Orchard Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • pupils in Reception and Year 1 have greater opportunities to write independently and at length
  • most-able pupils develop stamina in their writing to produce longer pieces at greater depth
  • pupils in key stage 2 have opportunities to use reasoning skills to explain their learning
  • assessment information is understood by all staff and used appropriately to raise the level of challenge for pupils.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • headteacher reports to the governing body include detailed information on the progress being made to support school improvement
  • senior leaders work with behaviour-support colleagues to address the poor behaviour that is a cause of concern for a significant number of pupils and parents
  • pupils have opportunities within the curriculum to reflect on their behaviour and attitudes
  • senior leaders have opportunities to monitor the quality of teaching and the outcomes in pupils’ books
  • pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum to practise key skills across the wider curriculum.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Senior leaders have an overgenerous understanding of school effectiveness. Evaluation and monitoring procedures lack rigour. Subject leaders do not have sufficient opportunities to visit classrooms to observe teaching in the subjects they are responsible for and to view the outcomes in pupils’ books.
• Senior leaders have introduced new school assessment procedures and this is giving teachers an improved understanding of the progress that pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics. Assessment information is scrutinised carefully at the end of each term to ensure that pupils are making the expected progress. School leaders recognise that systems need to be developed further to ensure that all staff are confident in how assessment information is used to inform future learning. Learning opportunities do not take into account pupils’ starting points. In particular, they do not provide most-able pupils with the challenge to make progress similar to that of most-able pupils nationally. The current system does not enable leaders to track accurately the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Leaders and governors use professional development effectively to improve teaching. Although teaching is not yet of a consistently good standard, staff training has strengthened the security of teachers’ subject knowledge.
• The vast majority of parents are supportive of the school and report that their children are happy and feel safe. However, a significant number of parents report concerns about poor pupil behaviour and a lack of communication between school and home.
• School leaders recognise that national curriculum subjects other than English and mathematics require greater coverage across year groups. Pupils are restricted in the progress they make in reading, writing and mathematics, as they are unable to transfer key skills across a wider curriculum.
• Strong leadership of SEN ensures that pupils’ learning needs are identified effectively. Useful links are established with outside agencies to offer specialist support. Funding is used successfully to provide a wide range of intervention strategies to meet pupils’ learning needs. The impact of this support is not yet tracked effectively through the school’s assessment information.
• School leaders are successful in the support that is offered to vulnerable families. The pastoral care, guidance and support offered to pupils experiencing anxiety linked to social and emotional well-being are handled skilfully and sensitively.
• Senior leaders value the challenge and support that are offered from the local authority. Leaders are keen to develop capacity further and to reduce the variability in the quality of teaching through working in partnership with local outstanding schools.

Governance of the school

• Governors are knowledgeable and make regular visits to the school to fulfil their statutory duties.
• Governors oversee the effective use of additional funding to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Governors ensure that the sport premium funding is spent wisely, for example by offering a wide range of sporting activities to all pupils.
• Minutes of governing body meetings demonstrate that governors are keen to strengthen the level of challenge offered to senior leaders. For example, in preparation for meetings, governors have asked for earlier access to school data to allow them a greater understanding of the progress made by pupils.
• The headteacher’s report to the governing body lacks sufficient detail to allow governors a full understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. As a consequence of this, governors are unable to ask the right questions to hold school leaders to account.
• Governors are unaware that subjects such as science, history, geography, art, design and technology and religious education have limited coverage within the curriculum.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All staff receive training on keeping children safe. Regular updates are in place to raise staff awareness and understanding of potential risks, for example children missing from education and child sexual exploitation.
• The designated safeguarding lead is well known to all staff, and procedures for reporting initial concerns and referrals are clearly understood. The safeguarding team meets regularly to discuss child safety, and school leaders have a close working relationship with the local safeguarding children board.
• Senior leaders are trained in safer recruitment practice, and all staff employment checks are in place. Governors carry out regular safeguarding checks to ensure that the school’s single central record of recruitment checks is compliant.
• Staff develop pupils’ understanding of e-safety and the dangers of the inappropriate use of social media.
• Outside agencies work closely with the school to raise pupils’ awareness of the need to keep safe within the community, particularly in respect of the dangers of gangs and knife crime.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching is too variable across the school. For example, in year groups where learning is seen to be strong, questioning is effective and pupils are fully engaged in their learning. However, where learning is less than effective, expectations are low, pupils are unsure as to what they need to do next and low-level disruption impacts on learning.
• Teachers are not consistent in their use of assessment information, and pupils from a wide range of abilities are often seen to be working on the same task. Most-able pupils lack sufficient challenge, and teachers have low expectations of their potential.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive strong support from the additional interventions offered outside of the classroom. However, this effective support is not sustained in the classroom. The current assessment information used by the school does not track the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities with the same rigour as it does for other groups of pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils make effective progress because they are identified early and their needs are addressed within their learning. The progress of disadvantaged pupils is scrutinised carefully through regular pupil progress meetings at which teachers are held accountable.
• Phonics is taught well but pupils do not have sufficient opportunity to apply their knowledge of sounds in their writing. Pupils read with confidence but require greater opportunities to discuss the meaning and the chronology of key events. Senior leaders are aware of this and have introduced additional resources to support the development of pupils’ skills in inference and deduction of text.
• Pupils’ writing skills are not transferred across the curriculum. Writing outcomes and presentation in science, geography, history and religious education are not of the same standard as seen in English books. Repeated errors are left unchallenged and misconceptions are not being addressed.
• The teaching of mathematics is effective in developing pupils’ understanding of calculation. However, pupils lack opportunities to develop reasoning skills to explain their learning. This impacts on their understanding and mastery of key mathematical concepts.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development requires improvement.
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is discussed in assemblies. However, learning opportunities to develop these themes within the wider curriculum are limited.
• The school does not provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to reflect on their behaviour and attitudes. Consequently, pupils do not achieve a deep enough understanding of the values and insights they need to develop successfully as responsible citizens.
• School leaders, including the family liaison officer, are effective in meeting the needs of vulnerable pupils. A wide range of therapeutic services are in place to support pupils’ mental health and well-being, including access to play therapy and support groups to build resilience, confidence and self-esteem.
• Outside agencies work closely with the school to address issues of challenging behaviour but the school does not take the opportunity to engage with pupils and parents to help resolve incidents of unacceptable behaviour that occur, for example, in the playground.
• Staff celebrate the rich diversity of the local community, and pupils show a respect and tolerance for the various languages, faiths and cultures represented in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• The majority of pupils behave appropriately in classrooms. They are kind, caring and articulate. However, there are a small number of pupils who present challenging behaviour. This impacts upon learning, and teachers too frequently have to raise their voices to maintain order.
• Pupils report that name-calling, swearing and bullying happen in the playground. Pupils know who to report this to. They feel that they are listened to and that action is taken to keep them safe. However, pupils report frustration at the length of time it takes for incidents to be resolved.
• A significant number of parents are concerned that their children do not feel safe in school, and report that bullying is not taken seriously by school leaders.
• Entries in the school behaviour logs do not record sufficient details of incidents. For example, records relating to name-calling and swearing do not note the actual use of derogatory language and whether there were links to racial or homophobic bullying. Not all incidents are logged, and the actions taken to resolve conflict between pupils are not recorded.
• Behaviour in the dining hall is poor. The level of supervision from staff does not support a calm, enjoyable dining experience.
• Senior leaders have worked well with parents to improve attendance and punctuality. Effective strategies are in place to ensure regular attendance. The school’s attendance advisory officer has established a warm working relationship with parents, and has built up trust with parents whose children had previously experienced high levels of persistent absence.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In 2017, progress made by pupils in reading across key stage 2 was average, progress in writing was well below average and progress in mathematics was below average. Progress over time for all pupils was in the lowest 10% of schools nationally. Consequently, the standards achieved by pupils in reading, writing and mathematics were well below the national average.
• Key stage 1 attainment for all pupils has been in the lowest 20% of schools for the last two years.
• Work scrutiny of pupils’ books shows limited progress in subjects other than English and mathematics. The wider curriculum has yet to be developed, and pupils have few opportunities to develop their skills across the full curriculum.
• Most-able pupils lack sufficient challenge, and their attainment is lower than most-able pupils nationally in writing and mathematics. Most-able pupils are not encouraged to develop stamina in their writing to produce pieces of work of sufficient quantity and depth.
• Pupils with complex needs who have an education, health and care plan or a statement of special educational needs are taught effectively. Teaching is matched to their individual learning needs and they are well supported in the classroom by teaching assistants.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities benefit from effective additional support outside of the classroom. This is not, however, reinforced and consolidated in the classroom and, consequently, pupils do not make sufficient progress in their learning overall.
• Disadvantaged pupils make average progress. The additional funding used to support disadvantaged pupils is used effectively to offer them additional learning support to raise their attainment in reading and writing.
• Teachers have received training to improve the quality of teaching and learning in mathematics, and outcomes are beginning to improve in key stage 1. Leaders are aware that improvements have to be consistent across all year groups to include the introduction of reasoning skills and mathematics mastery into key stage 2.
• The proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is in line with the national average. Pupils have limited opportunities to apply their knowledge of sounds when writing independently, and writing outcomes in Year 1 are weak as a result. In 2017, the proportion of pupils meeting the national standard in Year 2 was in line with the national average. However, most-able pupils were not attaining the level of greater depth that would be expected nationally. The continuity and progression of writing skills across key stage 2 are impeded by a lack of opportunity to apply writing skills across a wide curriculum.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The early years team assesses over 70% of children as entering Nursery with skills, knowledge and experience lower than would be typical of a developing three-year-old. Inspectors found this to be an overcautious assessment of children’s starting points and one which does not build upon the prior learning of children.
• The early years leader has an effective action plan to develop early reading and early writing opportunities. Leaders recognise the need to raise expectations of children’s written outcomes in the Reception Year. Planned activities are rich in their modelling of language, and children delight in listening to stories and responding to questions. Children are beginning to apply their sounds to write more confidently in the Reception Year but the writing outcomes of current pupils do not prepare children adequately for Year 1.
• The modelling of mathematical language is effective, and the use of concrete resources to support children’s understanding of number, shape and measure reinforces children’s understanding of key mathematical concepts.
• The proportion of pupils attaining a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year has increased over time to be in line with age-related expectations. Most-able pupils meet higher-than-expected standards for reading. However, those from disadvantaged backgrounds have not met higher-than-expected outcomes in reading and mathematics for the past three years.
• Children behave well in the Nursery and Reception classes and they are encouraged to share play equipment and take turns. Classroom environments are safe, secure and bright spaces in which to learn. In contrast, the early years outdoor area is unattractive and lacks the imaginative and creative opportunities available in the classrooms.
• Children’s progress is tracked carefully and learning journals are available for parents and staff to measure progress over time.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 134185 Bexley 10047483 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 227 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Margaret Brook Jo-Anne Rowntree Telephone number 020 8300 4878 Website Email address www.orchardprimary.co.uk/ admin@orchard.bexley.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12–13 March 2014

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• There have been significant changes in leadership and governance since the last inspection, including the appointment of a new headteacher.
• The school has a greater proportion of disadvantaged pupils than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above average.
• The majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is in line with the national average.
• There is a breakfast club and after-school provision run by an external provider.
• The school was judged to be coasting by the Department for Education in 2017.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classrooms, accompanied by the deputy headteacher, to observe teaching and learning and to speak with pupils about their work.
• An inspector met with the deputy headteacher to discuss the school’s assessment information. A range of pupils’ books were viewed to evaluate pupils’ progress.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and met with groups of pupils to hear their views about the school. Inspectors observed behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes, in the playground and in the dining hall.
• Documents were made available for inspectors to scrutinise. These included safeguarding records, behaviour logs, minutes of governing body meetings, monitoring records, assessment information, school improvement plans and the school’s self-evaluation.
• Meetings took place with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior leaders, governors, the family liaison officer, the attendance advisory officer and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors met with parents informally at the start of the school day, and took into consideration the 42 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also considered the 21 returned responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Tom Canning, lead inspector Lando Du Plooy

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector