Bigland Green Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teachers consistently move pupils on in their learning as soon as they have mastered a task.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Leaders at all levels, including the governors, are highly ambitious for the school and are very keen to provide every pupil with the best education. All members of staff share in the ethos of the school and have common goals for success.
• School self-evaluation is accurate and has been used very effectively to promote the vision that has transformed the school since its previous inspection two years ago.
• There have been important changes in the senior leadership team since the last inspection and clear lines of responsibility have been established. Leaders know what they need to do to maintain the high quality of provision and outcomes pupils achieve.
• Teaching and learning are monitored rigorously and the performance management of all staff is linked closely to the desired impact on pupils’ progress. Teachers receive sensitive and helpful guidance on how they can improve their work. They are highly motivated and very keen to take part in further training so that they continue to improve.
• The very well-designed curriculum ensures that there is a consistent approach to learning across the school. Leaders have recently revised the curriculum so that it provides better opportunities for pupils to learn in depth across all subjects. The curriculum includes many additional topics and extra-curricular activities. For example, ‘big thinking’ and a Shakespeare festival help to broaden pupils’ horizons and deepen their awareness of citizenship and culture.
• Funding for disadvantaged pupils is used very well to provide additional support in class and before school. This support has been instrumental in raising the attainment of these pupils and ensuring that they make rapid progress.
• Special funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used exceptionally well. There is a team approach to identifying pupils’ next steps and providing individualised support.
• Sports funding has enabled the school to provide swimming and to employ a specialist physical education teacher and assistant. As a result, pupils grow in confidence and develop the skills they need to achieve well. For example, in a lesson in Year 3, pupils developed their hand–eye coordination by throwing and catching more accurately.
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are supported very well. Pupils gain a strong understanding about life in modern Britain through their work about ‘big values’. They have a strong understanding of the importance of issues such as community and respect for others. In a Year 2 lesson, pupils made sensible suggestions about the qualities of good leaders, such as ‘someone who listens to our ideas’ and ‘a good leader is helpful and generous’. Pupils appreciate each other’s high-quality art and topic work displayed around the school. The pupils’ work reflects and values diversity very well.
• Parents are very positive about the school and typically make comments such as ‘The school is very good at letting parents know what the children are learning’ and ‘There has been a vast improvement over the years.’ Parents of children at the early stages of learning to speak English are appreciative of the ‘life skills’ classes run before the beginning of the school day, where pupils are helped to improve their English.

Governance of the school

• Governance is highly effective. Governors are very keen to ensure that the school continues to improve and take their roles and responsibilities very seriously.
• Governors have a thorough understanding of what works well and why. They take part in comprehensive training to ensure that they are equipped to challenge and support the senior leaders.
• Governors understand the challenges that some pupils face but expect all pupils to do their best.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Members of staff are aware of the need to look out for potential dangers, such as the radicalisation of the pupils and the risk of female genital mutilation. The curriculum supports pupils in learning about dangers and how to avoid them. Pupils learn what to do if they find themselves in potentially dangerous situations. They know the importance of telling an adult if they have any concerns.
• Comprehensive checks are made to ensure that all those who work in school are suitable and are fully trained in looking after the pupils. Members of staff work closely with parents to help keep the pupils safe.
• Members of staff spoken with during the inspection were clear about what to do if a pupil approached them with a safeguarding concern.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers are fully committed to providing pupils with the best education. Their own positive attitudes towards learning ensure that pupils are eager to do their best and are prepared to challenge themselves.
• Additional adults in the classroom support learning very well. The mutual respect between members of staff and pupils ensures that behaviour is managed effectively.
• Teachers and teaching assistants are skilled in asking the pupils probing questions. Their high expectations for the way pupils should answer by using full sentences support the development of language very well.
• Resources are used very well to make learning engaging. For example, in Year 4, pupils enjoyed placing events on a timeline. In Year 6, pupils were carrying out in-depth independent research into animal adaptations.
• Arrangements for assessing how well pupils learn are used very effectively to ensure that pupils’ next steps are planned carefully.
• Pupils are very positive about the help they receive from their teachers and other pupils on how to improve their work. They are clear about what they are learning and know how well they are doing.
• Across the school there are consistent approaches for teaching. The use and development of literacy and numeracy to support learning in other subjects are well established.
• Occasionally, learning slows when a teacher does not notice quickly enough that some pupils are ready to move on in their learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils are very respectful. They listen to each other’s ideas and support each other in their learning.
• Positive relationships enable pupils to become confident and to feel safe at school. Pupils are not afraid to make mistakes. For example, children in the Nursery who were at the early stages of speaking English were happy to share their limited vocabulary with adults because members of staff were supportive and valued their efforts.
• Pupils know how to stay safe. For example, they talk knowledgeably about e-safety and about how to stay free from bullying. Pupils are clear about various types of bullying and know what to do if they have any concerns. If bullying occasionally happens, pupils say that it is always dealt with quickly.
• Members of staff promote pupils’ physical and emotional well-being extremely well. ‘Big thinking’ sessions equip pupils to become independent learners with resilience and perseverance.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Parents and pupils are very positive about behaviour at the school. Pupils move around the school calmly and understand the importance of working as a team in class. They are very enthusiastic about taking responsibility and were excited about the forthcoming school council elections. Pupils behave very well in lessons because they want to do well.
• Pupils’ enjoyment of school is evident in their exemplary attendance. Rates of attendance are high compared with other schools nationally. Large numbers of pupils in Years 5 and 6 voluntarily start school an hour early four days a week, so that they can take part in valuable additional lessons.
• Pupils are proud of their learning and take care with the presentation of their work. They describe their ‘learning mission’ and know that they need to challenge themselves. Pupils are accustomed to editing and improving (‘up-levelling’) their own work.
• Occasionally, pupils lose concentration when the teacher does not notice that they have completed a task and are ready to move on to something new.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils’ progress is outstanding from their starting points. When children join the early years, most are working below the levels expected for their age. All groups of pupils learn quickly and, as a result, pupils are prepared very well for the next stage of education and later life.
• Attainment in all year groups has been rising rapidly since 2015. Early indications are that pupils will have done exceptionally well in reading, writing and mathematics in the most recent national tests at the end of Year 6. The high standard of work and strong progress are also evident in pupils’ books. These cover a wide range of subjects and topics, including literacy and numeracy. For example, pupils in Year 6 make sophisticated vocabulary choices such as ‘opulent’, ‘luscious’ and ‘delectable’ in their persuasive writing.
• Pupils enjoy reading and, by the end of Year 1, they have learned how to use phonics well to help them tackle unfamiliar words. Occasionally, in their drive to do well, less-able pupils select reading books that are too difficult. When this happens, they can read the print but without full understanding. Teachers are constantly asking questions to help pupils with their comprehension.
• Disadvantaged pupils make excellent progress. They have additional support to enable them to excel. They are encouraged to attend the ‘bright minds’ early morning classes, and are positive about any additional support they are given. Their attainment is the same as other pupils’.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make outstanding progress. Well-trained staff provide targeted support in class. Additional classes are tailor-made to match their needs.
• Most-able pupils do well over time, and work is planned to ensure that they work at greater depth. As with other pupils, there are a few occasions when they are not moved on in their learning as soon as they have mastered a skill.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children make an exceptionally good start to their education. Members of staff are tenacious in challenging children so that they can succeed. Speaking and listening are especially well promoted by all members of staff, and children are encouraged to speak in full sentences when possible.
• Children in the Nursery and Reception classes, including the disadvantaged, make excellent progress from their starting points. By the time children join Year 1, their attainment is broadly average and they are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Teachers and teaching assistants provide a very wide range of exciting activities that have been carefully chosen to maximise learning. They ask well-chosen questions to enable children to answer from their own experiences and discuss what they have previously learned. For example, when reading to children in the Reception Year, the teacher encouraged children to think and recall what they already know by asking, ‘Who are the characters?’
• Positive reinforcement by members of staff ensures that children behave exceptionally well and gain confidence rapidly. Routines are established quickly at the start of the year. As a result, there is a calm and purposeful atmosphere in the classes and children cooperate with each other sensibly.
• Children feel safe at school and are kept safe and healthy. For example, children were learning about the negative impact of too many sweets on teeth in one lesson.
• Excellent leadership ensures that members of staff work together well and share their in-depth knowledge of the individual children in their care. This united approach to assessing and supporting learning is evident in the high-quality ‘wow’ books that show children and their parents how well the children are doing.
• Leaders are ensuring that members of staff receive the right training to fill any minor gaps in their subject knowledge. Additional funding for disadvantaged children is used effectively to provide additional focused teaching.
• Relationships between home and school are very positive, and parents are very pleased with their children’s education. Leaders provide parents with helpful activities they can use at home to boost learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100939 Tower Hamlets 10036364 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 470 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Zoinul Abidin Abdul-Hayee Murshad Telephone number 0207 702 7088 Website Email address www.biglandgreen.towerhamlets.sch.uk/ head@biglandgreen.towerhamlets.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 13–14 October 2015

Information about this school

• Bigland Green is larger than an average-sized primary school.
• Most pupils come to the school from Asian or Asian British heritage. Almost all pupils speak English as an additional language, with about half being at the early stages when they join the school. The home language of most of these pupils is Bengali.
• There is a Nursery and two Reception Year classes in the early years provision.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average and the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 29 lessons, most jointly with the headteacher or other senior leaders.
• Discussions were held with leaders, other members of staff and members of the governing body.
• Inspectors held informal discussions with several parents and scrutinised 52 responses to the Ofsted ‘Parent View’ questionnaire. They also reviewed 66 responses to the staff questionnaire.
• Pupils in Years 2 and 6 were heard reading, and samples of pupils’ work were scrutinised.
• A range of information supplied by the school was checked, including the school’s own information about how well pupils are doing, planning documents and checks on the quality of teaching. The inspectors also looked at the school development plan and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding procedures.

Inspection team

Alison Cartlidge, lead inspector Lisa Farrow John Parr Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector