
• Parents are more engaged in ensuring that their children attend school regularly. The robust school systems identify when this is not so. The attendance overall has improved and is now above the national average.
• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The ‘Can-do, resilience, expectation, aspiration and motivation’ (CREAM) school values provide a strong framework for pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning. Pupils are confident in expressing their views. They are polite and eager to share their learning, ‘We like school because we have new learning.’ This is more evident when teaching is more engaging and sustains pupils’ interest.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Most pupils behave well and play sensibly with the outdoor equipment at breaktimes. The playground is supervised appropriately and pupils respond politely to staff when they need to intervene in the rare occasions of low-level disruption.
• Behaviour in class is better when the learning is more engaging. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. When there are incidents of silliness in class, teachers’ instructions put a stop to it. Pupils say that they get on well with each other. They have a good awareness of the types of bullying that can occur. Name-calling is infrequent, and behaviour records show that actions taken have reduced repeat occurrences.
• Pupils’ behaviour around the school is calm, and this results in an orderly and smooth-running school day. This is also evident in the pupils’ behaviour in the additional resourced classrooms.
• Adults appropriately maintain an overview of the playground. However, sometimes behaviour at playtime can be a little boisterous and intervention by the midday supervisors is required.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ outcomes are good. Leaders have ensured that standards for younger children have continued to rise from low starting points. In 2016, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of their Reception year was above national averages.
• In 2015, leaders identified that the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check was below the national average. Effective interventions put in place were successful and the number of pupils reaching the expected standard improved. In 2016, the school’s result was above the national figure. However, this was not the case for pupils eligible for additional funding. Leaders have sharpened their focus on developing the early reading skills for these pupils. Currently, work in books shows that this is being successful, with a greater number of disadvantaged pupils on track to meet the expected standards.
• In the 2016 key stage 1 results, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards were in line with national averages for reading, writing and mathematics. The number of pupils exceeding these standards was greater than national figures. Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, including the most able, outperformed other pupils when compared to national averages.
• Disappointing 2016 results in reading galvanised leaders to improve the teaching of reading across key stage 2. The school’s system to develop pupils’ vocabulary and their stamina in reading texts that are more challenging, has improved reading standards. Pupils read fluently and accurately and they gain confidence as they move through the school. Work seen in books shows that pupils are applying their reading techniques successfully.
• The school’s use of the pupil premium ensures that disadvantaged pupils receive the support needed to make good or better progress. The regular tracking of their progress ensures that any dips in attainment are tackled quickly.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress from their starting points. Leaders use the additional resource funding well for the deaf and complex needs pupils. The group of highly skilled staff appropriately challenge pupils in class and through their bespoke curriculum to help them achieve well.
• Currently, leaders are implementing a programme to develop pupils’ deeper understanding of mathematical concepts across key stage 2. Books, progress information and observations during lessons show that most groups of pupils make good progress. Leaders rightly identify that greater challenge needs to be given to the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, to further improve their rates of progress.

Early years provision Good

• The early years’ leader is knowledgeable about the strengths of the staff. She provides effective support to teachers to ensure that children get a good start to their education at Five Elms.
• Children in the nursery currently make good progress because they are taught well. They have a wide range of stimulating activities that successfully develop their early reading and writing skills.
• Teachers plan good-quality activities that are developed from the children’s interests. The staff ensure that a strong focus on early skills prepares them for their transition into the Reception classes.
• From their different starting points, children make good progress. The results in 2016 continued to improve, and the proportion of children meeting the expected standards was again above national averages. This prepares them well for the move into Year 1.
• Early phonics skills are developed well through effective teaching. This results in the children rapidly acquiring the necessary skills to support their learning.
• The early years additional funding is spent well. By the end of the early years, children from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve above national averages when compared to other children nationally.
• Parents are an important part of the assessment process. They are well informed about their children’s learning. This means they can provide effective support to ensure that their children succeed in the setting.
• Leaders have rightly identified that to improve outcomes for the children further, the outdoor area needs to successfully reflect the learning challenges in the classroom.

School details

Unique reference number 101228 Local authority Barking and Dagenham Inspection number 10005679 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 Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 510 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Carol Canary Barbara Turner 020 8270 4909 www.five-elms.bardag.dbprimary.com/ office@five-elms.bardaglea.org.uk Date of previous inspection 15–16 March 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is part of the Primary Alliance for Collaborative Learning (PACE) Federation, which includes a number of local primary schools.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than that seen nationally.
• The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium funding is much higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is in line with the national figures.
• The school runs an additional resource provision for pupils who are deaf and have complex needs.
• The school meets the government’s floor standard (the minimum expected of pupil attainment and progress).

Information about this inspection

• The inspection was converted from a short inspection to a full section 5 inspection.
• Inspectors carried out a series of short, focused visits to classrooms and longer lesson observations in each year group. These were conducted jointly with the senior leaders.
• Formal and informal discussions took place with senior leaders, including governors, subject leaders, pupils, parents and a representative from the local authority.
• Documentation relating to the school’s website and safeguarding, including the single central record of recruitment checks, was scrutinised.
• The schools’ self-evaluation, plans for improvement and analysis of pupils’ attainment and progress were evaluated.
• Pupils’ work in different subjects was scrutinised alongside senior and middle leaders.
• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons, as well as before school and during break and lunchtimes, was observed by inspectors.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read individually.
• Inspectors took into account the 13 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, 13 pupil responses and 17 staff responses to the online survey.

Inspection team

Sara Morgan, lead inspector Rekha Bhakoo Karen Jaeggi Kanwaljit Singh Wayne Harris

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