Prendergast Ladywell School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes by:
  • removing remaining inconsistencies in teachers’ questioning so that pupils are routinely provided with opportunities to think deeply and respond clearly and in detail
  • ensuring that all teachers have high expectations of pupils, particularly of disadvantaged pupils, and the work they can produce
  • providing pupils, especially the most able, with increased challenge so that they achieve greater depth in their knowledge and understanding.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher provides strong leadership and is well supported by the senior leadership team. Together, leaders have acted effectively on the recommendations made at the previous inspection, in November 2016. Pupils now receive a good standard of education.
• Middle leaders play an important role in securing improvements. They are now more accountable for pupils’ progress, and relish their role in checking the quality of teaching and supporting teachers to develop their skills.
• Leaders’ plans for the school are underpinned by a clear vision, which places high aspirations for pupils at its heart. Pupils said that they feel valued by staff, and that teachers routinely help them to achieve the best they can. This results in improved teaching and stronger outcomes for pupils.
• Staff are hard-working and committed to ensuring that pupils thrive, feel safe and achieve well. Staff welcome improvements since the previous inspection, and pupils are proud of their school. Parents are positive about the school.
• A feature of the school is the close partnership with other schools in the Leathersellers Federation. This provides a range of opportunities for teachers to learn from others, as well as to share their practice more widely. Such opportunities mean that teachers broaden their expertise effectively.
• Staff are supportive of leaders’ vision, and they appreciate their training and professional development opportunities. Newly qualified teachers and those new to the school are well supported.
• The leadership of provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective in both phases. Pupils benefit from personalised support from staff. Consequently, the progress made by these pupils is good.
• The school makes effective use of all additional funding it receives. The pupil premium is well targeted and the academic outcomes of disadvantaged pupils are improving. Teachers’ planning takes account of this group of pupils. The Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up funding supports pupils who did not reach the required standard in Year 6.
• The sports premium is used well in the primary phase to promote extracurricular sport, provide specialist coaching and promote healthy living. ‘Active Friday’ gives pupils the opportunity to participate in activities such as yoga, power walking, golf, cycling, tennis, cricket and badminton.
• Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good and embedded through the curriculum, particularly through personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education lessons. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain as a result of the successful promotion of British values.
• The school’s curriculum is designed to provide pupils with opportunities to raise their aspirations. In addition, school leaders provide a wide range of extracurricular activities and trips, which provide diverse experiences for pupils.
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school’s leadership. This view is matched by parents who completed Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They are highly positive about the school, and they said that their children are extremely happy and enjoy coming to school.

Governance of the school

• Governance is strong and effective. Governors have successfully challenged and supported school leaders to make improvements. They understand the school’s strengths. Governors are sharply focused on improving weaker areas, such as the need to challenge most-able pupils and strengthening the progress of disadvantaged pupils.
• Governors receive regular and appropriate training to help them to be effective in their role. They take their responsibility seriously to ensure that pupils are safe. They regularly check that the school’s safeguarding procedures are up-to-date and robust, and they know how to deal with safeguarding issues.

Safeguarding

• Arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and governors stay vigilant and ensure that pupils’ safety and welfare are an integral part of the school’s provision.
• School policies reflect the latest requirements. Leaders make the appropriate checks when staff are appointed. Governors, senior leaders and members of staff are all suitably trained in safeguarding. They understand what to do if they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare or safety, including the need to report certain concerns to external agencies. Staff and pupils are aware of issues related to extremism and radicalisation.
• Pupils said they feel safe in school. Pupils know the adults they can approach if they have any worries or concerns. Leaders ensure that pupils are well informed about how to keep themselves safe from risks, such as knife crime, gang affiliation and when using the internet. Pupils are highly appreciative of the care taken by staff to protect them from harm.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• School leaders at all levels have successfully focused on improving the consistency of teaching. This has included effective monitoring and providing good opportunities for teachers and support staff to improve their skills.
• Teachers create a positive climate for learning. In lessons, pupils respond well to teachers’ clear expectations. Learning routines are well established. Pupils expect to work hard, and they tackle their activities in lessons with a sense of purpose. Learning time is rarely wasted.
• Teaching is particularly successful in early years, enabling children in Reception to make outstanding progress.
• Teachers in both the primary and secondary phases have good subject knowledge. Where teaching leads to good or better progress, skilful questioning probes pupils’ thinking to promote deeper understanding. In these lessons, pupils think deeply about their learning and respond with detail, depth and fluency.
• The teaching of the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, enables them to make good progress, although, at times, the degree of challenge is less than it could be.
• Leaders ensure that all teachers have timely and accurate information about pupils’ individual needs. As a result, teachers are aware of the particular barriers to learning faced by pupils with SEND. Teachers adjust their teaching to suit pupils’ individual needs. As a result, this group of pupils makes good progress from their starting points.
• In key stages 1 and 2, teachers embed basic literacy and numeracy skills well. Pupils take great pride in their work. Writing is well presented, and feedback is diligently followed up, in line with the school’s policy. In mathematics, errors in calculation, and other misconceptions, are promptly identified.
• Most teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They use assessment information to plan activities that interest pupils and help them to make good progress. Nevertheless, in the secondary phase, some teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough. As a result, some pupils take less pride in their work and do not make the progress that they could.
• The school’s policy on providing feedback to pupils is used consistently well by all teachers. Pupils are informed about their successes in learning, and about how they can improve their work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning have greatly improved and are now good. They respond keenly to the school’s ‘CARES’ values (Community, Ambition, Resilience, Effort and Success). Pupils confidently articulate how the introduction of these values has contributed to their personal development and learning. As a result, pupils value their education.
• Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations. For instance, they know how to protect themselves from the potential dangers of the internet and when travelling to and from school. Pupils know what constitutes bullying, and they recognise that all forms of bullying, including cyberbullying, are unacceptable.
• The school successfully promotes physical and emotional well-being through the PSHE education curriculum and the use of the primary sports premium. Pupils say bullying is rare and, on the rare occasions when it does occur, staff deal with it effectively.
• Pupils are encouraged to develop leadership skills. The student councils in both phases play an active role in helping the school to improve. For example, the secondary student council was instrumental in the introduction of ‘CARES’, and Year 11 coaches mentor Year 7 pupils. As a result, Year 7 pupils feel safe and settle quickly into the routines of secondary school.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. This is because of the school’s programme of study for PSHE, the successful development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and the active promotion of British values.
• Effective monitoring is in place for pupils who attend off-site alternative provision. Leaders and providers liaise to ensure that pupils’ needs are met and that their personal development and well-being are promoted.
• Careers guidance and work-related learning are strong. As a result, pupils go on to meaningful further education, apprenticeships or sixth-form study. All pupils in Year 10 undertake work experience, which adds to their development of work-related skills.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• In the primary phase, behaviour is exemplary around the school and in lessons. As a result, learning takes place without interruption.
• In the secondary phase, pupils and staff said that behaviour has improved. They attribute this to the improved quality of teaching, the introduction of ‘CARES’ values, and the leadership provided by the headteacher and senior team. Conduct in lessons and around school is good, and exclusions have declined significantly. Pupils socialise well with each other, and they are polite to each other and adults.
• The majority of pupils are keen to learn and punctual to lessons. Leaders have worked hard to improve attendance. As a result, persistent absence has declined significantly, and is below national figures. Attendance is now in line with the national average in both the primary and secondary phases. Staff work effectively with the families of low attenders to improve their attendance.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Achievement in the early years is outstanding. This is because teachers and adults provide exciting work and a stimulating environment that motivates children to take part. Work in children’s learning journals shows the scope of their achievement and the strong progress that they make, often from low starting points.
• The progress pupils made by the time they left Year 11, in 2018, was stronger than in previous years. These pupils benefited from the improvements in the quality of teaching. As a result, pupils made progress in line with their peers nationally.
• There was, however, some variation in the progress that different groups of pupils made in 2018. For example, boys made substantially less progress than girls, and some disadvantaged and most-able pupils made slower progress from their starting points. Leaders are addressing this through their school improvement plan.
• The progress that pupils make is good. There are no longer marked differences in the rates of progress that boys and girls make. The progress that disadvantaged pupils make is stronger now, and pupils with SEND are supported equally well. Leaders acknowledge that the most able and disadvantaged pupils need to strengthen their progress even further. Nonetheless, the progress that pupils make in different year groups and across the curriculum is good.
• Pupils perform well in the primary phase, and results at the end of key stage 1 in 2018 show that pupils’ attainment is strong. The proportion of pupils who attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. In reading, the proportion of pupils who achieved greater depth was also above the national average. In writing and mathematics, the proportion who achieved greater depth was below the national figure. This indicates some variability in outcomes for the most able pupils in key stage 1.
• In 2018, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check was below the national average. Analysis of school information indicates that this figure was adversely affected by mobility within the year group, and that the majority achieved highly.
• Leaders promote reading across both phases. Pupils are expected to read widely. They spoke knowledgeably and enthusiastically about the texts they read in English. The library is welcoming and well used. Pupils say that their use of the library broadens their ability to read widely.
• Leaders ensure that pupils are provided with the guidance they need to take the next steps in their education, employment or training. Pupils receive valuable information about available options, and they are supported to prepare for their future pathways.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leadership of the early years is strong, and it is characterised by high aspirations and expectations, which are shared by all those who work in Reception.
• Safeguarding in the early years is effective. All statutory requirements are met.
• A high proportion of children enter Reception with skills that are below those typically expected for their age. As a result of highly effective teaching, learning and assessment, children make outstanding progress. The proportion of children who attain a good level of development is consistently above the national average. Children develop the skills and attributes that support their learning when they move from Reception into Year 1.
• The early years classrooms and well-resourced outside area are highly stimulating. They are tailored carefully to meet children’s needs across the curriculum, and to promote children’s love of learning. Teachers provide high-quality, imaginative experiences that capture children’s interests and develop their skills especially well. Children’s reading is encouraged and built on through dedicated phonics sessions.
• Children’s attitudes and behaviour are excellent. They concentrate well on the range of activities that teachers and adults provide for them. Children play together very well. They have strong social skills and know how to relate to others, including adults.
• Teachers and adults know each child very well. They assess children’s learning accurately through asking questions and carefully observing their work and play. Teachers and parents liaise regularly about the new things children can do and understand. Teachers use the information they collect about children’s progress to plan their next steps in learning particularly well. As a result, all children, including those with SEND and disadvantaged children, make substantial progress and are very well prepared for Year 1.
• Children in the early years are safe and well cared for. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about their children’s experiences and feel part of the learning experience. They very much appreciate being able to spend 15 minutes at the beginning of each day in the classroom with their children. As one parent summarised, ‘My child is at the primary school in Reception. We could not be happier.’

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100747 Lewisham 10054349 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school All-through School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Number of pupils on the school roll Foundation 4 to 16 Mixed 1,015 Appropriate authority The governing board Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Rothery Niall Hand 020 8690 1114 www.prendergast-ladywell.com admin@prendergast-ladywell.com Date of previous inspection 16 to 17 November 2016

Information about this school

• Prendergast Ladywell School provides for a range of age groups. It comprises an average-sized 11 to 16 secondary phase and a primary phase which currently caters for pupils from Reception Year up to Year 4.
• The school is part of the Leathersellers Federation of Schools, which is led by an executive headteacher who delegates day-to-day management of the schools to the headteachers.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is slightly above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.
• A small number of pupils attend alternative provision at Abbey Manor College.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning across a range of subjects and year groups. The majority of these lessons were observed jointly with school leaders.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, other staff and governors.
• The lead inspector spoke with a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read, and spoke with pupils in lessons and around the school. They also met formally with groups of pupils.
• Inspectors spoke with parents during the inspection and considered the 63 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online parent survey.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lessons, around the school and during break and lunchtimes.
• A wide range of documentation was reviewed, including information available on the school’s website and records relating to pupils’ attainment, progress, attendance and behaviour.
• Information on governance, including minutes of governors’ meetings, was examined. The school’s self-evaluation summary and improvement plans were scrutinised, along with records of the school’s arrangements for keeping pupils safe.

Inspection team

Carolyn Dickinson, lead inspector Andrew Maher Lascelles Haughton Ian Morris Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector