Clore Tikva 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:
  • pupils have the opportunity to make progress in their skills, knowledge and understanding in subjects across the curriculum
  • leaders at all levels track pupils’ progress closely from their starting points, particularly those pupils with high prior attainment
  • leaders’ monitoring of teaching is focused on improving pupils’ progress.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • lesson time is maximised through the accurate use of assessment during lessons
  • teachers use the information available about pupils’ performance, including their starting points, to raise the levels of expectation and challenge during lessons.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Insufficient priority is given to the national curriculum subjects other than English and mathematics. This prevents pupils from making strong progress across the curriculum and restricts the depth to which they are guided to explore topics of interest.
• While pupils apply their writing skills in subjects other than English, the focus of the teaching is often on developing pupils’ literacy, rather than on subject-specific skills. This leads to a superficial coverage of subjects such as history and geography.
• The tracking of pupils’ progress does not take enough account of pupils’ starting points. This results in previously high-attaining pupils not making progress in line with similar pupils nationally.
• The newly appointed headteacher and deputy headteacher have taken effective steps to ensure that the rate of school improvement increases. Action plans have been established to address the most significant areas of work. However, it is too early to judge the impact of this work.
• In the past, leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning has focused too much on teachers’ actions rather than on their impact on pupils’ learning. Leaders understand the need to take a more strategic approach focused on ensuring that pupils make strong progress.
• The pupil premium funding is spent effectively to ensure that eligible pupils gain confidence and proficiency in core skills, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• The physical education and sport premium enables teachers to develop their skills through working alongside specialist teachers. As a result, teachers are more skilled and confident in teaching in disciplines such as gymnastics.
• Funding to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is spent highly effectively. Parents value the priority given to this area of the school’s work. Strong leadership of SEN ensures that pupils’ needs are identified quickly through effective links with other agencies.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is given high priority and is effective. It prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils routinely select and read prayers during assemblies. They demonstrate respect for others, including those of other faiths and beliefs. Assemblies are used well to promote values at the heart of the school’s ethos such as ‘doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do’.
• Senior leaders value the support and challenge provided by the local authority. They describe the rigour and precision of the challenge having increased this academic year. Additional funding from the local authority to support the development of reading contributed to an improvement in pupils’ reading outcomes in 2017.

Governance of the school

• Governors understand their role well and carry out their statutory duties effectively. They make a strong contribution in bringing about school improvement and understand the challenges that leaders face. Their expertise is used well to support leaders in improving the school. Those with skills in finance, premises and education put them to good use. Minutes of governing body meetings illustrate the extent to which governors hold leaders to account through detailed questioning about the information they receive about the school’s performance.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The safeguarding lead is well informed, having undertaken training in specific aspects of safeguarding to support her work in school. Staff routinely explore safeguarding topics to ensure that their knowledge and understanding are up to date.
• Records of safeguarding concerns and referrals to other agencies are well maintained. The school’s record of recruitment checks is up to date and reviewed by the governor who oversees safeguarding.
• The governor with oversight of safeguarding uses her expertise in this area to check that practice is reviewed regularly. There is no sense of complacency about leaders’ work in this area. Leaders and staff understand the need to be vigilant.
• Staff spoken to during the inspection are clear about their responsibility to report concerns promptly and about how to do so. Security arrangements provide a deterrent to unwelcome visitors that helps to keep pupils and staff safe and secure.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching is too variable throughout the school.
• Pupils are not challenged consistently well. At its most effective, teachers’ questioning encourages pupils to think more deeply about their learning. In these cases, pupils’ responses are thoughtful and considered. Where questioning is less effective, teachers accept pupils’ initial responses, missing opportunities to either help them secure their existing understanding or to deepen it.
• Teachers’ use of lesson time does not consistently enable pupils to make the progress they are capable of. Pupils do not have sufficient opportunity to deepen their understanding of the topic being studied, having completed the task set for a lesson.
• Scrutiny of the work in pupils’ books shows that, in mathematics, they spend too much time repeating learning about concepts they are already familiar with. This is because assessment information about what pupils already know and can do is not used as effectively as it could be. Although pupils explain that their work often gets progressively harder during lessons, it does not routinely challenge them from the outset. Consequently, pupils’ progress is limited.
• Teaching in mathematics supports the development of pupils’ computational skills well. However, there are too few opportunities for pupils to apply their skills and to explain their mathematical thinking. This restricts the depth to which pupils learn and limits the proportion of pupils attaining the higher standard at the end of key stage 2.
• The support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is effective. Adults are deployed well. They have the skills needed to adapt tasks to ensure that pupils with specific needs are able to access the same learning as their peers.
• Phonics is taught well resulting in consistently strong outcomes in the Year 1 national phonics screening check.
• At its best, imaginative teaching captures pupils’ interest. For example, during a Year 6 lesson, pupils spent time moving around their classroom silently, empathising with Anne Frank’s experience while in hiding.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils describe the numerous systems and procedures in place to keep them safe. They explain that the security arrangements help to protect them and that they would expect visitors to be wearing badges to identify them. Pupils are familiar with the systems and procedures used to evacuate the building and those used in response to uninvited visitors entering the building. The vast majority of parents report that they feel strongly that their children feel safe in school.
• Pupils demonstrate respect for each other despite their different genders, ethnic backgrounds and beliefs. As one Year 6 pupil explained, reflecting the views of others, ‘Everyone is treated individually and equally.’ Older pupils are supportive of younger pupils in the school’s breakfast club, helping them to select a healthy breakfast to start the day.
• The school’s work to promote pupils’ safety online is effective. Pupils know that they should not share passwords and that they should consider carefully what they post online. They know that they should be alert to signs of cyber bullying.
• Pupils are aware of the different forms bullying can take. They say bullying is rare at the school but that they have confidence in leaders to address any issues that arise.
• Pupils take on roles of responsibility including those of school councillor, travel ambassador and setting up before assemblies. Residential journeys in Years 4, 5 and 6 help pupils to develop the confidence and resilience to support their smooth transition to secondary school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They demonstrate good manners and greet visitors politely and respectfully. Throughout the inspection, pupils routinely acknowledged inspectors with a smile and a ‘Good morning’. Pupils move through the school’s corridors respectfully and quietly, aware of those learning in the classrooms nearby.
• Pupils play considerately in the playground. They often choose to play in mixed groups comprising boys, girls and pupils from different ethnic backgrounds. A group of older pupils volunteered to share the dance they had choreographed to accompany a song they were singing in the school choir. This is indicative of the confidence demonstrated by pupils throughout the school.
• A range of fixed playground equipment including a pirate boat, challenge area and enclosed multi-sports areas support pupils’ creative and physical needs. Supervising adults judge well when to support pupils’ play and when to observe from a distance. This helps to develop pupils’ independence and to ensure that pupils enjoy a positive experience at breaktimes and lunchtimes.
• Pupils’ attendance is slightly below the national average although improving. This improvement is as a result of leaders’ well-structured approach to tackling the issue. A progressive system of challenge and support culminates with the involvement of the education welfare officer from the local authority. Governors have agreed to begin issuing fixed penalty notices in order to deter families from taking holidays during term time. The number of pupils persistently absent has reduced significantly. Pupils arrive at school punctually.
• Places at the school’s breakfast club are made available to support families of pupils with complex backgrounds or whose attendance and/or punctuality are a cause for concern. This approach has proved effective in improving the attendance of these disadvantaged pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Scrutiny of the work in pupils’ books shows that their progress in subjects other than English and mathematics is limited. This is because they have too few opportunities to develop secure knowledge, skills and understanding. This results in their having a superficial understanding in subjects such as geography and history.
• Pupils who have previously attained highly do not achieve all they are capable of. In 2017, pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 was above average in reading, writing and mathematics, and in the subjects combined. However, pupils who had attained well at the end of key stage 1 made less progress than similar pupils nationally. This was most marked in reading and writing.
• The work in pupils’ books shows an improvement in their writing over time. As well as being able to write at greater length, pupils’ precision in their use of punctuation improves as does their choice of vocabulary.
• The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 national phonics screening check has risen over the last three years and has remained above the national average. The effective support for pupils not reaching the expected standard in Year 1 results in a greater proportion than seen nationally gaining secure phonics knowledge by the end of Year 2.
• In 2017, pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 was higher than average for the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard. This was also the case for pupils assessed as working at greater depth. Pupils’ outcomes were broadly average in writing. More pupils than average progressed from their expected and strong outcomes at the end of the Reception Year to being assessed as working at greater depth in reading and mathematics. Pupils’ performance in writing was broadly average.
• In 2017, disadvantaged pupils made stronger progress between the end of key stages 1 and 2 than other pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils currently on roll make good progress.
• Pupils with SEN and/or disabilities make strong progress because the effective support they receive is well-tailored to their needs.

Early years provision Good

• Higher proportions of children than average have attained a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year over recent years. This is because leadership and teaching have been consistently effective. All groups of children, including those who have SEN and/or disabilities, make good or better progress from their starting points.
• Children make a good start to their school career in the Nursery class. They are challenged and supported to develop the basic skills that enable them to make the most of their opportunities during the Reception Year. Leaders quickly identify the gaps in knowledge and skills for those children who join the Reception classes having not attended the school’s Nursery provision.
• Teaching in the early years focuses on ensuring that children become proficient in the basic skills they will rely on as they progress through the school. The effective implementation of the phonics approach results in children being ready and well prepared for the challenges they face in key stage 1.
• Safeguarding has a high priority in the early years as it does elsewhere in the school. Children understand the expectations of them and the physical boundaries which are set to demarcate their play areas. However, staff sometimes intervene too quickly in an attempt to protect children rather than allowing them to develop the ability to manage risk.
• Children respond enthusiastically to the challenge they receive from the adults in the Reception and Nursery classes. They approach the activities they choose, or are directed to, with enthusiasm and enjoyment. For example, children took great delight in making play dough during the inspection. Their subsequent discussion allowed them to explore a range of vocabulary to describe the ingredients they used and the methods they followed.
• Children behave well, sharing equipment fairly and taking turns on the equipment available both indoors and outdoors to explore each of the areas of learning. Routines are quickly established with children being familiar with what is expected of them during ‘snack time’ and as they move from the classroom to the playground in an orderly manner.
• Although formal records of the monitoring of the effectiveness of the provision lack detail, the early years leader is clear about the areas for development. She is proactive in identifying what needs to be done to improve practice, and works with staff effectively to bring this to fruition.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 131682 Redbridge 10041058 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 Voluntary controlled 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 462 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Frances Niman Matthew Neat 020 8551 1097 www.cloretikva.redbridge.sch.uk admin@cloretikva.redbridge.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 7–8 November 2012

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the pupil premium or governance on its website. The published information about the pupil premium does not highlight the main barriers to pupils’ learning, nor does it include the date for the next review of pupil premium spending. The published information about governance does not include details of the structure and responsibilities of the governing body and its committees.
• The headteacher and deputy headteacher took up their posts in September 2017.
• The governing body manages the school’s before- and after-school provision.
• The school meets the current government floor standards.
• A section 48 inspection of religious education took place on 14–15 November 2017.
• The school has fewer disadvantaged pupils on roll than average.
• Fewer pupils than average are identified as requiring SEN support, although more pupils than average have an education, health and care plan.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited each class, in most cases jointly with senior leaders, to observe teaching and learning.
• A selection of pupils’ books was reviewed jointly with middle leaders. An inspector listened to pupils read and discussed their reading with them. Inspectors met with two groups of pupils to gather their views. Inspectors spoke with pupils during lessons and during breaktimes and lunchtimes.
• Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, two governors, including the chair, a teacher at the beginning of their career and a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors visited the school’s breakfast club and an assembly.
• A range of documentation was reviewed including safeguarding records, the school’s improvement planning and the school’s evaluation of its own performance.
• Inspectors took account of the 82 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, 33 of which included text comments, and of the 35 responses to the staff questionnaire. Inspectors also spoke with parents at the start of the school day on the playground.

Inspection team

Jeremy Loukes, lead inspector Chris Birtles Nick Turvey

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector