Northbury Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Building on the expertise in the school, raise the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by ensuring that all pupils, but particularly the most able, are given work that consistently challenges them to make faster progress and work in greater depth.
• Ensure that the learning and personal development of the children in the Nursery and Reception classes are supported by a range of equipment and activities which provide a stimulus for their imaginative play.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher provides strong leadership and is well supported by the senior team. Their constant focus on making sure that pupils receive the best all-round education the school can provide is driving improvement.
• The amalgamation of the infant and junior schools has taken a considerable amount of work but the success is clear, for example in the united approach of the staff and the consistency with which very high expectations for personal development and behaviour are met.
• Improving the quality of teaching is the main priority for leaders and governors. Regular and effective checks on teaching provide good information about what works well and what needs to be improved.
• Leaders realised through their checks that pupils were not doing as well in writing as they were in reading. The focus of training, therefore, has been very much on improving teachers’ skills in this area. The effectiveness of this has been seen in much improved outcomes.
• Subject and senior leaders expect teachers to plan writing activities in other subjects as well as in English. This was seen in Year 6, where pupils were doing some in interesting work on the first world war, which involved history, English and art.
• Pupil premium funding is well used so that disadvantaged pupils can join fully in all school activities as well as receiving the academic support they need. They are making good progress.
• The provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well managed. It is now much more focused on making sure that the interventions are planned to meet specific individual needs and the progress of these pupils is improving rapidly. The Owl Room is particularly effective provision for pupils who have a range of complex needs.
• The curriculum is kept under review to make sure that it meets pupils’ needs, extends their experience and raises their aspirations. The quality of the curriculum is reflected in several awards such as the Primary Science Award and the Artsmark and in the opportunities for sport, music, art and drama.
• The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. The principles which underpin British values are introduced at an early age when pupils elect the school councillors. An excellent display showed how much older pupils had learned about democracy when visiting the Houses of Parliament.
• Visits to museums such as the Science Museum and the British Museum, and to other places of interest including the Royal Albert Hall for concerts, all widen pupils’ horizons. Younger pupils enjoyed the experience of being taken to see a pantomime. They were keen to talk about some of the traditions and could retell the story accurately. This was then going to be a stimulus for their writing.
• The school promotes equality of opportunity very well and is thoroughly inclusive in its approach. Pupils know about their responsibilities as well as their rights and learn to respect the contribution of others. They learn about different cultures and faiths represented in the school and the area and learn to respect each other’s beliefs and traditions. They are taken on visits to a mosque and to Westminster Abbey.
• Most of the parents responding to the questionnaire and all those who talked to inspectors said that their children are happy at school, feel safe and make good progress. The school has introduced a number of initiatives to help parents be more involved in their children’s education. During the inspection parents were attending creative English classes and at other times mathematics has been the focus for work with parents.
• The additional sports funding is used well to provide specialist coaching in physical education (PE) and training for teachers who are not PE specialists. A fitness club is run every morning and sports clubs have increased the participation in a range of sports and the amount of competitive sport.
• The local authority has worked closely with the school to help it through the period of transition from separate infant and junior schools to one primary school. Advisers have been particularly helpful in supporting the new governing body to understand its role and provide effective challenge and support.

Governance of the school

• The two schools previously had separate governing bodies though with the same chair. These have been brought together to form one governing body with a new chair of governors. The governors aim to see that the school maintains its strengths in promoting pupils’ personal development and well-being while at the same time raising academic standards. Governors have improved their ability to both challenge and support the leadership team because they have a better understanding of data and how it is used. They knew, for example, that the focus on writing has resulted in improvement. The governing body has supported the headteacher when difficult decisions about staffing have been necessary. They are clear that any increases in pay are linked to performance.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Keeping children safe in school is a high priority, as is helping them to stay safe outside school. Parents and pupils did not express any concerns about safety and feel that pupils are well looked after. Pupils said that they felt safe in school and also said that they sometimes used what they had learned in school to remind their parents about safety issues outside school.
• Policies and procedures are robust and kept up to date. Staff are well trained in a range of safeguarding issues including how to identify risks around extremism and radicalisation. As a result, pupils understand a range of issues in the wider community which might affect them. The liaison with a range of external agencies is very good and helps to ensure that issues are dealt with as they arise.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved since the amalgamation of the two schools. School records show that it is now consistently good and some is outstanding. This was borne out by the evidence from the inspection.
• The key to the improvement has been the effective programme of professional development, which is matched to school and individual needs. Teachers and teaching assistants have access to good-quality training which helps them to improve their knowledge and skills.
• Relationships between teachers and pupils are excellent, which means that classrooms are pleasant places for both adults and children to work. Lessons are purposeful and well organised, which gives pupils a sense of security.
• Teachers have consistently high expectations for the attitudes pupils should have and how they should behave. Pupils respond well to this. They work hard and their behaviour is outstanding. This helps them to make good progress overall.
• Teachers know their pupils well and plan to meet the different needs within their class. Their expectations for what pupils can achieve have risen, particularly in writing, where expectations for quality and quantity of work are high.
• Lively teaching of phonics helps pupils to become confident readers. Teachers also encourage pupils to learn and use the technical vocabulary of each subject. This was evident in a variety of subjects, including mathematics, French and history.
• Teachers have good knowledge across the curriculum. They use questioning well to check on pupils’ understanding of what they are learning and adjust the lessons accordingly. They are starting to use questioning more effectively to get pupils to think in more depth but know that this needs to be taken further to ensure that the work is always challenging enough for the most able pupils.
• The level of challenge for the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, is increasing, but this is not consistent enough across the school to ensure that these pupils are challenged to tackle more difficult work.
• Pupils are given regular feedback on their work and most staff give good guidance on how pupils can improve. Staff also check their judgements against those of other teachers to make sure that they are accurate.
• Teaching assistants provide pupils with good help and support, both in class as well as individually and in small groups. This helps disadvantaged pupils, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are at an early stage of learning English. The Owl Room gives pupils with more complex needs access to high-quality teaching and support so that they make very good progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school and have excellent attitudes towards learning, and they like talking about their work. From the youngest in the Nursery counting the number of pieces they had used to make a fantasy dinosaur, to older pupils in Year 5 discussing how to solve probability problems in mathematics, they were happy to explain what they were doing.
• Pupils are very confident that teachers will support them and help them to improve their work. As one young pupil said, ‘It’s easy asking for help. Teachers are always there for you.’
• Bullying did not appear to be an issue for the pupils. They said that if it happened it was promptly and effectively dealt with. Pupils know about different types of bullying, including the use of social media. School records show very few incidents over the last few years.
• Pupils said that they are consulted and that their views are taken seriously. The school council is elected by other pupils and has worked with the school leaders to improve the school environment. They have other opportunities to take responsibility, for example as playground friends, acting as monitors around the building and working on the school garden, which produces crops which can be used by the catering staff.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Adults are consistent in the way in which they treat pupils and have very high expectations. Throughout the school pupils know exactly what is expected of them and respond very well.
• Pupils know the system of rewards and sanctions and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own behaviour and actions. Low-level misbehaviour is rare and is very quickly and effectively dealt with.
• Relationships are excellent. Pupils are polite, friendly, respectful and are at ease with adults as well as with other pupils.
• Pupils move sensibly around the large building, taking care on staircases and in the corridors. The playground friends make sure that no one is left out and pupils play happily with each other. Relationships between different year groups appear amicable.
• Attendance is at least in line with the national average. Pupils know how important it is to come to school regularly as this helps them to make good progress.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• By the end of the Reception Year the proportion of children achieving a good level of development across all the different areas of learning is below the national expectations but is improving. The children get a good grounding in reading, writing and mathematics and make good progress.
• At all stages of the school pupils read confidently. The results of the Year 1 phonics check are above the national outcomes. The few pupils who do not do as well in Year 1 usually catch up in Year 2.
• In the early years and key stage 1, pupils, including lower-attainers, have a good understanding of phonics and use their knowledge well to read unfamiliar words. Pupils enjoy reading and are happy to talk about their favourite books and authors. The most able readers can tackle quite challenging books successfully.
• Attainment in reading and mathematics at the end of key stages 1 and 2 was very similar to the national picture overall but fewer pupils were working in greater depth. In writing, their achievement was above national expectations, but as with the other subjects, fewer pupils were working in greater depth.
• The school has had a special focus on writing in the past year and the evidence of this is seen in pupils’ books. From a relatively young age they write at length and for a variety of purposes. Whether it is writing a story, or a diary or labelling a diagram in science, pupils are expected to write accurate English and to spell and punctuate their writing properly.
• Evidence from lessons and books, as well as the school records, shows that current pupils are making good progress. There are some variations in the rate of progress in different year groups, but with no significant trends.
• Staff track the progress of different groups very carefully to make sure that no group gets left behind. In 2016, middle- and lower-achievers in key stage 1 made better progress in key stage 2 than the higher-attainers, so the staff are working on making sure that the most able pupils, included the most able disadvantaged, are challenged to work in greater depth.
• Disadvantaged pupils are achieving well. In key stage 1 their attainment and progress is broadly in line with national outcomes in reading and mathematics. By the end of key stage 2 they are doing as well as other pupils in all areas.
• In 2016, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities did not achieve as well as other groups, but there were several individual factors which affected this. The special educational needs provision has been reviewed and refocused to meet the needs of individual pupils and the impact of this is seen in faster progress for many pupils.

Early years provision Good

• Children settle quickly into the Nursery and Reception classes. They learn the routines quickly and learn to take turns, share equipment and play happily together.
• Many children start with knowledge and skills that are well below the expectations for their age. They make good progress and by the time they leave Reception they are close to the expectations across the different areas of learning and are prepared for Year 1.
• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development is still somewhat below the national figures but it has improved in recent years. The difference between the performance of disadvantaged children and others is narrowing.
• The staff plan activities to interest the children and provide them with a wide range of experiences. They were exploring customs and traditions around Christmas and in Reception children were writing letters to Santa Claus.
• The photographs and work in the children’s ‘special books’ and folders show that they make good progress in reading, writing, mathematics and in their personal development.
• Reading is taught well. A very lively phonics session in one Reception class showed pupils making rapid progress in reading whole words confidently as well as knowing initial sounds. Most children learn to read with a reasonable degree of confidence and can use their knowledge of letters and sounds when they meet new words.
• In mathematics, the activities linked to the current themes help children to learn to sort, order and count objects and relate these to numbers.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, disadvantaged children and those at an early stage of learning English make good progress because staff plan activities which meet their individual needs.
• The classrooms have a range of resources which are intended to help children to develop their skills, particularly when the children themselves are choosing what to do. Staff do not, however, always ensure that the resources available stimulate children’s imagination and encourage them to develop ideas for themselves.
• The outdoor area is organised to support different aspects of learning but it is not used as effectively as it could be. Plans to upgrade it and improve its use are well in hand.
• Relationships with parents are good. Parents feel that their children are safe, happy and well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• The management of the early years is in a state of transition and a new leader is about to be appointed. The deputy headteacher who has oversight of the nursery and Reception classes has set out sensible priorities. These are closely linked to making sure that children have the widest possible range of experiences so that they both enjoy their time in the early years and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

School details

Unique reference number 101196 Local authority Barking and Dagenham Inspection number 10019634 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 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 906 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Zahra Ibrahim Richard November Telephone number 020 8270 4750 Website Email address www.northburyprimary.co.uk office@northbury.bardaglea.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Northbury is a very large primary school formed from the amalgamation of the infant and junior school in January 2014. The headteacher of the junior school was appointed as headteacher of the new primary school.
• Most pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds and a high proportion speak English as an additional language. The largest groups are of Black African or Pakistani origin. A smaller number come from White British, Caribbean and Indian backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is above average. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly similar to most schools.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum standards for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited all classes during the inspection at least once and several were visited twice. Observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher and both deputy headteachers.
• Inspectors observed an assembly, morning and lunchtime breaks and activities before school.
• A meeting was held with members of the school council and two other groups of pupils. Many other pupils were spoken with during lessons and breaktimes. The inspectors also listened to some pupils reading.
• The inspection team met a group of governors and the local authority adviser.
• Inspectors held meetings with a several school staff, including the subject leaders in English and mathematics.
• Inspectors took account of the responses on Parent View (Ofsted’s online survey), the school’s own surveys of parents and spoke informally with a number of parents.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including pupils’ work; the school data on progress; school improvement planning; leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching; external checks on the quality of education; records relating to behaviour and attendance and documents relating to safeguarding

Inspection team

Grace Marriott, lead inspector Helena Mills Andrew Rigby Roger Easthope

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector