William Morris Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve teaching and pupils’ outcomes by ensuring that:
  • teachers fully cover the science curriculum and develop pupils’ investigative skills
  • the most able pupils are set more challenging work in the topic subjects.
• Improve the early years provision by ensuring that adults promote pupils’ speaking skills by providing more opportunities for dialogue during activities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has developed a clear vision for the school. This is an inclusive vision, where all pupils, whatever their starting point, are entitled to the highest quality learning experiences. Pupils’ health and well-being are a clear focus and seen as prerequisites for pupils’ effective personal development and academic success. The headteacher’s belief in the qualities of the young people permeates the whole school. The capacity to improve further is strong.
• The leadership of teaching is good. School leaders have made sure that teaching standards are consistently high across the whole school. Leaders monitor the quality of teaching closely, they drop in on classes regularly and look at pupils’ books. Staff benefit from well-considered training and the sharing of good practice within the federation and beyond.
• The federation provides strong support to the school. Staff benefit from well-considered training and the sharing of good practice within the federation and beyond. School leaders manage and deploy resources effectively within the federation so that pupils benefit.
• The leadership of inclusion is strong and is having a significant positive impact on the development and academic success of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. Interventions and support are planned strategically and monitored carefully. Staff and resources are deployed well.
• The curriculum is well designed to make learning purposeful, extending pupils’ experience while making it enjoyable and relevant to their own lives. Pupils are involved in this process and suggest activities and topics they would like to learn more about. The range of experiences offered by the school and the involvement of pupils and their families ensure that pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively.
• The impact of the additional funding for the pupil premium is positive. Work in pupils’ books shows that in some subjects, disadvantaged pupils outperform other pupils. In other subjects, differences between this group and other pupils nationally are diminishing. School leaders spend a proportion of the pupil premium funding to support pupils’ social and emotional development, in partnership with parents and local external services. This has a positive impact on pupils’ behaviour and personal development.
• The primary sports funding is having a positive impact. Pupils enjoy a range of sports such as fencing and archery. The school offers after-school clubs so that pupils who want to continue to develop their skills can do so.
• School leaders have developed a strong partnership with parents through the home-school partnership, discussions about behaviour and support for reading. Parents are very complimentary about the school’s impact on their child’s well-being and progress.

Governance of the school

• Governors moved swiftly in September 2016 to ensure that weaknesses which led to a dip in results were addressed. They promptly commissioned a teaching and learning review with the support of Merton local authority and took forward the recommendations to improve the school.
• Governors provide firm support and challenge to the headteacher and other leaders. They now focus on challenging school leaders about pupils’ outcomes at an early stage so that high standards are maintained. Together with the headteacher, they plan how to use the resources provided by the federation most effectively.
• Governors are highly committed to the school. They know the school well and visit often to see classes and look at work. They involve staff in future planning for the school and promote the school’s inclusive ethos through events and partnerships with parents. They work in an open and honest manner with all stakeholders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• School leaders have ensured that safeguarding is a high priority. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe in personal, social, health and economic education lessons. Pupils know how to stay safe online and older pupils know how to access the Childline telephone help number. Pupils play an active role in safety within school and begin to learn how to manage risk for themselves. Prefects have responsibility for the school environment and junior travel ambassadors for safety to and from school. Pupils are safe.
• Safeguarding records and records of staff vetting checks are detailed and thorough. All staff are trained to the correct level. This has had a positive impact on their knowledge and understanding of issues affecting pupils. Staff know what to do if they have concerns. They get feedback on how those concerns have been followed through by leaders. Parents are confident that their children are safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching, learning and assessment are good. School leaders have ensured that staff are trained and highly motivated to provide the best learning experiences for pupils. The consistently high quality of teaching across the school ensures that there are equal opportunities for all pupils to succeed.
• Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning. They are proud of their work.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge of English grammar is good and they communicate their love of language to pupils effectively. As a result, pupils enjoy writing, they have a wide vocabulary and construct complex sentences and paragraphs well.
• Teachers ensure that pupils’ writing is purposeful. Pupils know what they are writing about and why and teachers provide vivid examples to capture pupils’ imagination. In a Year 2 class, pupils were planning a chronological account of their visit to Hampton Court. They planned their writing well using time connectives and were keen to talk to the inspector about their visit.
• Teachers’ questioning promotes pupils’ learning effectively. Teachers direct their questions to individuals and make sure that all pupils are challenged to think more deeply. Teachers rephrase questions carefully if pupils cannot answer so that all pupils experience success.
• Teachers never miss an opportunity to bring the curriculum to life for pupils. For example, pupils learned about the child labour laws in Victorian Britain and remained in role for the day.
• Pupils develop their speaking and listening skills in paired and group learning activities. They work confidently with each other and this has a positive impact on their personal development and learning.
• Teachers and teaching assistants work well in a partnership to ensure that all pupils participate and learn from activities. The adults participate in the learning activities themselves so that pupils are clear about what they should be doing and learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.School leaders put pupils’ welfare at the heart of work in school so pupils benefit from a very high level of care from all members of staff. Consequently, pupils are happy and grow in self-confidence and maturity during their time in school.
• Pupils’ leadership skills are developed well through a range of opportunities across the year groups including head boy and girl, prefects and the school magazine. Junior travel ambassadors promote safe and more active ways to travel to school, such as high visibility clothing and cycling to school. ‘Eco warriors’ focus on eco-awareness issues across the school through recycling in each classroom and composting fruit skins and other food waste. All these young leaders are a credit to their school over time and represented the school very well during the inspection.
• Pupils are safe in school. They say they feel safe and know how to report any concerns. They understand how to keep themselves safe in school and when travelling. Pupils say there is no bullying but are confident that staff will listen to them and follow up any concerns that they have.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. School leaders have ensured that teachers have very high expectations of pupils and there is a purposeful atmosphere throughout the school and in classes.
• Pupils behave well in classes because teachers plan interesting activities and are skilled at managing pupils’ behaviour. Transitions between activities are smooth and swift so that there is no disruption to learning. This behaviour has a strong positive impact on pupils’ learning.
• Pupils of all ages have good manners; even the youngest pupils are self-aware and polite to each other, adults and visitors. Pupils demonstrate responsible behaviour around the school and at break and lunchtime.
• Pupils’ attendance is improving overall and for different groups of pupils because the measures put in place to address absence have been effective. School leaders monitor it rigorously and work diligently with families to ensure that pupils come to school. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils is now better than non-disadvantaged pupils. The number of persistent absentees has dropped to less than half of the figure in 2015/16.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils make consistently good progress across all year groups as a result of consistently good teaching and effective leadership. Pupils are prepared well for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils make strong progress in their writing. Pupils develop skills in different types of writing throughout key stages 1 and 2. They express themselves confidently and present their work very well. Pupils’ handwriting is excellent.
• Pupils make good progress in mathematics. Teachers use resources effectively to deepen pupils’ understanding of a range of mathematical ideas.
• Pupils make good progress in reading. Most-able pupils read with intonation, expression and pauses for punctuation. They have a wide knowledge of authors and styles, and know their own preferences. Middle- and lower-ability readers also show evidence of strong comprehension skills in reading.
• Pupils’ phonics skills are good. Pupils across the ability range make good progress. Pupils are grouped by phonetic knowledge. Teaching is carefully planned so that all pupils are challenged to make good progress.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress as a result of strong leadership of inclusion and highly motivated teachers and other adults. Class teachers and other adults embrace their responsibilities well to ensure that this group of pupils do well. These pupils’ progress is monitored more frequently than other pupils so that interventions can be reviewed and planned for maximum effect.
• The pupil premium funding to support the learning of disadvantaged pupils has had a positive impact on their progress and attainment. In writing, the school’s focus for this year, the most able disadvantaged pupils are attaining higher than non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are now making faster progress and the difference between them and non-disadvantaged pupils is diminishing.
• The most able pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Their progress is limited in some aspects of topic work, where they would benefit from more challenging activities.
• Pupils’ progress in science is not as strong as in other subjects. This is because pupils do not cover all the curriculum areas that they should and they lack experience of investigative work.
• Pupils’ published outcomes in 2016 for the end of key stage assessments were disappointing, particularly in pupils’ writing at key stage 2 and across all subjects at key stage 1. The school took immediate action to remedy these weaknesses. The school’s information shows that pupils currently in the school are making consistently good progress in all year groups. Pupils currently in Year 3 have made up the gap in their progress and the school is now re-setting more ambitious targets for this year group.

Early years provision Good

• The early years provision is good and continuing to improve. Leaders have ensured that all pupils, from a range of different starting points, are making good progress. They are well prepared for entry into Year 1.
• Leaders are skilled at identifying the needs of pupils when they start school. They use information about pupils effectively to plan activities that capture pupils’ imagination. As a result, pupils are keen to participate and make good or better progress in their learning and development. Lower-ability pupils particularly learn well and start to catch up.
• Pupils’ behaviour is good. They settle into routines quickly and concentrate well. They cooperate with each other and learn well together. They are polite, saying ‘excuse me’ if another child is in their way.
• This is a rich learning environment which has a positive impact on pupils’ learning. Leaders manage the spaces well. They are welcoming and well-resourced so that pupils are immediately attracted to activities and excited to learn.
• Pupils enjoy the outdoor area because they have opportunities to choose the activities that interest them. For example, school leaders planned a superhero theme to appeal to boys. This group enjoyed a superhero hunt and learned to keep a tally of how many they collected. In another activity, pupils used the outdoor number hoops to investigate ideas of ‘one more than’ and ‘one less than’.
• The teaching of phonics is strong. Teachers show pupils the sound and then develop their understanding through a range of activities. Teachers provide the most able pupils with harder work to deepen their phonics knowledge.
• Teachers deploy other adults effectively and the additional support has a positive impact on pupils’ learning and development. Sometimes, pupils make less progress than they could because adults are not skilled enough to promote pupils’ dialogue and conversation.
• Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have ensured that pupils are safe and well cared for. Parents are confident that their child is safe.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102661 Merton 10023606 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 355 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Rachel Stern Nathalie Bull 020 8764 9765 www.swmf.org.uk office@williammorris.merton.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1–2 March 2012

Information about this school

• William Morris Primary School is a community primary school in the London Borough of Merton.
• The school federated with Singlegate Primary School in 2010. The headteacher of William Morris Primary School is also the headteacher of Singlegate Primary School.
• Both schools in the federation share the same governing body.
• William Morris Primary School is larger than most primary schools.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school meets the government’s floor standard (the minimum expected of pupil attainment and progress).
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all year groups. Visits to lessons were made jointly with the headteacher and the head of inclusion.
• Groups of pupils spoke with inspectors about their views of the school. Inspectors also talked informally with pupils at break and lunchtime and around the school. Inspectors listened to pupils read.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ work across a range of subjects and year groups to see how well pupils are learning and what impact this has on their progress.
• Inspectors met with the chair and vice-chair of governors and a representative from the local authority.
• School leaders met with inspectors to discuss their views of the school and the impact of their work.
• Inspectors scrutinised school documents including records of pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance, minutes of governors’ meetings and safeguarding records.
• Inspectors met with school staff to listen to their views of the school. There were no responses to the staff questionnaire.
• Inspectors talked informally with parents at the start of the school day about their views of the school and considered the four text responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Janet Hallett, lead inspector Tom Canning Michelle Bennett Helen Rai

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector