The Queen's Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further develop the use of resources in the outdoor area of the early years so that children learn even more effectively outside.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher’s calm, determined leadership has instilled a sense of self-belief in pupils and staff alike. She has secured further improvements, building on the school’s strengths since her appointment shortly before the last inspection. As a result, this is now an outstanding school where pupils are exceptionally well prepared for the next steps in their lives and education. The ‘learning certainties’, which are the cornerstone of the school’s values, are understood by all. They are put into action consistently in lessons. Pupils make excellent progress in their learning and personal development, whatever their starting points.
• Leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching focus on the most important things. Senior and middle leaders evaluate rigorously how well teachers apply the training they are given. They re-think priorities when their monitoring work suggests that this is necessary. Leaders maintain the high standards of teaching by matching training to the needs of new staff joining the school. As a result, the quality of teaching remains consistently strong.
• Teachers and support staff regularly discuss how to use the detailed information they possess about pupils’ progress to plan effective lessons. The robust formal procedures for managing the performance of staff are underpinned by a relentless collaborative pursuit of excellence by teachers. All of the staff who responded to the inspection survey agreed that the school had significantly improved since the last inspection.
• Leaders have focused sharply since the last inspection on improving the guidance they give parents to support their child’s education at home. They provide popular events to help parents understand the school’s work.
• Leaders make effective decisions about the use of funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, the parents of some of these pupils are offered personalised support to help their child at home.
• Parents who responded to the online survey or who wrote to inspectors typically expressed positive views of the support that the school offers them. They recognise the impact that leaders have on their child’s development. As one parent said, ‘my children love learning without even knowing they are learning.’
• The curriculum enables pupils to build new knowledge and skills systematically across a wide range of subjects. Leaders ensure that pupils learn new skills and benefit from new experiences to the full. For example, by the time they leave the school, pupils can usually write at length in French. Older pupils have the opportunity to speak the language for a real purpose during a visit to a partner school in France.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is promoted exceptionally well. Pupils learn to understand the processes of law-making and democracy at first hand. For example, pupils visit a local magistrates’ court to act out different roles in a trial. Pupils understand the different parts that the House of Lords and House of Commons play in framing the law. They acquire a deep understanding of modern British values which prepares them well to become active citizens. Opportunities for pupils to participate in cultural activities abound, including playing in the school’s orchestra and taking part in drama productions.
• Leaders have taken account of the views of pupils and parents when deciding how to invest additional funding for sports. As a result, pupils benefit from greater participation in sporting events. They achieve success when competing with other local schools. Teachers work alongside sports coaches to develop their skills and knowledge for teaching physical education.
• Leaders and governors have made the right decisions about how to use additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. The small number of pupils entitled to the pupil premium benefit from equal opportunities to participate in all aspects of school life and make similar progress to other pupils nationally.

Governance of the school

• Governors have wide-ranging and relevant skills which support them in challenging school leaders robustly. They regularly visit lessons and talk to pupils so that they obtain a rounded view of the school’s work. This allows governors to ask probing questions and pursue lines of enquiry from a well-informed position.
• Governors work alongside leaders to uphold and develop the school’s shared values. When making decisions about teachers’ pay and recruitment, they are mindful to ensure that the right people are retained and appointed. Governors organise their checks on safeguarding and other statutory duties responsibly. They have a thorough understanding of the impact that decisions made about spending the pupil premium have on pupils’ academic outcomes.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders maintain meticulous and detailed records of safeguarding matters. They are well trained in recognising concerns and changes in pupils’ behaviour which may prompt cause for concern. They follow up any referrals stubbornly when necessary. When difficult or challenging issues emerge, leaders pursue these with resilience, responding in a timely and thorough manner.
• Leaders and governors review and reflect on the curriculum astutely to ensure that it provides pupils with skills and attitudes to help them recognise risks to their well-being. This includes risks posed by radicalisation and extremism.
• Pupils say that they are at ease talking to teachers and other adults about their problems. They confirm that they are encouraged to solve their own difficulties but they know that the teachers are on hand to help if they can’t. Parents typically agree that the school provides a nurturing and safe environment for their children.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers have high expectations of pupils, whatever their abilities or starting points. They use an extensive understanding of individual pupils’ needs and interests to plan inspiring learning opportunities. As a result, pupils build on previous learning swiftly and make excellent progress.
• Teachers organise time and resources in lessons efficiently so that no time is lost. They teach pupils how to use classroom equipment to support their learning and to try things out before asking for help. Teaching assistants skilfully recognise how to support and challenge pupils. Teachers and support staff use assessment information with great skill to make sure that lessons challenge the most able pupils.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge in writing is strong. As a result, they notice when it is necessary to adjust tasks to provide more support or make lessons harder for the most able. For example, older pupils told inspectors how teachers went over the use of apostrophes in more detail when it became clear that they were finding them difficult to use accurately.
• Pupils’ artwork on display shows how well teachers help pupils to develop painting and drawing skills rapidly. This can be seen in the varied range of brush strokes and mark-making techniques used in pupils’ recent interpretation of works by David Hockney and L S Lowry.
• Teachers are skilful in identifying pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They help leaders obtain the necessary evidence to secure effective additional resources, which supports the progress of these pupils.
• Teachers provide outstanding opportunities for pupils to develop their reading, writing and mathematical skills. The questions they ask pupils are well chosen to probe pupils’ understanding and prompt them to think more deeply. Pupils’ work in mathematics is rich in examples of tasks that deepen their understanding and prompt pupils to explain their reasoning. Expectations are high. For example, in key stage 1, pupils are challenged to use accurate mathematical vocabulary to explain the properties of three-dimensional shapes.
• Teachers equip pupils well to develop responsibility for their own learning and build stamina to tackle more challenging work. As a result, pupils use conversation to share ideas in a mature manner.
• The teaching of reading is outstanding. Teachers weave opportunities for younger pupils to learn phonics into lessons across the curriculum. They nurture the love of reading and provide effective guidance for parents to help them support children’s reading at home. The most able pupils are encouraged to tackle more difficult texts and use research skills to explore ideas in the books they study.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils demonstrate empathy for one another’s emotional needs. They notice when classmates would benefit from encouragement or reassurance. During break- and lunchtimes, pupils make healthy and safe choices. They make the most of the wide range of activities on offer in the playground.
• Leaders ensure that pupils are expected to make positive and active contributions to the school and the wider community. They match opportunities astutely to pupils’ abilities and needs. Pupils could tell inspectors about their responsibilities and talked of them with great pride. Parents recognise and appreciate the outstanding contribution that the school makes to pupils’ personal development.
• The curriculum is well organised to ensure that pupils develop strong skills in recognising risks and keeping themselves safe. Pupils talk confidently about how they stay safe when using the internet. They know how different forms of bullying can occur, and how to respond should they be affected by discriminatory behaviour.
• Pupils are able to tackle challenging issues and complex ideas. They learn the similarities and differences between religions. As an example of this work, pupils in Year 6 were studying a book during the inspection that enabled them to consider war from a child’s perspective.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils approach their learning with vigour, enthusiasm and commitment in lessons. This is the case for pupils of all abilities. Disruption in lessons is very rare.
• Pupils’ strong commitment to learning is also demonstrated by high rates of attendance, which are sustained above the national average for similar schools.
• Pupils possess the skills to socialise and play together harmoniously during break- and lunchtimes. They have swiftly adapted to the environment of the new school that they moved to in September 2016. They do not need to be prompted to care for one another or take responsibility for their actions. This has become second nature to the vast majority of pupils.
• Instances of bullying or discriminatory behaviour are very rare. The records leaders keep of these incidents show that pupils learn from their mistakes. Parents have an overwhelmingly positive view of behaviour, as do the pupils who spoke to inspectors.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils achieve outstandingly well in a wide range of subjects. This is because their progress from all starting points is sustained and substantial across the whole school.
• Disadvantaged pupils make progress that at least matches that of other pupils nationally and leads to similar achievement.
• By the end of key stage 2, pupils’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics is better than the national average. The proportion of most-able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, attaining high standards is also greater than the national average.
• Pupils’ work from the current year demonstrates that they make rapid progress from all starting points across a wide range of subjects. Teachers’ consistently high expectations and skilful application of their subject knowledge ensure that pupils move on quickly with their learning.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make similar excellent progress from their starting points as other pupils.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language represent a larger proportion of the school roll than was the case at the time of the last inspection. They arrive at the school with variable abilities in written and spoken English. From all of their starting points, they make strong progress.
• Nearly all pupils reach the expected standard in phonics by the end of Year 1, including all those entitled to the pupil premium. Pupils rapidly develop more advanced skills in reading. As a result, half of all pupils read at greater depth by the end of key stage 1 in 2016. This proportion is twice the national average.
• Pupils’ progress in their personal development is outstanding. They develop strikingly positive dispositions and attitudes towards learning, which contribute significantly to their wider progress and help ensure that this is sustained over time.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leaders ensure that children in the early years benefit from similar high expectations and skilful teaching as seen across the whole school. Children are exceptionally well prepared for their next stage of education.
• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development has been above the national average for several years. Children usually join the Reception classes with skills that are at least typical for their age. They make strong progress so that many exceed a good level of development by the time they move to Year 1. There were no children entitled to the pupil premium in the early years in 2016.
• Positive attitudes to learning, which are a hallmark of the school as a whole, are developed swiftly in the early years. Children learn to cooperate and sustain concentration. Older pupils visit children in the early years to help them with their work. For example, pupils in Year 5 helped children measure the weight of ingredients for a cake baked for a character in a nursery rhyme.
• Children’s behaviour is positive, polite and cooperative both indoors and outdoors. This continues when listening to the teacher or when engaged with independent activities.
• Children make strong progress in developing the skills to set themselves reasonable but challenging targets. Assessment records demonstrate, for example, how children set their own challenges for improving their accuracy when cutting and measuring.
• Leaders have ensured that primary sport funding has been used effectively in early years. The number of most-able children exceeding a good level of development in moving and handling has increased as a result.
• Teachers use assessment information skilfully to plan interesting, accessible activities. These enable children, including the most able, to make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics. However, leaders have recognised that there is more work to do to ensure that children build on their prior learning even more effectively in the outdoor area.
• Safeguarding is effective in the early years. Activities and equipment are assessed thoroughly for risk. Supervision is maintained at appropriate levels and staff are well trained to recognise any concerns that may emerge.
• Parents typically have a positive view of the effectiveness of the early years provision. In their written responses to the online questionnaire, parents underlined the helpfulness of the school’s ‘open-door policy’. They particularly praise leaders’ work to ensure that parents and children gain a sense of belonging to the school community.

School details

Unique reference number 102921 Local authority Richmond upon Thames Inspection number 10019252 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 Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 411 Appropriate authority The governing body Co-Chairs Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Laura Coughtrie and Sir David Durie Katie Bentham 0208 9403580 www.queens.richmond.sch.uk info@queens.richmond.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 3–4 November 2011

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2.
• The proportion of pupils entitled to the pupil premium is much lower than average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than average, as is the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups.
• Pupils and staff moved to new premises next to the site of the old school building in September 2016.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors made extended observations in 17 lessons. They also conducted tours of the school jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during playtime and at lunchtime. Part of a religious drama production was also observed.
• Meetings were held with leaders and governors. Inspectors held discussions with a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s plans for improvement, safeguarding records and information about pupils’ progress. The written records of governors’ work were also sampled.
• Inspectors met with parents informally at the beginning of the school day and considered 160 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire. Written responses from parents and outcomes of the electronic surveys from 29 staff and 67 pupils during the inspection were also taken into account.
• Inspectors met with pupils to discuss their views, heard some of them read and looked at a range of their written work.

Inspection team

Andrew Wright, lead inspector Gill Bal Sam Nowak Martin Beale

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector