North Beckton Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that: clear, cohesive plans are drawn up to rapidly improve the school and implemented effectively all leaders demonstrate the necessary sense of urgency in improving the areas for which they are responsible monitoring of teaching has a clear focus on how effectively individuals and groups of pupils learn and make progress pupil premium funding is used effectively to improve the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
• Ensure that outcomes for pupils are at least good by: increasing the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who make good or better progress from their starting points, particularly in key stage 2 increasing the proportion of key stage 1 pupils who make good progress from their early years starting points.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that: teachers regularly check on pupils’ learning during lessons and confidently adapt their teaching accordingly the work set for pupils, especially for the most able, is sufficiently challenging and well matched to their abilities. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leadership and management require improvement. This is because there has been a lack of urgency from the headteacher to act on identified priorities quickly. The leaders have been slow to improve teaching and have not ensured that the quality of teaching is consistently good. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2.
• The school evaluates itself inaccurately and too generously. Although, the headteacher and senior staff know the key weaknesses, they have underestimated their importance. This has led to a lack of urgency in dealing with them.
• Leaders’ checking of lessons and of the work in pupils’ books does not always assess with sufficient accuracy the strengths and weaknesses of teaching. The feedback given to staff has focused too much on what teachers are doing during lessons rather than how well pupils are learning and making progress.
• Leaders have not used the assessment of pupils’ progress and attainment over time as effectively as they should. Consequently, they have not fully addressed the differences in the standards between disadvantaged pupils at the school and other pupils nationally.
• Senior leaders are not as challenging or questioning of each other as they should be. Parts of the school’s self-evaluation are accurate but other parts are overgenerous. This has led to some key priorities not being addressed well enough in either improvement planning or ongoing professional development. These include the progress of disadvantaged pupils and the effective assessment of pupils across the curriculum.
• Action plans are not as useful a tool for school improvement as they could be. Timescales for improvements and their intended impact on pupil progress are often unclear. Governors have only recently begun to play a part in checking that leaders’ actions are having a positive effect on pupils’ progress.
• Performance management is well established and linked to pupil outcomes and salary progression. However, it is not as rigorous or demanding as it could be in improving outcomes for pupils. Teachers’ targets are not challenging or ambitious enough. Targets have only recently started to pay attention to making sure that groups of pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• The curriculum includes a broad range of topics and subjects, which are having a positive effect on pupils’ personal development, behaviour and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. British values of respect, democracy and tolerance are taught through special topics and thought-provoking and enjoyable school assemblies. Pupils keenly take on a range of responsibilities. For example, older pupils take care of younger pupils at lunchtimes.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils is variable across year groups and differences are not diminishing quickly enough in some year groups. Plans do not clearly identify the key barriers preventing disadvantaged pupils from making better progress and how these barriers can be overcome. Neither leaders nor the governors have a clear enough view on which strategies are having the most impact.
• Sport premium funding is spent well. The increased range of sports that pupils take part in is increasing their participation and performance and the pupils have enjoyed visits from the local Premier League football team.
• The local authority has an accurate view of the school. Support for leadership has been arranged through links with a national leader of education. The local authority adviser has been able to support leaders’ checks on the school’s performance and provide the challenge needed.

Governance of the school

• Governance has improved since the previous inspection. Governors conducted an audit of their skills and then recruited new governors with different, complementary skills. Governors rearranged the structure of their committees to ensure that there was a clearer focus on school effectiveness and outcomes for pupils. Governing body minutes confirm that governors are now more rigorous and effective in holding school leaders to account.
• The governors are committed to raising standards for all pupils and have a clear understanding of how the pupil premium funding is being spent. However, they have not robustly checked that it is making a difference.
• Recently appointed governors are helping the governing body to improve. These governors are starting to use their wider skills and experience to ask questions about the progress that pupils should be making from year to year and whether teachers’ expectations are high enough.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All safeguarding arrangements are robust and fit for purpose. Staff recruitment and vetting procedures are rigorous. Leaders and governors have established a vigilant culture of safeguarding. Every member of staff, including supervisory staff at lunchtime, adults who manage the breakfast club and all early years staff, understand their roles in relation to child protection procedures. Staff and governors know what to do and how to seek advice about the safety and welfare of pupils.
• The parents that spoke to inspectors were mostly positive about the school and are pleased with the way that leaders and staff are committed to pupils’ well-being and safety. One parent told the inspectors, ‘When I needed help they were the first place I turned and I trust them fully.’ This supports how the school provides early help for vulnerable families and works closely with outside agencies and support teams.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because they are not yet consistently well matched to pupils’ abilities. This results in variations in pupils’ progress. Recent changes made by school leaders in areas like the improved provision for reading are starting to have an impact as they realised that pupils’ comprehension skills were not as well developed as their phonics skills.
• Expectations are not consistently high for all groups of pupils. In some lessons, the work is not set at the right level of difficulty for pupils, especially the most able. When this happens, pupils’ learning slows down because the work is too easy and they are not moved onto new learning quickly enough.
• Teachers and support staff pose questions to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding but these are not always sharp enough to help pupils think harder or deeply.
• Where teaching is strongest, pupils are appropriately challenged and teachers respond quickly to their developing learning needs. For example, in one mathematics lesson, the teacher recognised quickly that a group of more able pupils had grasped the concept of ‘doubling’. The teacher adapted the lesson to further deepen pupils’ learning through asking questions to enhance pupils’ reasoning skills.
• Workbooks show that a lot of work is being covered and care and pride is being taken by the pupils to present their work. However, time is sometimes being wasted, with pupils spending too long consolidating or repeating what they already know and can do, and this slows their progress.
• Leaders have introduced more focused reading lessons that offer regular opportunities for pupils to practise and improve their reading skills. Pupils of all ages speak enthusiastically about the books they read and the new reading systems.
• The teaching of phonics is effective in the early years and key stage 1. When listening to pupils read, it was clear that pupils of different ages used their phonic skills to good effect when trying to pronounce unfamiliar words. The majority of pupils told inspectors that they enjoy reading and could talk about a range of authors and strategies they use when reading. One pupil talked at great length about how important the reading skills of inference and deduction were and how this was helping her to understand what she read.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are taught and supported well. The pupils are provided with a good balance of close support and opportunities to work independently or with other pupils in a group. Assessments and plans for these pupils are well devised and appropriate. Teachers use them to gauge how much progress pupils are making and how close they are to reaching their individual learning targets.
• Teaching assistants work effectively alongside teachers and provide good support to individuals and small groups of pupils. They strike a good balance between explaining how a task should be undertaken and requiring pupils to work independently.
• Classrooms are calm and orderly, and an appropriate environment for learning. The colourful displays around the corridors and in classrooms are a strength, with staff ensuring that they promote a wide range of curriculum areas.

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 polite and show consideration for others’ feelings and achievements. They are helpful and courteous to adults and visitors. They are respectful to pupils with disabilities and, like the adults who care for them, treat pupils with physical disabilities with respect and dignity.
• Pupils are proud of their school and talk with confidence about their learning, how to improve their work and the school’s ‘we all belong’ values.
• Leaders and staff provide a range of opportunities for pupils to learn about other faiths, customs and traditions. The school is successful in promoting a strong emphasis on tolerance and equality that prepares pupils for life in a modern democratic Britain.
• Pupils are confident, mature and responsible young people who look out for each other and, as many told an inspector, it is easy to make and keep friendships. Pupils told inspectors that they are confident that teachers and support staff will deal with any form of bullying or intimidation. There are positive and warm relationships between adults and pupils and among pupils. The parents who spoke to inspectors are pleased with the way that staff care for their children.
• Staff are effective in helping pupils to use the internet safely and manage the risks associated with online messaging and mobile communication.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite, friendly and welcoming to visitors. Their conduct around school is good and they play well together at breaktimes. Leaders have ensured that the very small number of pupils who need additional support to help them to manage their own behaviour are well catered for.
• In class, pupils display positive attitudes to learning. They listen well and are keen to answer questions and offer ideas. They settle to work quickly and sensibly and try hard to make sure that their work is presented neatly.
• Leaders and staff keep robust records and monitor patterns of absence well. Staff have worked well with parents to encourage pupils to attend regularly and to come to school on time. As a result, attendance is improving and is edging closer to the national average. The school’s family support worker uses effective strategies to reduce absence rates, for example by working closely with identified families to find ways to reduce their child’s persistent absence rates. Current attendance analysis indicates that the school’s attendance strategy is making a difference and persistent absence has started to improve. It is evident that the breakfast club is very popular and well attended. This aspect of the provision also encourages pupils to attend school regularly and on time.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes in the early years and Year 1 have shown continued improvements in the last few years, and the school’s own assessment systems suggest that this trend is set to continue. Attainment and progress in key stage 2 is less secure and there is some variability between subjects and year groups.
• The school’s assessment information indicates that current pupils are making more rapid progress than previously. However, inspectors did not see enough evidence of this in pupils’ books or in lessons to show that their progress is accelerating quickly enough.
• Leaders were disappointed with some of the results in the tests at the end of key stage 2 in 2016, particularly in reading. The proportions of pupils reaching and exceeding the new age-related expectations were below the national average. Analysis of these results led to leaders making changes to the teaching of reading in key stage 2, putting a greater emphasis on teaching reading skills and comprehension. In mathematics, the performance in 2016 was much lower than in previous years. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard was just below the national figures, where it had previously been above. The most positive picture was for writing, where the proportions reaching and exceeding the expected standard were broadly in line with those of other schools nationally.
• Outcomes for the most able disadvantaged pupils across the school are too low. Too many of the most able pupils undertake work that is not sufficiently demanding and, as a result, their progress is not as rapid as it could be. Provisional data for Year 6 pupils in 2016 showed that the proportion of disadvantaged pupils that reached the expected standard was below the national figure in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion working at the higher level was below average in reading, with no pupils identified as working at greater depth in writing and mathematics.
• Pupils in key stage 1 in 2016 attained standards that were in line with the national figures in all subjects. This had also been the case in 2015 and indicates an ongoing improvement. However, the progress for pupils from the early years is not as good as it should be. Very few children who achieve the expected standard at the end of Reception make it to the higher levels by the end of Year 2.
• In 2014 and 2015, outcomes in the national phonics screening check for pupils in Year 1 were close to the expected standard. This improvement continued in 2016, however, the difference between the attainment of the disadvantaged pupils and others has not narrowed and in fact widened in 2016 to be well below national comparators. Disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes in phonics remain poor.
• Pupils’ progress and attainment are tracked each half term and this can lead to some extra support being given to groups of pupils where necessary. However, where the support does not have a strong impact, teachers and leaders do not check this or make the necessary adjustments to improve the provision. This means that the differences between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally have not diminished.
• The resourced provision has been reorganised so that pupils spend most of their time in the base rather than previously where they were integrated for large parts of the day into mainstream classes. This is more effective in catering for their wide-ranging, individual needs. Inspection evidence shows that this reorganisation is starting to improve pupils’ outcomes for those who have significant and complex special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Early years provision Good

• Children’s work and progress show that early years provision is making a good contribution to their all-round development and children are well prepared for Year 1. There is good teaching and leadership in the early years. The staff are vigilant, caring and effective in making sure that children play and learn together safely and productively.
• Most children join the school in the Nursery and Reception classes with skills and abilities that are well below those typical for their age. Assessments show that most children reach a good level of development. This represents a positive picture as children make good all-round progress in all areas of learning.
• The most able children are provided with opportunities to develop and extend their skills further. For example, through effective teaching, these children have the opportunity to write sentences and carefully form letters correctly. Adults ensure that children who are already reading texts well for their age are provided with more-challenging texts.
• Teachers make effective use of both indoor and outdoor space to provide focused and interesting learning activities. The outdoor space is further enhanced by the ‘Forest School’, which the children thoroughly enjoy visiting on a regular basis. Children experience exciting and valuable learning opportunities. For example, children were observed enthusiastically deciding what they would take to the moon and compiling a list with reasons why particular items are needed.
• Children consistently demonstrate respect and courtesy with enthusiasm due to the strong role modelling by the adults. They play well together and effectively develop their social and friendship skills because of adults’ encouragement.
• Parents told inspectors that their children have started well in the early years. This is because staff take time and care to ensure that new children settle well and parents understand the expectations of school life.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102761 Newham 10023587 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 580 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Lisa Spencer Manjit Rai Telephone number 020 7473 3344 Website Email address www.northbeckton.newham.sch.uk info@northbeckton.newham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 December 2014

Information about this school

• This school is larger than the average-sized primary school. There are three classes in each year group, except Years 5 and 6, where there are two.
• Early years provision is part time in the Nursery and full time in Reception.
• The large majority of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, the largest of which is Other White backgrounds, mostly from Eastern Europe.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is above average.
• The percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above that of most schools. The school has a specialist provision for 12 pupils with complex medical, profound and multiple learning difficulties. There are seven on roll, five of whom are taught for a large proportion of their time in the school’s own resource base.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.
• Following the most recent unvalidated national assessment results in 2016, Newham local authority issued a warning notice to the school. Since the last inspection, they have also brokered the support of a national leader of education and a school improvement adviser to further support leadership.
• The school runs a morning breakfast club and after-school clubs for pupils.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all key stages of the school and in all classes. Several of the observations took place accompanied by the headteacher and other senior leaders. Inspectors scrutinised many examples of pupils’ work. In addition, they heard pupils of different ability levels read. They observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktime and as they moved around the school.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders. Meetings were held with a local authority representative and with governors.
• Parents’ views were considered through the 39 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and in conversations with parents at the beginning of the school day. The views of staff were considered through the 48 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and through meetings.
• Pupils’ views were heard through meetings and by talking to pupils around the school. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• Inspectors considered a wide range of documents, including leaders’ evaluations of the school’s effectiveness, improvement plans, records of local authority visits and leaders’ analysis of the quality of teaching, pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance.
• Inspectors reviewed safeguarding records and the central record of recruitment checks on staff.

Inspection team

Michelle Thomas, lead inspector Joy Barter Kanwaljit Singh

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector