Khalsa Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve leadership and management, including governance, by making sure that leaders regularly check the progress being made by different groups of pupils.
• Improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that staff plan activities that provide greater challenge for the most able, and strengthen their progress further, in all subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has earned respect from her staff, who are highly supportive of her determination to improve provision. Together, they have been successful in driving up standards and eliminating weaker teaching and underachievement.
• Senior leaders communicate a clear vision for the school. New approaches to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics have been implemented this year to address the weaknesses in outcomes at key stage 2 in 2017. Changes have been embraced by staff, and are resulting in strongly improving teaching and learning.
• The curriculum is well planned. Leaders plan curriculum topics that motivate and interest pupils. Topics provide pupils with opportunities to make connections between different subjects. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. This contributes to the way pupils behave with each other and the respect they show for different cultures and religions.
• School leaders make effective use of the pupil premium funding. Pupils eligible for additional funding receive small-group support, one-to-one tuition and additional booster lessons. These actions have brought about improvement in their rates of progress.
• Parents and carers are very positive about the school. A very large majority of those who responded to Parent View would recommend the school to others.
• The local authority is supportive of the headteacher and governing body, and has provided appropriate training when requested. The school’s progress is checked by the local authority.
• All aspects of safeguarding are met so that pupils are kept safe. Leaders make sure that pupils have equal opportunities and that discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.

Governance of the school

• The previous governing body was issued with a warning notice from the local authority. The recently formed governing body understands its roles and responsibilities and is committed to the school. Governors offer a high level of challenge for continued improvement. Questions asked to senior staff in response to reports on the progress of pupils are insightful and demand highly detailed answers and evidence.
• Governors are involved in the school’s self-evaluation and assessing the school’s progress in addressing the priority areas for school improvement.
• The new governing body has improved its contribution to school improvement by joint visits with staff aimed at identifying specific areas that could be improved. This has led, for example, to greater and improved discussion with school leaders on the impact of training on pupils’ outcomes.
• The budget is managed effectively, and governors are aware of how the pupil premium is being spent to support the progress and raise the attainment of eligible pupils.
• The safety of pupils is paramount, and governors are diligent in their monitoring of safeguarding procedures. All statutory requirements are met.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The safeguarding governor checks that the single central record is kept up to date. Detailed checks are made on all adults who work or volunteer in the school, and visitors are supervised at all times. Appropriate procedures are followed to recruit staff safely.
• Even though there are a small number of pupils who are deemed to be vulnerable, leaders know the needs of pupils and families who may be at risk. They provide additional support where it is needed, for example by individual discussions with parents and by providing access to specialist services.
• The school’s training logs show that staff receive regular training. Leaders check that all adults who work at the school are fully aware of their responsibility to keep children safe. Pupils feel safe in school and are taught about risks, including those related to use of the internet and social media.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Pupils’ work, progress and the monitoring records of the school show that teaching is good. There are good relationships between adults and children, and pupils strive to meet the expectations set by adults.
• The school makes good use of interesting books as a stimulus to engage pupils’ interest. This contributes effectively to motivating boys to produce high-quality writing by using a range of vocabulary to enhance it.
• Teachers are confident in their teaching of reading as a result of intensive training, which has impacted significantly on pupils’ love of reading. This is reflected in the progress pupils make in reading across the school.
• First-hand experiences, including visits and visitors, are used well to extend and enrich pupils’ learning. As a result, pupils broaden their vocabulary and deepen their knowledge and understanding. Pupils talk confidently about how these opportunities develop their resilience and confidence.
• There is a good climate for learning across the school. Teachers use questioning well to deepen pupils’ learning and check their understanding. Occasionally, work set for pupils is too easy or too difficult, and this can slow their progress. In particular, the work set for the most able does not always stretch or challenge these pupils.
• Additional adults make a positive difference to pupils’ learning. They provide pupils with support where needed. As a result, pupils who require additional support make good progress.
• Teachers know their pupils well. Work is planned that enthuses pupils and excites them about their learning. Pupils know what they have to do to improve because teachers’ feedback is clear, identifying what they are doing well and how it can get better.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are proud of their school and celebrate diversity keenly. Pupils are confident and polite when interacting with adults, and are kind and considerate to each other.
• Pupils have a breadth of opportunities to contribute as leaders in their school community, for example as school councillors, playtime buddies and digital ambassadors. As a result, pupils develop into mature young people who are active citizens of their school community.
• Pupils relish a challenge and show perseverance. This helps them develop academically. For example, work seen in English books shows improvements in writing from the pupils’ first draft to the final write-up.
• Pupils know the staff value them as individuals. This makes them feel safe in school. They have a strong understanding about how to reduce risks to themselves in a range of situations, and are aware of different forms of bullying and what to do if they see or are victims of bullying.
• The majority of parents spoken to during the inspection said that staff are caring and approachable. On Parent View, responses show that parents feel their children are safe in school. One parent commented: ‘Khalsa Primary School provides a balance of Sikh beliefs and British values, as well as having high expectations for all pupils.’ This sums up the views of most parents.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are courteous and polite. They play well together at playtime, using playground equipment safely and showing respect for each other and the school environment.
• Pupils are treated equally and there is no discrimination. Pupils from a variety of cultures and backgrounds get on well together, and there have been no racist incidents since the last inspection.
• Pupils’ attendance is above the national average. The school has rigorous systems in place to work with families to improve attendance and punctuality. Consequently, the proportion of pupils who are regularly absent from school is lower than the national average.
• Pupils spoken to said that they feel safe in school and showed that they had an understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations, for example when using the internet. They were able to talk about how the school supports them to learn about keeping safe.
• The school has very few incidents of poor behaviour and deals effectively with them if they occur. It is clear from the school’s records that parents are supportive of the behaviour strategies and are involved fully if their child misbehaves.
• The school has had no fixed-term or permanent exclusions in the last three years.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ progress in key stage 2 reading and writing in 2017 was below national figures, compared to pupils with the same starting points nationally. There was a dip in pupils’ progress in mathematics in 2017, although this stayed in line with national figures. Those supported by the pupil premium did not make the same progress as all pupils nationally.
• Most pupils have made substantial gains in their reading and writing and, by the end of key stage 2, most reach the expected standard, compared with the previous year and nationally. Attainment and progress in reading are improving throughout the school. In the current Year 2, attainment at the higher standard is showing an increase on last year, according to pupils’ work in their books and the school’s assessment information. Pupils enjoy reading and pupils often read complex texts that challenge their skills.
• Improvements made in the teaching of mathematics successfully support pupils’ increased achievement. The emphasis on communication, reading, writing and mathematics in topic work ensures that pupils maintain their good progress across the curriculum.
• Support for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is effective. Their needs are identified early and the progress they make is checked regularly. The additional help that pupils receive in class and through additional interventions is tailored to their needs. As a result, the majority of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress.
• Pupils make good progress in developing their phonics skills as a result of high-quality teaching. Consequently, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 is above the national average. Pupils develop strong, age-appropriate reading skills and have a secure understanding of what they have read.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children enter the early years with a wide range of starting points but, mostly, they have skills that are below those typical for their age. Children make excellent progress in all areas of learning so that the proportion attaining a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year is above the national average. Children are very well prepared to move on to Year 1.
• Children in the early years are confident, inquisitive learners. Warm relationships are evident. Routines are well established and children behave well. They take turns listening to each other and make sensible choices. All staff have high expectations of behaviour.
• Indoor and outdoor learning spaces are very well organised. This supports and engages the interests of children and identifies specific areas of learning. Time spent indoors and outside are equally productive.
• A highly effective assessment process supports adults in identifying areas for further development for each child. This enables teachers to plan effectively and address identified areas as part of their daily teaching and provision.
• Highly effective teaching of phonics enables pupils to use their knowledge of letters and sounds to read and write independently. This, alongside appropriate modelling of spoken English by adults, is effective in supporting the large proportion of children who join speaking English as an additional language.
• Effective partnerships with parents ensure that learning between school and home is seamless. This is further enhanced with workshop opportunities offered by the school to enable parents to become familiar with the curriculum, as well as with the ways in which phonics and mathematics are taught.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 135482 Ealing 10048257 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 Voluntary aided 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 460 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Surinder Singh Purewal Parmjeet Kaur Sehmi Telephone number 020 8574 9045 Website Email address www.khalsaschool.co.uk info@khalsaschool.co.uk Date of previous inspection 10 January 2018

Information about this school

• Since the inspection of the school in January 2018, the school has had several changes to the membership of the governing body.
• Khalsa Primary School is an above-average-sized, voluntary aided Sikh faith primary school.
• The majority of pupils are from Asian or Asian British Indian backgrounds, with pupils from any other ethnic background forming the next sizeable ethnic group.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• In 2017, the school met the government’s published floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classrooms, and observed intervention groups.
• School leaders took part in joint observations with inspectors and attended all inspection team meetings.
• Meetings were held with school leaders, teachers and groups of pupils. Inspectors met with three governors, including the chair of the governing body, and a representative from the local authority.
• The inspectors worked in partnership with the school’s senior leaders when analysing information about the school. The inspectors looked at pupils’ outcomes, the school’s evaluation of its own performance, minutes from governors’ meetings, the school improvement plan and monitoring and evaluation records. Behaviour and attendance records and information relating to safeguarding were also checked.
• The inspectors walked around the school with pupils to find out more about their work from displays and extra-curricular activities. Inspectors interviewed groups of children from across the school to determine their views on behaviour and safety.
• Inspectors spent time in the playground at playtime, observed behaviour in the lunch halls, listened to pupils read and looked at work in pupils’ books, alongside senior leaders.
• Inspectors took into account the views of parents by analysing the 70 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, as well as speaking informally to parents during the inspection.
• Inspectors took into account the views of 31 staff who responded to the staff survey.

Inspection team

Danvir Visvanathan, lead inspector Lando Du Plooy Barney Geen

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector