West Green Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise standards further, especially in reading, by:
  • teachers setting challenging work that stretches all pupils, including the most able, to reach their potential
  • pupils reading a wider range of texts, including non-fiction, in order to extend their vocabulary and broaden their general knowledge.
• Raise attendance further by helping parents to appreciate the detrimental effect that absence has on their children’s learning.
• Extend pupils’ moral development by giving them more opportunities to learn about, and debate, current affairs.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• New senior leaders, together with the members of the governing body, passionately care about the pupils in the school, as do all members of staff. Leaders are driven to help all pupils succeed socially and academically. This helps to ensure that pupils are well prepared for secondary school and their future lives in modern Britain. All members of staff who responded to the questionnaire agreed that they have a clear understanding of what the school is trying to achieve. There is a strong ‘family’ feel in the school and morale is high. Pupils behave well and enjoy all that the school has to offer.
• Leaders have made sure that teaching is now good and improving. They frequently check on teachers’ planning and the work in pupils’ books. They regularly visit lessons, check on the quality of teaching and analyse information about pupils’ progress. They use this information well to hold teachers to account for their pupils’ progress. Underperformance is not accepted.
• Teachers benefit from well-targeted professional development, including mentoring and coaching. Leaders ensured, for instance, that teachers and other members of staff were well trained in the new teaching initiatives to improve reading. This has already met with much success. Leaders know that more needs to be done to ensure that pupils make rapid progress. They are not complacent.
• Leaders have established strong links with a cluster of local schools. Leaders and teachers use these links to learn from best practice and to moderate their judgements. Leaders commissioned consultancy support, such as that to improve the teaching of mathematics, and local authority support in developing provision in the early years. These and similar initiatives have contributed to improved teaching and better outcomes for pupils across the year groups.
• Pupils benefit from a curriculum which is exciting and broad. Although there is a strong emphasis on English and mathematics, the curriculum covers a broad range of subjects, giving a reasonably good amount of time for each subject. A particular strength is that pupils are taught each week by a specialist Spanish teacher and specialist music teacher and all pupils work with an artist in residence. Leaders recognise that, now that outcomes across the subjects are securely good, they need to plan specific activities designed to stretch and raise pupils’ ambitions and aspirations for the future, especially for the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• Each half term, pupils go on an educational trip or have visitors to the school to enrich their learning. Pupils in Year 3, for instance, learned about caring for the world in their topic work and about the growth of plants in science. The class enriched their learning through a visit to Kew Gardens. A theatre group visited the school and ran a day’s interactive workshop for Year 6 on the second world war.
• Pupils’ spiritual, cultural and social development and their understanding of British values are strong. Through lessons and assemblies, pupils learn about different issues such as relationships, diversity and equality, human rights, homelessness and fair trade. Further, pupils have opportunities to sing in the choir and perform at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. Year 6 pupils visited the law courts and ran a mock trial.
• Pupils’ moral development, however, is not as strong. Inspectors found that pupils do not have a good understanding of current affairs and have too few opportunities to consider and debate controversial and ethical issues in an age-appropriate way.
• The special educational needs coordinator also leads the speech and language resource provision. She ensures that pupils are fully supported to be integrated into the regular classrooms and to make the same good progress as their peers.
• Leaders use the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils to good effect. It has ensured that eligible pupils generally make faster progress than their peers. They are not only catching up but sometimes overtaking similar pupils nationally. The most able disadvantaged pupils do particularly well in writing.
• Leaders have used the additional sports funding wisely. A sports coach helped to improve the skills of staff in teaching physical education. The range of sports and exercise activities available to pupils is expanding, such as in the introduction of gymnastics and zumba this year. For the first time, last year, pupils had opportunities to take part in competitive sport with other schools. This is making a good contribution to pupils’ physical health.

Governance of the school

• Governors, some of whom served on the interim executive board (IEB), bring a wealth of experience in governance from this and other schools. They bring expertise from the worlds of finance, project management, human resources and education to inform their work.
• The governing body’s termly project board goes through a rigorous process to examine all aspects of the school’s work and to hold leaders to account. Working with senior leaders and seeking verification from external consultants, governors carefully track improvements and analyse information about pupil and teachers’ performance. They are thus extremely well informed about all aspects of the school’s work. Together with school leaders, they identify next steps and agree improvement action plans. These processes have played a key role in driving forward school improvement since the previous inspection.
• Since becoming a governing body in January 2016, governors have been working to recruit more governors that are representative of the local community. They have had some success but a few vacancies remain. They are actively trying to recruit additional suitable candidates.
• Since moving from an IEB to a governing body, governors have undertaken training and sought guidance to ensure that they fulfil all statutory requirements. They are now in the final stages of updating and ratifying a few remaining policies, such as that for staff conduct, and ensuring that the school’s website fully meets the requirements issued in September 2016 by the Department for Education.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The designated safeguarding lead has established very strong links with the local authority’s safeguarding officers and social services, as well as with other external agencies. Leaders and governors are well aware of the safeguarding issues in the locality and how to respond to them. Members of staff know the pupils and their families very well. They are well trained, vigilant and alert and do not hesitate to raise any concerns when they arise. Referrals are made with alacrity and matters are consistently followed up. The school’s motto is ‘Children come first’. This is evident through the quality of care and personal relationships across the school. Ensuring children’s safety and well-being is paramount.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved and is consistently good and improving further. As a result, pupils are now making good progress in their learning.
• Teachers and other adults enjoy good working relationships with pupils. Pupils respond accordingly by following instructions, working hard and trying their best. Teachers mostly display great enthusiasm for teaching and learning. This is infectious and pupils respond in kind and are keen learners.
• Teachers prepare a variety of activities to meet the needs and interests of pupils. They use questioning well to help pupils think. In-class support is effective for those who need to catch up, including pupils in the language resource provision and those new to English education, and helps them to make good progress. The most able generally do get more difficult work. This means that all groups of pupils make good progress. Nevertheless, teachers do not always challenge pupils, including the most able, disadvantaged pupils and others, hard enough to really stretch them to make consistently rapid progress and reach the highest possible standards.
• Leaders made a concerted effort to improve the teaching of reading. It is now good. Teachers and teaching assistants are well trained in the teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make). There has been improved teaching of reading and comprehension across the year groups. A school library has been established. Books are classified by reading ability, matching the steps defined by the phonics programme that the school uses. This means that pupils are directed to books that challenge and develop their skills appropriately. Reading and comprehension have been extended via pupils taking reading materials home and through a computer program which pupils can access at school. Daily home reading is encouraged. All these aspects explain why pupils now make good progress. However, the breadth of texts that pupils are reading, including non-fiction, is not wide enough to really expand their vocabulary and their general knowledge.
• Writing is taught well. Pupils are expected to write for a range of purposes and audiences. They have opportunities to apply their writing skills across the subject areas. In doing so, they practise and improve their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills. In the last year, teachers placed a much greater emphasis on ensuring that pupils edit their work. This helps them to identify how to improve the quality of their writing. Consequently, they now make good progress.
• The teaching of mathematics is good. Through the support that they had from consultants, teachers are skilled in teaching the new curriculum effectively. Pupils’ misconceptions are quickly cleared up. Teachers require pupils to explain their mathematical reasoning. This helps them to think logically. Pupils have opportunities to apply their skills in solving problems, including in money matters. As a result, pupils make good progress.
• Scrutiny of a sample of books from the last academic year confirmed that pupils made good progress across the subjects. It is clear that teachers consistently apply the school’s marking and feedback policy. There is much evidence to show that teachers use the ongoing assessment of pupils’ work through marking to offer additional support or challenge. This helps pupils to make good progress. Challenge does not, however, always stretch pupils deeply enough to help them make outstanding progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Many pupils arrive at the school with little or no English language acquisition and, in some cases, poor social skills. As they integrate and work their way up the school, they gain in confidence, and learn to socialise and communicate well. This is because leaders ensure that they receive well-tailored support, such as with specialist phonics teachers, so that they can catch up quickly. Equally, there is a culture of pupils welcoming new arrivals. As one pupil commented, ‘this school is all about helping each other’. His friends agreed.
• Pupils are very aware of all forms of bullying. They say that, other than the occasional football-related skirmish, pupils of all backgrounds, faiths and cultures get on well with each other. Bullying is rare and there is no racism. Should a problem arise, they know that an adult will deal with it quickly.
• School leaders work in close liaison with a range of external agencies, including housing officers, to support pupils and their families whose circumstances make them vulnerable. This support helps to remove barriers that get in the way of successful learning.
• The school is participating in a child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) pilot scheme for staff to develop their understanding and raise their awareness of signs of mental health in children.
• Pupils’ physical health is promoted well through the many sports-related activities available. Members of staff are alert to any pupils who might be showing signs of stress. Those pupils are supported by the school counsellor, who also works to support whole families. The school also brokers other therapies to assist pupils with mental health issues, such as music therapy. This makes a strong contribution to pupils’ mental well-being.
• Pupils feel very safe in school. They know how to stay safe in different situations, such as when using the internet or riding a bicycle. Pupils told inspectors about a workshop delivered by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) about inappropriate touching. Pupils knew about and were able to quote the telephone number of Childline, which they know they can call if they are very worried about something.
• Pupils understand how democracy works through the processes of electing members of the school council and by an assembly delivered by the local member of Parliament. Their broader understanding of what is happening in the world and opportunities to discuss the news and debate controversial issues are limited.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils take pride in their work and appearance. They enjoy coming to school and making the most of what is on offer.
• Pupils arrive punctually to lessons. They approach their learning with very positive attitudes, cooperating with their teachers and trying their best to do well.
• Pupils move around the school sensibly. Behaviour in the playground and dining area is good. Pupils warmly welcome visitors and are keen to talk about their experiences in school.
• Pupils’ punctuality to school improved markedly last year. The number of late arrivals more than halved from the autumn to the summer terms.
• Leaders work tirelessly with parents and external agencies in cases where pupils’ attendance is not high enough. They have done so with some success, which means that attendance figures are rising, albeit slowly. There are still too many instances of parents taking their children out of school for lengthy term-time holidays and extended religious celebrations. This has a detrimental impact on those children’s learning.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Children enter the early years with skills, knowledge and understanding that are lower than typically found for their age, especially in language and communication, and in social skills. Progress rates markedly improved in 2016. Consequently, pupils who have just entered Year 1 are ready to start following the national curriculum. This represents good progress.
• The much-improved quality of teaching in phonics ensured that the proportion of Year 1 pupils who met the expected standard in the phonics screening check increased by over 20 percentage points in 2016 to be broadly average.
• In the 2015 national tests, pupils in Year 2 reached broadly average standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Unvalidated data for the new, more difficult, 2016 tests shows that pupils once more reached broadly average standards in all subjects. This represents a significant improvement since the previous inspection and good progress from pupils’ low starting points.
• Year 6 attainment in the new national tests in 2016 was broadly average in reading, writing and mathematics combined. Separately, reading attainment was not as strong as attainment in other subjects. Progress for pupils who have key stage 1 data, which accounts for about two thirds of the cohort, was good overall and especially in writing.
• Inspection evidence confirms that, across the year groups and subjects, pupils made good progress during the last academic year. Evidence also confirms that late joiners make good progress from their respective starting points.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, as well as those who speak English as an additional language, make equally good progress because of the effective support that they receive. This is also the case for those pupils supported by the specialist speech and language resource provision.
• 2015 validated data for disadvantaged pupils showed that, in most measures for key stages 1 and 2, these pupils made similar or faster progress and reached similar or higher standards than all pupils nationally. The school’s unvalidated data for 2016 shows disadvantaged pupils attained higher results than other pupils nationally in the Year 1 phonics screening, the Year 2 reading, writing and mathematics combined tests and the Year 6 mathematics and grammar, punctuation and spelling tests. Progress rates in reading were the same as others nationally and above in the other subjects. This means that differences when compared with other pupils nationally are not only diminishing but in many cases these pupils are doing better than other pupils nationally.
• The overall standards of the most able at key stage 2 were above those of similar pupils nationally in 2015 in all subjects. In the 2016 key stage 2 tests, all pupils with higher prior attainment reached the expected standard in all subjects. Two thirds reached the higher standard in writing and in grammar, punctuation and spelling. The school’s data for the last academic year shows that disadvantaged most-able pupils across key stages 1 and 2 made good progress overall and particularly fast progress in writing.

Early years provision Good

• The early years provision was judged in 2014 as requiring improvement. Thereafter, in 2015, the outcomes for children at the end of the Reception Year declined and were low. New and very effective leadership during the last academic year transformed the early years. It now provides children with a good and improving education. The proportion of children who left Reception with a good level of development in 2016 rose from 44% in the previous year to 62%. The majority of children therefore now leave Reception properly prepared for entry into Year 1.
• Over the last school year, new leaders and members of the early years staff undertook high-quality training and benefited from good support from the local authority. Consequently, a raft of improvements was implemented. This led to better use of resources, teaching and parental engagement. In turn, this led to much-improved children’s learning and social development.
• The newly appointed leader has drive and passion. She knows and understands the strengths of the setting and is clear on what needs to improve further, such as further development of the outdoor area.
• Teaching is good. From last year, teachers focused very sharply on language development. Teachers model good language and encourage plentiful speaking and listening. Writing opportunities were extended. Teachers and other staff improved their skills in the teaching of phonics. Workshops were run for parents, teaching them phonics and helping them to understand the importance of reading at home and how to support their children in doing so. Consequently, children made fast progress in their language development.
• Teachers’ plans show that children’s individual interests are assessed and catered for across the areas of learning. Children’s particular knowledge or gaps in skills are identified so that their teachers can quickly help them to catch up should they start falling behind. This enables all children to engage enthusiastically in a range of activities, both child-initiated and teacher-led, and to learn well.
• Children’s personal development is good. Adults know the children well and relationships are extremely positive. This helps children to settle quickly, behave well and share with each other. Children begin to understand and value diversity. For instance, they are encouraged to bring in items from their respective cultures to show and share with the class.
• Members of staff liaise very effectively with parents. They visit children’s homes before each child arrives for their first day at school. They find out about each child’s interests, any special needs and potential barriers to settling in and learning. Right from the time that children first arrive, therefore, adults cater for their needs. As a result, children settle very quickly. There are also strong links with external agencies, such as with speech and language therapists, in order to help all children succeed, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Because of the effective levels of support, combined with good teaching and regular assessments to inform planning, all groups of children now make good progress. Disadvantaged children consistently perform better than their classmates. In 2016, disadvantaged children achieved slightly below other children nationally, an improvement on 2015. This demonstrates that differences are diminishing.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102115 Haringey 10019663 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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 213 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Joel Brookfield Rhiannon Lloyd 020 8800 4676 www.westgreen.haringey.sch.uk admin@westgreen.haringey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 30 September 2014

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information on its website about the curriculum, physical education and sport premium for primary schools and pupil premium.
• This is an average-sized primary school.
• The large majority of pupils are from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds and most pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is well above that found nationally.
• An above-average proportion of pupils have special educational needs support. The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is well above that found nationally.
• The early years provision comprises a part-time Nursery class for three-year-olds and a full-time Reception class for four-year-olds. A very small number of children were present during the inspection as the school has a staggered intake into the early years.
• A well above average proportion of pupils join and leave the school at other than the usual times.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.
• The school has a specialist speech and language resource provision for up to eight children from Reception to Year 2. There are currently seven pupils on roll.
• Since the time of the previous inspection, there has been a large turnover of staff. The school is no longer supported by an executive headteacher. The new senior leadership team took up their posts in September 2015. The governing body was established in January 2016, replacing the former IEB. Three members of the governing body, including the chair, were members of the IEB.
• The headteacher was not present during the inspection as she is on maternity leave. The deputy headteacher is acting as the headteacher, and the assistant headteacher is acting as the deputy.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 14 parts of lessons. Most of these observations were made jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Inspectors also read with pupils.
• Inspectors looked closely at the work in pupils’ books to inform further the judgements made about pupils’ progress, attainment and the quality of teaching.
• Inspectors met with a group of pupils and spoke informally to other pupils in lessons and during breaks and lunchtimes. Inspectors also met with school leaders.
• Meetings were held with members of the governing body, including the chair, and with a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors examined a range of documentation, such as that relating to pupils’ attainment and progress, information about how teachers’ performance is managed, and minutes of governing body meetings. They also looked at records and documentation about pupils’ behaviour and attendance and the ways in which the school keeps pupils safe.
• There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, to register parents’ and carers’ views by this means during the inspection. Inspectors considered the views of parents from informal conversations in the playground. Inspectors also took account of the views of 20 members of staff who responded to the inspection questionnaire.

Inspection team

David Radomsky, Lead inspector Clementina Aina

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector