St Matthew's CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • teaching is strengthened so that it is strong in all year groups
  • leaders, including middle leaders, develop an accurate understanding of their areas of responsibility.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • teachers check pupils’ understanding and clear any misconceptions
  • expectations of pupils’ behaviour are consistently high
  • pupils deepen their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum
  • teachers’ expectations of pupils’ work in all subjects are consistently high
  • pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities have work matched closely to their needs
  • the most able pupils have tasks that are routinely challenging
  • pupils in the early years and key stage 1 have strong opportunities to apply their phonics skills to their reading and writing
  • lower-ability pupils, particularly in key stage 1, develop their fluency in reading.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders have not ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment at the school is consistently strong.
• As a result of recent turbulence in leadership across the school, many leaders, including middle leaders, are new to their roles. Their evaluations of the school are overgenerous.
• The leadership of phonics teaching at the school has not been effective. Weak teaching has resulted in too many pupils not attaining the required standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2018. Leaders have made phonics a priority for improvement. However, this is at too early a stage to have made a difference.
• Additional funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is adequately used. Leaders have a strong grasp of the needs of pupils with EHC plans and ensure that these pupils receive selected one-to-one support. However, leaders do not ensure that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive as consistently strong support in class.
• The recent appointment of the acting headteacher has stabilised the school. She has a clear vision and has raised staff morale. The trust provides a number of opportunities for staff professional development and provides valuable support to leaders.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. It is underpinned by the school’s Christian values. For example, pupils reflected well about the importance of giving food to the less fortunate during a harvest assembly in church. Pupils benefit from opportunities to learn about a range of religions and cultures. Pupils shared with inspectors that they ‘treat people as we would like to be treated’.
• The use of pupil premium funding is well thought through. Leaders have a strong grasp of where there are differences between the attainment and attendance of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils.
• Leaders use the sports premium well to enhance pupils’ physical education opportunities, particularly by enabling pupils to access extra-curricular sports clubs.

Governance of the school

• Governors and members of the trust collaborate well to support the school. The trust provides hands-on support to leaders and provides strength to the new leadership team.
• The governing body understands well the information presented to it by leaders. Governors provide a broad range of expertise and are committed to helping the school to deliver effective provision.
• Governors visit the school regularly and question leaders about the effectiveness of new strategies.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Pre-employment checks for staff are thorough and record-keeping is systematic. Staff have a good understanding of the school’s safeguarding procedures. They are confident about how to raise concerns should they need to.
• Leaders ensure that staff receive regular refresher courses about specific safeguarding areas. Leaders benefit from taking part in safeguarding audits to make their procedures more efficient.
• Leaders know about the potential local risks to pupils. Leaders liaise well with external agencies and provide additional support if required.
• All pupils who spoke with inspectors said that they felt safe. The vast majority of parents and carers agree that their children are safe and happy at the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent across the school.
• Typically, teaching does not help pupils to grasp new concepts quickly. Adults’ questioning does not check pupils’ understanding effectively. As a result, pupils’ misconceptions are not clarified, which hinders their progress.
• Adults’ expectations of pupils’ behaviour are not high enough. Many pupils lose focus and are distracted too easily. Pupils often fidget in class or become noisy, particularly when tasks are not interesting. This limits the progress of pupils because they lack purpose in their learning.
• Support in class for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and who do not have an EHC plan is weak. Teaching assistants do not demonstrate the necessary skills to inspire and engage these pupils in their learning. Typically, teachers do not provide pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities with the appropriate resources to understand what they are learning. These pupils are often not focused on their learning and are unclear about what is expected of them.
• Tasks for the most able pupils lack challenge. Sometimes, the work set for most-able pupils is too easy and pupils waste learning time waiting for adults to give them more demanding work.
• Teaching does not ensure that lower-ability pupils use their phonics skills regularly, particularly in key stage 1. These pupils lack the fluency to read simple books and do not use their phonics knowledge in their writing.
• Pupils’ understanding across the curriculum lacks depth. Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ presentation and quality of work, particularly in subjects other than English, are not routinely high.
• In some year groups, pupils benefit from strong teaching, particularly when teachers establish clear routines and have high expectations. For example, in English, Year 6 pupils demonstrated a good understanding of the book ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. Teaching helped pupils to understand complex vocabulary and successfully answer comprehension questions.
• Pupils develop strong arithmetic skills. For example, Year 3 pupils used precise vocabulary and well-selected strategies to solve calculation questions. By the time pupils move on to Year 6, they have well-embedded calculation skills, including with decimal numbers.
• The most able pupils regularly write at length in English. They write fluently and use rich and interesting vocabulary. However, teachers’ expectations of their writing in subjects other than English are not as high.
• Support for pupils who have an EHC plan is typically strong. Selected adult support meets the needs of these pupils effectively.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Requires improvement

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are polite and helpful and speak confidently to visitors. Pupils are welcoming to new pupils who come to the school. Pupils benefit from learning about a range of cultures. For example, they visit different places of worship and speak confidently about their learning about the Chinese New Year.
• Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They learn about themes such as road safety and ‘stranger danger’. Year 6 pupils speak highly of opportunities to learn about radicalisation. Pupils know about the potential dangers of using social media and online gaming.
• Pupils enjoy taking part in extra-curricular clubs. They take pride in being given responsibilities, such as being members of the school council and reading buddies. Pupils told inspectors that bullying was rare at the school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• When work is not well matched to pupils’ needs, pupils become disengaged. They do not listen carefully to adults and other pupils, and off-task behaviour is common.
• Where teachers’ expectations of pupils’ behaviour are high, particularly in Year 6, pupils behave very well and remain focused on their work.
• Pupils are keen to learn and want to please their teachers. They are confident in sharing their thoughts. For example, they reflect well on moral themes during worship. Playtimes are typically calm and orderly. Incidents of serious misbehaviour are rare.
• Pupils’ attendance and punctuality remain very strong and above the national averages. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils rose during the previous year. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities have strong attendance.

Outcomes for pupils

Requires improvement

• The progress of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 has consistently been well above the national averages over the previous few years.
• The proportions of Year 6 pupils attaining the expected and higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics over the last few years have been significantly above the national averages. Pupils leave the school ready for the next stage of their education.
• In 2018, Year 2 pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the expected standard was similar to the national average.
• In 2018, provisional results suggest that the proportion of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check fell to well below the national average. This was due to variability in the quality of teaching and learning. In previous years, Year 1 attainment in the phonics screening check has been broadly in line with the national average.
• Too many pupils currently in key stage 1 do not use their phonics knowledge when reading or writing. Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ writing in key stage 1 are not high enough, particularly in subjects other than English. In these subjects, the quality of pupils’ writing, particularly of lower-ability pupils, is not typically strong.
• Lower-ability pupils in key stage 1 do not typically develop reading fluency. Often, these pupils are over-reliant on sounding out individual letters and do not blend letters effectively in order to read.
• Pupils’ development of knowledge and understanding across the curriculum is not consistently secure. Pupils, including the most able, often lack depth of understanding, particularly in subjects other than English and mathematics.
• In the past, disadvantaged pupils have made typically strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. However, disadvantaged pupils’ current progress and attainment are variable.
• In key stage 2, pupils develop strong writing skills. The most able pupils write fluently in English and have a strong grasp of vocabulary and paragraph composition. However, the lower-ability pupils do not develop their writing as well as they could.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The early years provision requires improvement because the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not consistently good.
• There have been a number of recent changes to leadership and staffing in the early years. This has led to weak teaching for current children. Leaders have a clear vision of how to improve the early years but actions are not yet fully embedded.
• Sometimes, adults do not take account of children’s prior abilities, particularly in literacy. As a result, adults provide tasks that are not well matched to children’s abilities. Children do not have sufficient practice in applying their phonics skills to their reading and writing.
• The outdoor spaces do not develop all areas of children’s learning consistently well, particularly their literacy and numeracy skills. While outdoors, there are many missed opportunities for children to develop their speaking and listening skills. This is because adults typically oversee children rather than interact with them and develop their learning effectively.
• Children are kept safe and follow routines well. For example, children responded well to taking turns during a discussion. The early years is well resourced and children benefit from activities to develop all areas of learning inside their classrooms. Adults build caring relationships with children, including new arrivals.
• In Nursery, children are calm and well supported. They play with their friends sensibly and receive focused adult support. For example, adults used strong questioning to probe children about their knowledge of shapes and early counting. This helped adults clarify any misconceptions in children’s learning.
• Children enjoy learning about themed topics such as pizzas. For example, children made their own pizzas using a range of different materials, including paper shapes.
• In 2018, the proportion of children, including disadvantaged children, attaining a good level of development was in line with the national average. Children leave the early years with the appropriate skills ready for Year 1.
• Parents agree that their children are well cared for and safe. The school has worked to build relationships with parents following concerns at the start of the year about staffing changes.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 139302 Hillingdon 10077636 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 465 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair of governors Miss Daniella Dean Acting headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Miss Lisa Barr 01895 442 724 www.st-matthews.hillingdon.sch.uk stmatthews@fraysacademytrust.org Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• St Matthew’s CofE Primary School is part of the Frays Academy Trust. It converted into an academy in February 2013. The predecessor school was judged as outstanding in 2009.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school. The majority of pupils come from a White British background.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is slightly above the national average. The proportion of pupils with an EHC plan is similar to the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is similar to the national average.
• The acting headteacher took up her post in September 2018. She is supported by the executive headteacher.
• The school has a religious character designation and had its last section 48 inspection in 2015.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection was carried out with one day’s notice. The inspection was originally a section 8 no formal designation inspection. By the afternoon of day 1 of the inspection, inspectors agreed to convert the inspection to a section 5 inspection.
• Meetings were held with members of the trust, the governing body, senior leaders, middle leaders and staff.
• Inspectors observed learning in all year groups at least four times. Most lesson observations were undertaken jointly with members of the trust, senior leaders and middle leaders.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work in lessons and through a formal scrutiny of a large sample of books. Inspectors agreed to the school’s request to also scrutinise a small sample of books from the previous year in English and mathematics.
• Inspectors spoke with pupils to discuss their learning and views about the school. This included pupils taking an inspector on a tour of the school.
• Inspectors considered a range of documentation, including attendance records, leaders’ records of monitoring, behaviour records and documents relating to safeguarding.
• Inspectors took into account the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys, including 57 responses from parents, 49 from staff and 27 from pupils. Inspectors also took into account the views of parents at the end of the first day.

Inspection team

Noeman Anwar, lead inspector Jude Wilson Nicholas Cornell Laura Pease

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector