Campsbourne Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and raise pupils’ achievement by ensuring that:
  • teachers provide work that is sufficiently challenging for the most able pupils, particularly in mathematics
  • the teaching of writing is of a consistently high quality throughout the school by firmly embedding the newly introduced teaching strategies.
• Further improve the effectiveness of leadership by ensuring that:
  • the new subject leaders are well supported in their roles in order to make a difference to pupils’ outcomes and raise standards further in their areas of responsibility.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Parents, staff and governors fully support the headteacher’s vision for the school. Over the past two years, there have been significant changes to staffing. The headteacher has ensured stability, particularly at senior and middle leadership level. The school’s ethos is positive and staff morale is high.
• New appointments to the senior team have strengthened the school’s leadership. The deputy headteacher and lead practitioner work effectively with the headteacher to shape the school’s curriculum and continually improve the quality of teaching.
• Leaders know pupils well. They hold regular meetings with teachers to talk about pupils’ progress. The headteacher’s high aspirations are shared by leaders. Together, they are firmly committed to making sure that teachers know exactly what pupils should learn in each year group and address any gaps in their learning effectively.
• The curriculum is exciting and engaging for pupils. Leaders ensure that individual subjects are taught well and that pupils experience a varied and enriching range of learning opportunities. Pupils and parents are particularly proud of the learning that takes place in nearby Alexandra Palace Park and in the school’s on-site ecology room. During the inspection, Year 2 pupils spoke vividly about their spiders’ webs made from clay and ‘fairy houses’ that were created during art and technology sessions in the woods.
• Teachers make good use of the school’s grounds to enrich the learning that takes place in the classroom. Specialist teachers and coaches bring their skills to the school and share these with other staff. Pupils have great fun in physical education (PE) lessons and acquire good skills from a young age in music and singing lessons.
• Leaders make sure that pupils benefit from a variety of after-school activities. The school’s on-site after-school club is very popular. Pupils have a variety of opportunities to take part in activities such as cooking, sewing and games.
• Leaders spend the pupil premium funding well for the small number of disadvantaged pupils in the school. Some of the additional funding has been used to provide these pupils with additional support from senior leaders, such as through intervention groups and extra reading sessions. This is having a positive impact on improving the outcomes for these pupils. Governors ensure that leaders spend all additional funding astutely.
• The deputy headteacher oversees the provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities effectively. She has specialist expertise and uses this well to ensure that these pupils make consistently good progress. Her work with teachers, external professionals and parents is strong. Children who have complex needs in the early years are supported particularly well.
• The school’s values are very well embedded. Teachers promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through assemblies, visits and the curriculum.
• Parents are extremely satisfied with the school. All those who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, would recommend the school to others.
• The local authority has provided strong support for the headteacher since his appointment. Representatives from the local authority have challenged leaders to maintain good standards of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. Partnership working with the school improvement adviser has been focused and developmental and has contributed well to the school’s ongoing improvements.
• Following the restructuring of leadership roles within the school, some members of staff are very new to leadership. These middle leaders have not had the same impact and influence on standards across the school. Governors and the headteacher acknowledge that these new leaders need to be well supported to further improve standards in their areas of responsibility.

Governance of the school

• The chair of governors leads an ambitious and committed team that is determined to improve the school further. Governors know the school well and are increasingly effective at finding out for themselves about the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes.
• The governing body meets regularly as one team. During meetings, governors challenge school leaders effectively and ask questions about the school development plan and leaders’ actions to ensure that pupils make good or better progress.
• Governors have worked very effectively together with the headteacher to recruit and maintain a strong and determined leadership team. They communicate the school’s vision well and are a visible presence at school events.
• Governors fulfil their statutory duties effectively. They ensure that the school’s performance management procedures are robust and that salary progression for staff is linked closely to the impact of their work.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Safeguarding is top of the list for governors, leaders and staff. Parents and pupils agree that the school is a safe place to play and learn.
• The pastoral manager provides effective and sensitive leadership to this aspect of the school’s work. Together with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, she makes sure that safeguarding arrangements are robust and that all children are safe, including the most vulnerable. Leaders meet regularly to discuss these pupils to ensure that they provide whatever is needed to support pupils’ welfare.
• Leaders provide good opportunities for parents to understand the safeguarding procedures and how to keep their children safe, for example when using the internet. One assembly each week is called the ‘safety assembly’. Pupils speak knowledgeably about what they learn during these sessions. For example, pupils know how to stay safe online and when crossing the road, and they know about strangers.
• The headteacher ensures that all staff training related to child protection is up to date. Staff understand the procedures for reporting any concerns they may have about a child’s welfare. The checks made on the suitability of staff are compliant and the governor responsible for safeguarding ensures that the school’s arrangements are effective.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers take professional development opportunities seriously. Teaching has improved over time, particularly in reading. Leaders work collaboratively with teachers to look at what is working well for pupils and consider ways to improve pupils’ outcomes still further.
• The appointment of the school’s lead practitioner has been instrumental in supporting teachers to continually improve their practice. She works alongside teachers, models strategies and provides effective feedback which identifies strengths in teaching and the things that could be even better. Leaders support teachers’ planning so that there is a joined-up approach and a clear understanding of what pupils need to know in each year group and subject.
• Classrooms are typically very positive. Pupils are keen to take part in lessons and enjoy the different strategies teachers use to make learning fun. Group work, investigations and outdoor learning all feature highly on the pupils’ list of things they like the most.
• The teaching of phonics has improved. Pupils learn to segment and blend sounds well because adults have secure subject knowledge and teaching builds on what pupils know and can do. Phonics is taught systematically and pupils apply their knowledge of letter sounds well in their reading. These improvements have improved the school’s scores in the Year 1 phonics screening check.
• Reading is well taught. The new approach to teaching reading is already paying dividends. Pupils learn to think deeply about what they read during the small-group teaching sessions. Pupils who read with inspectors demonstrated good comprehension skills for their age and used a range of strategies accurately to read unfamiliar words.
• Pupils are keen to talk about their learning across the curriculum. The teaching of other subjects, such as science, and design and technology, is improving. Pupils have opportunities to work practically, explore ideas for themselves and experience concepts for the first time. For example, pupils delight in talking about making ‘snow’, and how they created hand puppets using sewing techniques and different materials.
• Pupils enjoy opportunities to perform their talents and new-found skills. For example, in music, Year 2 pupils demonstrate a good understanding of rhythm and pulse using handclapping, and ‘call and response’ techniques using the drums.
• Teachers help pupils to learn and understand the key vocabulary needed in lessons very well. In mathematics, teachers model calculation strategies effectively and pupils use resources and pictures to help them understand new concepts.
• At the end of last year, leaders identified that some aspects of pupils’ writing, such as spelling and handwriting, were not always well developed. As a result, leaders evaluated the ways in which writing was taught throughout the school. They put in place new procedures to bring about a consistency in the teaching of writing. These strategies, alongside the opportunities for pupils to talk about, plan and prepare longer pieces of writing, are beginning to have an impact but are not yet firmly embedded in all classes.
• In most lessons, teachers are good at incorporating suitably challenging activities at the right time for different groups of pupils, particularly the most able pupils. However, this is not consistently the case. Sometimes, the most able pupils complete work that is too easy. Teachers do not build on pupils’ prior knowledge consistently well, particularly in mathematics.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are reflective and make decisions. For example, they helped design the school’s behaviour management procedures and are actively involved in sharing their ideas through the school council.
• Leaders promote pupils’ personal well-being effectively. The pastoral team is good at meeting pupils’ emotional and mental health needs. Teachers plan opportunities for pupils to discuss their feelings and ideas, including through lessons and in assemblies.
• Pupils are confident that adults will help them if they are worried or concerned. The use of ‘bubble boxes’, for example, is one way that pupils can convey their worries to staff. Pupils understand what bullying is and say that it is rare.
• In 2016, pupils’ attendance was below the national average. Since then, leaders’ actions to improve this aspect of the school’s work have been positive. Fewer pupils are absent regularly and the school’s attendance figures are now in line with the national averages.
• The school is a central part of the community. Pupils learn about the many cultures that make up the city and world in which they live. They speak positively about their school’s ‘cultural day’ and the opportunities provided to try food from around the world. Pupils celebrate a variety of festivals and learn about why these are important to different faiths and communities. Parents compliment the school’s inclusive ethos and the good opportunities for their children to learn about the world beyond Hornsey.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils arrive happily in the mornings, eager to see their friends and teachers. They enjoy their learning and say that teachers make lessons fun. Pupils walk to and from lessons sensibly and follow instructions well. The school is a calm and orderly environment where learning is rarely disrupted by incidents of poor behaviour.
• Pupils are considerate to others and look after their classmates. At lunchtimes and on the playground, pupils follow the rules and play safely. The climbing wall, ball games and other team activities enable pupils to mix with others and develop their social and teamwork skills.
• Most of the time, pupils are engaged in their learning and get on with their work. They relish the opportunities to share what they know and what they are learning. However, on a few occasions, pupils’ behaviour slips when the learning activities are not sufficiently challenging and they become distracted.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Throughout the school, strong teaching enables pupils to make good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. Current pupils achieve well overall. The work in pupils’ books and leaders’ assessment information show that pupils make good gains in their learning, particularly in reading.
• In the past, the proportion of pupils that reached the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check was below the national average. In 2017, as a result of stronger leadership and teaching, this figure improved so that it was in line with the national average.
• In 2016, the outcomes for different groups of pupils were variable and, for some, these outcomes were significantly below the national average. Disadvantaged pupils did not achieve well enough in 2016. Too few disadvantaged pupils achieved the standards expected for their age by the end of Year 2.
• In 2017, standards improved. Leaders’ actions to address weaknesses in teaching and raise pupils’ achievements were successful. Last year, the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics was much closer to the national average.
• The proportion of pupils that achieved the greater depth standards also improved in 2017, to above the national average. The most able pupils at the end of the early years made strong progress to attain highly by the end of Year 2.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities achieve well. Case studies, work in pupils’ books, and personal target sheets show that these pupils are well supported in school. The small number of disadvantaged pupils are also making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Although it has improved over the past two years, pupils’ achievement in writing is weaker than in reading and mathematics. Leaders have already started to address this, and the work in pupils’ books demonstrates many improvements. However, leaders agree that the strategies to develop pupils’ writing skills need time to fully embed, so that pupils’ outcomes in this subject improve still further.

Early years provision Good

• Parents are extremely pleased with how well their children settle into the early years classes. Staff get to know children and their families very well and work together with parents to support children’s learning and development.
• Just under half the children enter the early years with skills that are typical for their age. Teachers and support staff observe children’s learning well. They find out what children need to learn next and plan activities and opportunities to help children make progress in their learning and development. In 2017, the proportion of children that achieved a good level of development was in line with the national average.
• Teaching in the early years is effective. Teachers follow children’s interests and create activities that engage and inspire children’s curiosity. Children had great fun playing independently in ‘Santa’s grotto’, where they created and wrapped presents for their friends and wrote labels and tags to organise their gifts.
• Staff interact with children skilfully to extend their communication and language skills. Children enjoy singing nursery rhymes and learning the actions. Reading is well promoted. Staff share books with children and know how to extend children’s early reading skills.
• Adults encourage children to talk to each other and share their ideas. The environment indoors and outside is inviting and engaging. Pupils interact well with the activities and respond to the challenges set by teachers. Children were immersed in making elephant masks as part of their class story and enjoyed treating unwell animals in the pretend veterinary surgery. Children’s inquiring minds were stimulated by opportunities to explore the different shadows they could make using torches inside the darkened tent.
• Children behave well. They move around the classrooms safely and use their toys and resources appropriately. Children show good motivation and self-confidence. Staff are calm and kind and help children learn the importance of turn-taking and good manners.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the early years provision. They know what is working well and have identified what could be even better. Leaders ensure that teachers in the early years are well supported to continually improve children’s learning and achievement.

School details

Unique reference number 102085 Local authority Haringey Inspection number 10041056 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3 to 7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 211 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stuart Parker Headteacher Jonathan Smith Telephone number 020 8340 2064 Website www.campsbourne.haringey.sch.uk Email address head@campsbourne.haringey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 22–23 May 2013

Information about this school

• The headteacher joined the school in January 2016. Since then, there have been a number of changes to the staff team. Following a restructure, a new deputy headteacher and lead practitioner joined the school.
• There are two classes in each year group from Reception to Year 2. The Nursery is open each morning and afternoon. A small number of children attend the Nursery for the full day. The school is federated with Campsbourne Junior School.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of pupils who receive SEN support is below average. An average proportion of pupils have an education, health and care plan.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited 20 lessons or part-lessons to observe pupils’ learning. Some visits to lessons took place with school leaders. Inspectors visited mathematics, writing, phonics, science, history and music lessons. They also observed pupils during social times, including a visit to the school’s after-school club.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders and teaching staff. The lead inspector met with three governors, including the chair of governors. The lead inspector also met with the school improvement adviser from the local authority.
• Throughout the inspection, inspectors spoke informally with pupils. An inspector met formally with a group of pupils from key stage 1. Inspectors heard 12 pupils read.
• A wide range of pupils’ work was reviewed by inspectors. This included work in books, artefacts on display and information in children’s learning journals in the early years. Inspectors also listened to pupils singing during assembly, and observed their speaking and listening in lessons.
• Inspectors scrutinised documentation relating to school improvement, staff development and safeguarding. Inspectors checked the single central record of suitability checks on staffing and looked at safeguarding procedures.
• Inspectors visited all parts of the school site that are used by pupils. A group of pupils accompanied the lead inspector on a tour of their school to discuss the curriculum and their views on teaching and learning.
• At the start of the inspection, inspectors met with parents on the playground. Inspectors also considered the 79 responses to Parent View, which included free-text comments submitted by parents. There were no responses to the pupil or staff surveys.

Inspection team

Gary Rawlings, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Sarah Bailey Ofsted Inspector