All Saints' CofE Primary School NW2 Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teaching is of a high quality that enables pupils to make rapid progress.
• Build on the recent changes in using assessment accurately to ensure that:
  • teachers plan work that meets the needs of different groups of pupils
  • teachers provide challenging tasks to help pupils attain high standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Increase the proportion of pupils that attain and exceed the standard expected nationally by: − building on the strategies to accelerate pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Although the overall effectiveness of the school has fallen from good to requires improvement, the quality of leadership and management remains good. In spite of leaders’ best efforts to manage the challenges of recruiting and retaining high-quality staff in a costly area, the staff turnover has been high. This, combined with changes in the demographics of the area, and the intake and mobility of pupils, mean that the school’s performance has not been sustained.
• Now that staffing is more secure, leaders are able to focus more on improving pupils’ progress, instead of constantly recruiting experienced teachers. Stability has enabled leaders to maintain their focus on improving the quality of education, and providing much-needed pastoral care for pupils with specific needs.
• Staff have readily accepted the leadership team’s ambitions and high expectations in relation to all aspects of the school’s work. Together, they have developed and made important changes to the curriculum, assessment systems and planning to ensure that pupils can make better progress. Staff are committed to the school and morale is high.
• Leaders, including governors and staff, have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They recognise that most pupils who join the school other than at the usual times do not begin with skills typical for their age. As a result, there is increased focus on developing pupils’ competencies, particularly in reading and writing. This has led to pupils demonstrating better skills when interpreting complex vocabulary and questions. Pupils are now better placed to give accurate and more in-depth responses in the national tests.
• Systems for assessing and tracking pupils’ progress against the new assessment criteria are developing well. Regular tests and the use of internal and external moderation provide the school with in-depth evaluation and scrutiny of pupils’ work. The middle leaders are central to the school’s development; they review work, and provide teachers with specific priorities for improvement. Their support is helping teachers to improve their teaching and address weaknesses in pupils’ learning quickly.
• Systems for checking teachers’ work are thorough. Senior leaders regularly check the quality of teaching and learning and hold staff to account for pupils’ progress. Leaders provide regular advice, support and training. Feedback is used well to focus teachers’ attention on areas of their work that require strengthening, prior to them being reassessed. When improvements are not made quickly, swift action is taken. The school’s professional development programme, which is focused on developing high-quality teaching, has led to teachers using newly acquired skills to improve their planning and teaching well.
• The curriculum is broad, balanced and provides depth. The choice of curriculum model ensures that pupils, in particular boys, are stimulated and engaged in their learning. Meaningful links are made across subjects, and provide pupils with plenty of opportunities to develop a range of writing skills. Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities and clubs, both inside and outside of the school.
• The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural understanding is a strength of the school’s work, as is its development of British values. The school, as a diverse community, prepares pupils very well for life in modern Britain. Pupils respect each other’s cultural and religious heritage. They learn about the importance of friendship, tolerance, rights and responsibilities when living and working with people from different backgrounds to themselves.
• The school ensures that the special educational needs funding is used effectively to employ staff and provide additional resources to improve learning. Staff provide good support for pupils to develop basic reading and mathematical skills. Careful and specialist support, combined with planning, help this group of pupils to achieve their targets in reading, writing and mathematics. For example, in the 2016 national tests, they made average progress in reading and mathematics; it was slower in writing. Current tracking information shows that they are meeting their target.
• The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used well to improve attendance from below the national average to being in line with it. However, while the funding is used for a range of strategies to develop learning, good academic achievement is not consistently realised each year.
• The sports premium funding has increased pupils’ participation in sporting activities and enabled all to have equal access to events regardless of their sporting ability. The school’s work with the local sports network provides talented pupils with opportunities to develop their potential. The school has successfully assisted a few pupils to achieve recognition locally and nationally.

Governance of the school

• The reconstituted governing body is clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Governors have worked closely with the London Diocesan Board for Schools to commission a review of their work. As a result, they have increased their skills and plans to hold the school to account for its effectiveness.

• They have a clear handle on pupils’ performance and the steps needed to improve further. Governors challenge leaders about the outcomes for different groups of pupils, and records of minutes show a thorough and urgent approach for the school to move forward quickly.
• Under the leadership of the new chair, members calculate their plans and do not readily accept information from the school. Governors are rigorous when they check on how well leaders are developing identified priorities. Governors commission user-friendly analyses of pupil outcomes. These provide them with information that they understand and can use to challenge senior leaders about pupils’ performance. For example, they challenge leaders about the progress of disadvantaged pupils and the most able. This ensures that all groups have an equal chance to succeed.
• Governors act as critical friends when questioning leaders about the quality of teaching and the impact on outcomes. Additionally, they provide strategic direction and use first-hand evidence to inform key priorities.
• Governors ensure that all statutory requirements are met in relation to safeguarding and equality of opportunity.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has robust systems in place to secure the well-being of pupils, including those in the early years provision. Inspection evidence confirms that when concerns arise, leaders deal with them thoroughly. For example, in 2016, when concerns were raised about safeguarding arrangements linked to pupils leaving the school, measures were taken immediately, and leaders commissioned an audit. The review confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective. The audit led to the leadership team reviewing and strengthening risk assessments, particularly in relation to vulnerable pupils. Other minor adjustments included improving supervision in the playground.
• The school diligently carries out investigative checks of all staff before employment, and all checks meet requirements.
• The school is up to date with recent statutory guidance such as ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, September 2016. As a result, staff know the steps to take if there are safeguarding concerns in relation to pupils or a member of staff.
• Training is comprehensive and covers all of the key priorities in relation to child sexual exploitation, children missing education, safer recruitment and the ‘Prevent’ duty. Senior leaders ensure that they review these safeguarding matters regularly and provide updates. Designated staff undertake appropriate training. They ensure that safeguarding information is prominently displayed around the school for pupils should they need to talk to someone about their concerns.
• The school curriculum provides pupils with good coverage on how to stay safe. Organised workshops that include drama and visiting speakers, increase pupils’ awareness of how to keep safe online, and protect themselves from abuse.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The school still has more work to do to ensure that teaching is of a consistently high quality for pupils to make rapid progress. This is to enable pupils to meet the demands of a more challenging curriculum and national tests.
• Leaders have done much to raise expectations of what pupils can achieve, and evidence indicates that pupils are now making better progress. These are linked to teachers’ good classroom management and pupils’ positive attitudes to learning.
• During whole class teaching, not all teaching assistants work well with pupils. This affects the quality of support and help that pupils need to make better progress.
• Pupils routinely take part in self-assessment, which helps them to identify how well they understand the skills they are learning. They adopt a mature approach when discussing their work. However, teachers do not habitually reinforce editing, drafting and proofreading to develop pupils’ writing skills. As a result, pupils do not readily identify errors in their work until they receive feedback.
• Teachers are not always consistent in checking that different groups of pupils have a good grasp of specific skills before moving on to the next stage of learning.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and understanding of the age groups that they teach. Work is linked to the needs of different ability groups, with opportunities for them to work through a range of challenging tasks.
• Teachers now use assessment information more accurately to identify gaps in pupils’ learning, and plan activities to address misconceptions. For example, the teaching of mathematics is successful primarily because teachers regularly test pupils’ knowledge and quickly deal with misconceptions. This contributes to pupils making better progress in mathematics.
• Teachers make sure that there are good opportunities for pupils to practise their writing and reading skills. For example, pupils carry out research assignments and show that they can collate materials from different sources accurately. Furthermore, weekly focused writing in the ‘writers workshop’ across the school, and the ‘read and tell’ approach in Year 1, have begun to make a difference to pupils’ writing. Teachers support pupils well to write at length and structure their work. There is good emphasis on pupils using a cursive style and writing clearly. Evidence shows that the quality of pupils’ written work is much improved but there is more to do in relation to spelling, and using technical skills accurately.
• Teachers adeptly reinforce skills taught and ensure that pupils recognise, understand and apply them accurately. Clear and recorded learning objectives help pupils to know that they can do the work. Evidence of self-assessment contributes to pupils knowing how well they have learned.
• Small group intervention work during whole-class teaching is used well to consolidate pupils’ learning and address misconceptions. Pupils who are behind quickly catch up with their classmates, and the most able begin to complete challenging work well.
• Homework is set regularly and themed work helps pupils to develop research skills and read frequently. Pupils show sheer gusto when set challenges. However, several parents and pupils complained that teachers do not all give feedback on their homework to help pupils improve their research skills.
• Teachers make a huge contribution to pupils’ learning when they assess how well they understand the skills taught, and use short intensive question and answer sessions to recap on previous learning. Pupils are encouraged to think deeply about their work and take responsibility for their learning. This was seen in the Year 5 mathematics lesson, where pupils successfully worked on converting and simplifying fractions.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Characteristically, pupils show respect for each other and good manners. Pupils say they are happy and enjoy their school; they are proud about being a part of the diverse school community. Pupils who took part in the Ofsted survey confirmed this shared view.
• Pupils feel safe in the school. They noted that staff are always visible, and look out for them. Pupils spoke confidently about the range of protective measures throughout the school day and identified changes made to keep them safe. They are clear about reporting concerns and are confident that they can turn to an adult if they have any. Pupils are aware of potential risks associated with being online and using technology inappropriately. Older pupils in Years 5 and 6 have benefited from attending organised workshops to increase their understanding of knowing how to protect themselves from abuse and exploitation.
• Pupils care for each other and develop trusting relationships with each other. Relationships are as strong with adults, who they also trust.
• The school provides opportunities for pupils to exercise responsibility as anti-bullying ambassadors, Eco and school councillors and sports leaders. Pupils are very much aware of the responsibilities of representing others.
• Pupils are able to highlight what it means to stay healthy through the work covered in sports activities, physical education and in the wider curriculum.
• Pupils say that bullying is rare at the school and if it does occur staff deal with it swiftly. Records confirm that this is the case.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils concentrate well in lessons and unacceptable behaviour is rare. Pupils and parents who took part in school surveys and the Ofsted online survey confirmed that pupils are well behaved. Behaviour is occasionally impeccable and is linked to pupils’ very good attitudes to their learning. They are keen to learn and concentrate well. They demonstrate good self-discipline.
• The school’s ethos and culture mean that exclusions are uncommon. The school is a tight-knit community, where pupils feel welcomed and know that they can delve into the life and spirit of the school without fear of feeling as an outsider.
• The school has worked hard to improve attendance, which is now above average. This rise is an improvement on the previous year when it was average.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Although pupils achieved average standards in the 2016 national tests in mathematics at the end of key stage 2, overall, they were below the standard expected nationally in reading and writing. The distance between their achievement in reading and writing and that expected nationally is wide. At key stage 1, whereas standards were slightly better than those expected nationally in mathematics, they were below in reading and writing. Standards in science are not significantly different from the national average. The good standards identified at the last inspection have not been consistently sustained.
• Pupils’ rates of progress have not been rapid enough for the majority of pupils from different groups to reach greater depth at key stage 1. At key stage 2, based on pupils’ starting points, few of the most able attained the high standard expected in reading, writing and mathematics. Progress is therefore not good.
• Standards achieved in phonics at the end of Year 1 are below average, and there has been a declining trend, particularly for boys, over the last two academic years. The school provides good support for pupils who do not do well in Year 1. This enables most of them to catch up with their peers and reach the standard expected by the end of Year 2. The present Year 1 cohort is expected to achieve better outcomes based on the intensive support and attention to developing reading skills across the school.
• Progress is not consistently good enough for the most able pupils. In 2016, their progress was significantly below expectations in reading. Currently, they are making better progress in all areas of their work. For example, these pupils organise their ideas clearly into well-linked paragraphs and use a wide vocabulary to emphasise meaning. This was seen in their research and biographical work on William Shakespeare.
• The most able disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to the national average. However, middle-attaining disadvantaged pupils do not all attain as well as they should. The distance between them and the national average is wide in mathematics and writing. Current evidence suggests that they are making better progress. This is linked to the rich curriculum and various support provided through the pupil premium funding.
• The few low-attaining pupils made better progress than their peers in reading and mathematics. However, writing was significantly lower than the standard expected nationally for this group. The funding for one-to-one support and a learning mentor contributes to this group making better progress this academic year in all areas of their work.
• The school has extensive expertise in supporting pupils who join speaking little or no English. Additionally, some of these pupils speak English fluently but do not have a wide vocabulary or a good understanding of complex terminology. The induction and support provided help them to access learning, and make similar progress to their classmates.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter Reception with skills below those typically expected for their age group. Children have better skills in physical development but there are weaknesses in their communication, literacy and language. Nevertheless, by the end of Reception, most make good progress in all areas of the early years curriculum because the quality of teaching and learning are purposeful and stimulating.
• Good-quality teaching and high expectations of what children can achieve ensure that children achieve well each year. Disadvantaged children achieve expected standards as other children nationally. Teachers use the initial assessment information of children’s skills well to match work and to support their learning. As a result, children make good progress in all areas of learning.
• Learning is creative and enjoyable, and children are inspired to begin writing early. Children use their phonics skills to segment and blend letters when they read and write, as seen during the inspection. For example, children worked jointly with the teacher to make up and write simple sentences that were dictated. Although tired, they all decided to practice writing more sentences independently.
• Children love reading and dive into the library sessions to search for, and ‘read’ books of interest. During these sessions, they seek out adults to read to them. Otherwise, they turn the pages of a favourite text, recite lines they are familiar with and make predictions by looking at the pictures. Additionally, they imitate reading quietly. The visit to the library is an enjoyable event.
• Relationships are good and children play well together within this setting, where cultural diversity is a strength.
• Systems for children to make the transition from Nursery to Reception, and then to key stage 1, are well planned. The attention given to using the same staff to move on with the children helps them to settle well, and adapt to more demanding work quickly.
• Children thrive in the early years. It is an enabling environment that is led well, and where staff have an accurate view about its effectiveness.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 101315 Barnet 10002756 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 Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Mariann Hart Philip Taylor Telephone number 020 8455 9091 Website Email address www.allsaintsnw2.barnet.sch.uk head@aspnw2.barnetmail.net Date of previous inspection 7–8 March 2012

Information about this school

• All Saints CofE Primary is much smaller than an average-sized primary school.
• Pupils come from a diverse range of backgrounds.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• The school does not work with an alternative educational provider.
• Since the previous inspection, the school has had a high staff turnover.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching and learning in nine lessons, seven jointly with the headteacher and senior leaders. The inspectors also undertook 12 short visits to lessons to observe a range of learning activities.
• Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders with specific responsibilities. A discussion took place with the representative of the local authority.
• The inspectors considered 38 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. They spoke with a few parents who wanted to share their views about the school’s work when dropping off their children at school on the second day of the inspection. A meeting was held with members of the parent teachers association on day three of the inspection. The inspection team also took into account 20 questionnaires completed by pupils and 16 by staff.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and checked a range of documentation. This included: policies; the school’s self-evaluation of its work and development plan; records of pupils’ progress; extra-curricular activities; external reviews of the school’s work; records relating to pupils’ behaviour, attendance and systems for safeguarding pupils’ welfare.

Inspection team

Carmen Rodney, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Raj Mehta Ofsted Inspector David Boyle, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector