Parsloes Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching and therefore pupils’ rates of progress, to reach higher standards, by ensuring that:
  • pupils capable of attaining higher standards receive sufficient challenge across the curriculum
  • pupils are given more opportunities to hone their mathematical skills across a wide range of subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The executive headteacher, head of school and other leaders, including members of the governing body, have developed a culture of high expectations. Since the previous inspection, there has been a sharp focus on developing and sustaining systems to improve the quality of education and raise standards. As a result, the goal to become a good school has been realised.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders have made significant changes in all areas of the school. They have focused on the right priorities to ensure that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved quickly.
• School leaders work very effectively as a team and have managed periods of turbulence well. They have received good advice and support from the local authority. As a result, there is now a sharp focus on developing a strategic approach to long-term priorities to secure the overall progress and success of the school.
• Precise analysis of information about pupils’ progress is being used to good effect to inform the leadership of teaching. This information is used in conjunction with other monitoring activities to consolidate strengths and remedy weaknesses in the teaching practice of individual staff.
• The school’s topic-based curriculum is designed to help pupils transfer their skills from subject to subject and understand topics in different contexts. The curriculum is planned to give pupils many opportunities to develop their skills in writing for different purposes and audiences in different subjects, such as history and geography. Pupils write often and at length. The mathematics curriculum successfully engages pupils with work in greater depth as they are now required to explain and justify their reasoning. However, there are few opportunities for pupils to develop their mathematical skills across other subjects.
• Pupils’ learning and experience of school are enhanced by the wider curriculum. Pupils enjoy reading and handwriting clubs at lunchtime and after-school sports clubs, as well as a range of artistic events. Such memorable experiences make a strongly positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• The physical education and sport premium funding is used well to increase pupils’ participation in physical activities and develop their awareness of being fit and healthy. Training for teachers has meant that they are better equipped than in the past to teach physical education. While leaders have not completed a precise evaluation of the impact of the funding, the evidence shows that it has led to an increasing number of pupils taking part in a range of sports, including competitive sports.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are provided with effective support because additional funding is spent well. As a result, these pupils generally make good progress from their starting points.
• The pupil premium funding is closely monitored and evaluated to ensure that the barriers to good achievement are removed quickly and that disadvantaged pupils have the same opportunities as their peers in the school. Current assessment information and work in the pupils’ books show that in both key stages they now achieve as well as other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The overwhelming majority of staff who responded to a survey issued during the inspection agreed that the school has improved since the previous inspection, and is well led and managed, and they are proud to be members of staff.

Governance of the school

• Changes to the composition of the governing body have broadened the range of experience and expertise that governors bring to the school. As a result, governors’ expectations of their own work and that of school leaders have risen. They have become more confident in the way they carry out their responsibilities.
• Governors have responsibilities for particular aspects of the school’s work such as safeguarding and the pupil premium, and provide reports on these in their records of visits. Governors have received training on how to track pupils’ progress in the context of the new assessment systems. This has strengthened their capacity to hold leaders to account on the basis of the regular updates that they receive.
• Governors check the use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. They work closely with senior leaders to ensure that the funding is targeted effectively.
• Governors use the school’s monitoring information to evaluate the impact of teaching and learning on pupils’ outcomes, behaviour and well-being. Their improved understanding enables them to challenge and support school leaders with greater effect.
• Relevant training has been undertaken by governors to secure their knowledge and understanding of statutory responsibilities, including safeguarding and safer recruitment.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders promote a culture in school whereby all staff and pupils are aware of the importance of being safe. Staff know the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about the welfare of a child. Records contain detailed information, which enables designated safeguarding staff to track cases easily and take the required action.
• Leaders secure the necessary support required for specific cases from external agencies. This is because they have formed positive relationships that result in prompt, effective action. All staff have received appropriate child-protection training. Furthermore, checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children are robust and complete.
• Pupils, staff and parents agree that where any issues have been raised, senior leaders respond quickly and follow up with ongoing monitoring. As a result, pupils and parents feel that the school is a safe place and that staff care about pupils’ welfare and safety.
• The safeguarding governor regularly checks safeguarding arrangements in order to keep informed and to provide support.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching, learning and assessment have improved significantly since the previous inspection. Staff have high expectations of what pupils should know to prepare them for their next stage of learning. As a result, most pupils in all year groups are making rapid progress in relation to their different starting points.
• Teachers plan learning effectively, with tasks that engage the whole class and address the needs of particular groups of pupils. Teachers build regular opportunities for pupils to consolidate and secure their learning.
• Teachers use assessment information skilfully to address underachievement by modifying their teaching or organising additional support and interventions. Questioning is also used effectively by teachers to probe pupils’ understanding of key concepts and to explore the rationale behind their answers, so deepening their learning.
• Teachers provide pupils with helpful feedback. They help them to understand why they have made errors and how to improve their work.
• There have been clear improvements in the teaching of writing since the previous inspection. Teachers provide good opportunities for pupils to practise their written skills in different subjects, such as in writing accounts in history or reports in geography. In addition, the more focused approach to developing pupils’ skills in grammar and punctuation is having a positive impact on the quality of writing produced.
• The use of ‘practice targets’ and ‘challenge targets’ in mathematics helps to consolidate pupils’ understanding and extend learning through the application of reasoning skills. In a Year 4 mathematics lesson, for example, all pupils from the most able to those with low levels of attainment were thinking deeply about creating their own ‘challenge problem’ using a range of information they had been given on the theme of ‘aliens from outer space’. As yet, teaching gives insufficient opportunity for pupils to strengthen their mathematical skills across the curriculum.
• Leaders have improved the school’s approach to teaching reading and phonics, which now builds an understanding and enjoyment of reading from an early age. As a result, teaching is more effectively meeting the needs of pupils so that a high proportion are making more rapid progress, including pupils at the early stages of learning English.
• While there is evidence of increasing challenge, teaching is not yet consistent in providing pupils with opportunities to work at greater depth across the curriculum. This means that some pupils who are capable of attaining high standards, whatever their starting points, are not currently challenged as well as they could be. For example, pupils are not generally given sufficient opportunity to apply the harder skills of analysis and evaluation in the context of scientific investigations.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The vast majority of pupils take responsibility for their learning; they are confident and articulate learners.
• The atmosphere in the school is one of calm and purposeful endeavour. Relationships between pupils and staff are warm and positive and pupils are supportive of each other in lessons and at breaktimes.
• Pupils say that they feel safe in school and staff look after them well. They understand that there are different types of bullying, such as racism and homophobic bullying, but say that bullying in their school is very rare. They have great confidence that staff would deal with any problems should they arise.
• Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in different situations, such as taking care when crossing roads. They also understand the potential dangers of using the internet and ways that they can reduce these dangers, such as not giving out personal information.
• Through lessons and assemblies, pupils are helped to learn about healthy lifestyles and making good choices about diet. For example, in a recent ‘science week’, pupils tested their heart rates before and after exercise, highlighting the importance of exercise for good health.
• Leaders promote equality, tolerance and respect for people’s differences. They have worked successfully to embed this work in the culture and values of the school, drawing strongly on the British values of democracy and respect for individual rights. Consequently, incidents of inappropriate behaviour, such as the use of homophobic language, are very rare.
• All parents who responded to Parent View agree that their child is well looked after.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Most pupils concentrate well in lessons.
• Pupils display positive attitudes to learning. They listen well, are keen to answer questions and settle quickly to get on with their work. Pupils take pride in their work and try hard to make sure that it is presented neatly.
• Pupils are friendly and welcoming to visitors and display good manners. Their conduct around school is good and they move around the building sensibly.
• Pupils understand the rewards and sanctions system well and were confident in sharing this with inspectors. Teachers are consistent in their application of the behaviour policy and, consequently, pupils feel that they are dealt with fairly. Behaviour records show that fixed-term exclusions have gone down significantly. When pupils have difficulty in managing their behaviour, staff take a very considered approach, planning to meet individual needs.
• Almost all pupils attend school regularly and on time, so that attendance at Parsloes is above national averages for most groups of pupils. A family support worker is engaging well with families of pupils who have an above-average rate of persistent absence, with early indications of positive impact.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils are making good progress across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. This is evident from the work in pupils’ books and their learning in lessons. The availability of accurate and closely monitored information about pupils’ progress is enabling staff to intervene and help pupils to catch up when they fall behind.
• In 2016, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was in line with the national average in both key stages, with the exception of reading in key stage 2, which was below average. Currently, a strong culture of reading prevails across the school, with the excitement and buzz of reading and understanding different types of texts. For example, the weekly ‘Drop everything and read’ initiative and the use of technology-based texts for a boys’ reading club in Year 3 are contributing to rising standards across the school.
• Pupils’ writing skills are improving because they are given frequent opportunities to write at length for different purposes and audiences across subjects. For example, pupils’ work in history and geography shows how pupils apply the writing skills that they learn in English.
• In mathematics, teachers are presenting pupils with more tasks to develop problem solving and reasoning. The work in pupils’ books shows that they are increasingly thinking at a deeper level and making good progress as a result. However, they insufficiently apply and practise their skills across the curriculum.
• Disadvantaged pupils often make better progress than their peers in the school. Although their rates of progress were lower than those of their peers nationally in English in 2016, significant improvements have been made this year and, as a consequence, standards are higher in all year groups. This is because leaders are keenly aware of disadvantaged pupils’ ongoing progress and have made it a priority to overcome any barriers to learning.
• In 2016, the proportion of pupils achieving greater depth or the higher standard was below the national average in English and mathematics. Leaders have addressed this issue, with strong indications of early positive impact. More of the most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are now achieving the progress of which they are capable in both English and mathematics. This is because teachers set work that poses a high degree of challenge. It is also because teachers push pupils to explain their thinking by making deeper connections with their previous learning. However, it remains the case that pupils are not challenged to achieve as well as they can across the curriculum.
• Effective teaching and tailored support are helping pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to make progress and catch up with their peers. A number of these pupils are also disadvantaged and benefit from individual and group interventions in school and support from external agencies. These pupils are making progress from often much lower starting points, but at a rate broadly comparable with that of their peers.

Early years provision Good

• Children begin in the Nursery class with skills and knowledge that are generally below those typical for their age. A significant number of children have particular weaknesses in speaking and listening, social development, literacy and number. Effective links with home help to ensure that children settle in quickly.
• Teachers plan learning that is engaging and well thought out and, as a result, children make good progress across the Nursery and Reception classes. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of their time in the early years is typically at least in line with that found nationally, which means that they are well prepared for the move into Year 1.
• Staff assess children’s learning and achievements well by making effective use of systems for recording observations and tracking individual children’s progress. This information is used carefully to plan additional, targeted activities that are focused on a specific, identified need. Both boys and girls display curiosity and excitement in the context of purposeful learning.
• Behaviour in the early years is good and relationships between adults and children are highly positive. Staff in the Nursery class model and encourage sharing and turn-taking. By the time they reach the Reception classes, the vast majority of children play confidently with each other. In one session in a Reception class, for example, children showed respect by stopping their conversations very quickly when one of their peers stood up to share his ideas. Staff have ensured that all statutory welfare requirements are met.
• Leadership of the early years provision is good. The early years leader is a knowledgeable and experienced practitioner and provides good support for the early years team. Leaders are particularly skilful in identifying strengths and areas for improvement. As a result, they focus on the right actions to bring about sustained improvements in children’s learning.

School details

Unique reference number 101227 Local authority Barking and Dagenham Inspection number 10031704 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school All-through primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 595 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lee Watson Executive Headteacher Michael Corcoran Telephone number 0208 270 4925 Website Email address www.parsloesprimary.co.uk office@parsloes.bardaglea.org.uk Date of previous inspection 23–24 April 2015

Information about this school

• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is close to that found nationally.
• The school serves a diverse community, with pupils coming from a variety of different backgrounds. The largest minority group is of Black African pupils, who comprise around one fifth of the school’s population.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average. However, a small minority are at an early stage.
• Children attend the Nursery class part time; there is a morning and afternoon session. The Reception classes are full time.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The executive headteacher was appointed in January 2016.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons, year groups and subjects. They also looked at pupils’ work in books, records of children’s learning in the early years and other information about pupils’ attainment and progress.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and held discussions with groups of pupils. Inspectors also talked informally with pupils around the school and in the playground.
• Inspectors considered the 11 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as the 99 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff.
• Meetings were held with three governors, including the chair of the governing body; there was also a telephone conversation with another member of the governing body. Meetings were also held with leaders responsible for mathematics and English, assessment and tracking, provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and for children in the early years.
• Inspectors met with a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors examined a range of documents. These included information about pupils’ attainment and progress, the school’s reviews of its own performance, checks on the quality of teaching, and improvement plans. Inspectors also examined safeguarding documentation and various records of pupils’ attendance and behaviour.

Inspection team

Nasim Butt, lead inspector Roger Easthope Janet Tomkins

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector