Chase Side Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve teaching, learning and assessment, and pupils’ outcomes, by:
  • ensuring that teachers consistently make use of assessment information to provide pupils with suitably challenging work
  • improving the subject knowledge of teachers and teaching assistants in phonics and making sure that they challenge and engage pupils in this subject
  • raising teachers’ expectations of how hard the pupils should work and how well pupils challenge themselves
  • providing sufficient opportunities for pupils to work at greater depth, especially in mathematics and science
  • supporting pupils in checking their work so that avoidable spelling and punctuation errors are tackled quickly
  • ensuring that teaching assistants build on what the pupils already know when supporting groups in lessons
  • making sure that activities are always purposeful and promote good learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The acting headteacher and other senior leaders have a shared and ambitious vision for the school. They are clear about what works well and what remains to be done. The school is improving, and pupils’ outcomes were better in national assessments in 2017 than in 2016. The leaders’ monitoring of assessment information has increased in rigour. Information about pupils currently at the school is showing that the rate of progress is continuing to improve.
• Leaders are accurate in their monitoring of teaching and provide the right level of challenge, training and support to teaching staff. They are fully aware that while teaching is improving, it is not consistently good. Members of staff are pleased with the training they are receiving and are keen to develop professionally.
• In the last year, leaders have developed the curriculum well to provide a breadth of learning. Leaders have encouraged greater flexibility so that weaker areas of the pupils’ knowledge and understanding can be strengthened. There is a good range of extra-curricular activities that extend pupils’ interest in learning.
• The additional funding for sport is spent well on specialist coaching and staff training. For example, the positive impact of training in dance was evident in Year 5, where pupils performed interesting sequences inspired by ‘The highwayman’. Pupils benefit from a wide range of sports and competitions.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported well. Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. They develop a clear understanding about rights and responsibilities, and know that democracy ‘means fairness’. They enjoy learning about various faiths and cultures.
• The funding to support disadvantaged pupils is being monitored rigorously to ensure that its impact is strengthened. School information shows that these pupils are making more rapid progress than last year and are catching up with their peers.
• There is a strong relationship between the school and parents. Parents are keen to attend the school-run workshops on topics such as mathematics. They are positive about the school and note that it is improving. They typically make astute comments such as, ‘I think the school is taking actions to improve the results and they are going in the right direction’ and ‘There is still room for improvement, but it is better than it was last year.’
• Leaders are tightening up procedures that will help teaching to become consistently good. For example, they are ensuring that funding for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is targeted more accurately on greatest need and that all teachers follow school policies.

Governance of the school

• Governors are realistic about current school effectiveness and understand thoroughly the school’s strengths and next steps for improvement.
• They check how well pupils are progressing more rigorously than in the past and are providing the right level of challenge and support for school leaders.
• Governors make sure that teachers are given suitable targets for development and that they are linked to improving pupils’ progress.
• They check that arrangements for keeping pupils safe are robust.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders are rigorous in ensuring that pupils are kept safe. Members of staff are checked for suitability for working with children. They are fully trained in safety matters and information is shared effectively.
• Members of staff follow the school policies and ensure that there is a safe culture at the school. Pupils feel safe because they know that they can rely on adults at the school to keep them safe. Leaders ensure that any referrals to external agencies are completed swiftly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because they are not consistently good across the school. Not all teachers use assessment information well enough to provide work that is suitable for pupils’ needs and abilities. When this happens, work is too difficult for some pupils and too easy for others and the pace of learning slows.
• At times, teachers and teaching assistants follow lesson planning too rigidly and opportunities are missed to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding, especially in mathematics and science.
• Expectations for the quality of pupils’ written work are variable. Some teachers are too willing to accept work that is not good enough or that contains avoidable errors.
• Most teachers have secure subject knowledge and effective use is made of specialist teaching in subjects such as Spanish and physical education. Teachers instil in pupils a love of reading and support them well in understanding texts. Not all teachers and teaching assistants have sufficiently good subject knowledge about teaching phonics. They do not challenge the pupils or interest them sufficiently in the subject.
• Teachers cover the curriculum in their teaching, including basic literacy and numeracy skills. Some additional sessions for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are boosting learning effectively.
• The management of pupils’ behaviour is good. Teachers form constructive relationships with the pupils and have high expectations for their behaviour.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Members of staff are supportive and caring and, as a result, pupils gain confidence.
• The school is successful in promoting pupils’ physical development through a wide range of sports in lessons and through additional activities and competitions.
• Pupils receive strong support in developing emotionally. They have good access to in-school support from an external agency. They also benefit from the positive relationships they have with members of staff.
• Pupils are knowledgeable about how to stay safe, including when using the internet. They understand about different forms of bullying and why these are wrong. They report that bullying is rare and when it occurs it is dealt with successfully by members of staff.
• Pupils are keen to learn, but do not always take enough care with their writing. When this happens, they make avoidable mistakes in spelling and punctuation or their work is untidy.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils and their parents are positive about behaviour at the school and agree that it is typically good.
• Pupils are polite and support each other well when working in pairs or small groups. They say that they have special lessons that teach them how to be courteous.
• Pupils play together well and are tolerant of differing views and beliefs. They are proud of their school and enjoy attending. Pupils arrive at school punctually and their attendance is regular and has improved.
• There is little disruption to learning in lessons, although at times pupils lose attentiveness when the work is not suitable for their needs. When this happens, they sit and wait patiently but are not learning quickly.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Work in pupils’ books demonstrates that pupils’ outcomes require improvement. Pupils do not consistently make strong progress. In the last two years, pupils have not done well enough by the end of Year 6, particularly in mathematics. In 2017, their attainment was broadly average in reading and writing but was below average in mathematics.
• Pupils’ progress slows when their work is not matched well to their needs. At times, those who have SEN and/or disabilities struggle with their work because it is too hard. For example, some texts used with the whole class are too difficult for these pupils to understand. At other times, especially in mathematics and science, the most able pupils and at times those of average ability are not challenged enough to work at greater depth.
• Nevertheless, pupils are improving their understanding of what they are learning in mathematics and in some classes evaluate their work effectively. In Year 5, pupils said that explaining their work was helping them to learn better.
• Pupils develop their writing and improve their use of interesting words. However, they make frequent avoidable errors and do not always present their work with sufficient care.
• In phonics, pupils in Year 1 do not consistently learn as well as they should because not all members of staff have good subject knowledge, provide sufficient challenge for all pupils and engage the pupils well in their learning. By the end of Year 2, pupils catch up with their phonics and make good use of their knowledge to support their reading and writing. Pupils enjoy reading a range of books and most understand what they have read well.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils is improving this year. Previously, these pupils had done less well than their peers. Leaders are checking with greater rigour that activities in place to provide additional support are effective in boosting learning.
• Pupils who are at the early stages of learning to speak English do so quickly. They are supported well by members of staff and by other pupils.
• Pupils are suitably prepared for the next stage of education because their attainment and progress are improving, and they behave well.

Early years provision Good

• Provision for the children in the early years is good. When children join the school, most are working below the levels expected for their age. They make good progress and their attainment is broadly average at the end of the Reception Year. Children are prepared well for when they join Year 1.
• Teaching and the curriculum have a positive impact on children’s learning and outcomes. In the Nursery, children flourish because there is a welcoming atmosphere and members of staff are skilled in demonstrating what children are to learn. Children are keen to persist with a given task because activities are stimulating and interesting. Adults support children well and encourage them with praise.
• Routines are firmly established and understood fully by the children. For example, children are quick to self-register and they tidy up the classroom at the end of each session without fuss.
• In the Reception Year classes, adults use skilful questioning that enables children to develop their vocabularies further. Children concentrate well on the range of exciting activities. For example, they enjoyed making their own ‘minibeasts’ from a range of materials and measuring the length of various pretend worms. Occasionally, opportunities are missed to extend the learning of the most able children.
• Children who are learning to speak English are supported well because speaking and listening are promoted strongly. These children are very keen to try out what they have learned on visitors.
• Throughout the early years, children behave well and are keen to learn. They are quick to apologise if they accidentally hurt someone and are aware of the need to care for living things. For example, they were gentle when returning the earthworms they had been observing to the flower bed. They learn good manners by joining in with songs such as the ‘Please and thank you’ song.
• Leadership and management are good and systems for keeping the children safe and helping them to feel safe are effective. Funding for disadvantaged children is used well and provides effective additional teaching support.
• There are strong links with parents. ‘Learning journals’ are used well as a shared record of each child’s progress. In some journals, opportunities are missed to make clear what children need to learn next. Parents are positive about all aspects of the early years and especially like the home visits and that children learn Spanish.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 101984 Enfield 10048142 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 462 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Acting Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Ken Ferguson Melanie Scull 020 8363 1120 www.chaseside.enfield.sch.uk office@chaseside.enfield.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 10–11 June 2015

Information about this school

• Chase Side is larger than an average-sized primary school. There is a part-time Nursery and two Reception classes in the early years provision.
• Pupils come to the school from a wide range of heritages and a high proportion speak English as an additional language. About 1 in 12 is at the early stages of learning to speak English. These children are mostly in the Nursery and Reception classes. There are over 40 different first languages spoken by the pupils.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above average. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is also above average.
• There have been many changes in staffing since the previous inspection, including in senior leadership. The acting headteacher started in this role in April 2017.
• 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.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 24 lessons, many jointly with the acting headteacher or another senior leader.
• Discussions were held with leaders, other members of staff and members of the governing body.
• Inspectors held informal discussions with several parents and scrutinised 101 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors considered 45 responses from members of staff.
• Pupils in Years 2 and 6 were heard reading and samples of pupils’ work were scrutinised.
• A range of information supplied by the school was checked, including the school’s own information about how well pupils are doing, planning documents and checks on the quality of teaching. The inspectors also looked at the school development plan and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

Inspection team

Alison Cartlidge, lead inspector Rekha Bhakoo Brenda Watson Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector