Earlsfield Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that pupils are challenged routinely to apply their mathematical knowledge and skills in their science and topic work.
• Strengthen the quality of children’s learning in the early years, so that they make rapid progress in all areas of the curriculum by ensuring that:
  • checks on children’s starting points take into account fully what they already know or can do well
  • teaching consistently challenges children, including those who are disadvantaged, to build quickly on their existing skills and understanding and achieve to the very best of their capabilities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher has created an inspiring community where all pupils have the opportunity to ‘shine’. Excellent teaching, together with high-quality pastoral care, help pupils to blossom into well-rounded, articulate individuals who value and enjoy their education.
• Leaders and staff are equally inspired by the headteacher’s leadership. They are driven by a strong moral purpose to bring out the best in every pupil. All staff who responded to Ofsted’s online survey feel proud to be a part of Earlsfield.
• Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the headteacher and the leadership team, describing them as ‘wonderful’, ‘caring’ and ‘communicative’.
• Leaders at all levels are united in their drive for excellence. The headteacher nurtures the skills and talents of other leaders extremely well so that they are highly effective in their respective roles. He empowers leaders to take action while also successfully holding them to account for the impact of their work.
• Subject leaders check that pupils are making progress through regular book scrutinies, visits to lessons and analysis of assessment information. They work alongside teachers to ensure that pupils develop subject-specific skills to a high standard. Specialist teachers, for example in music, sport and French, contribute well to the strong quality of pupils’ learning in all curriculum subjects.
• The leadership of teaching and learning is ambitious. Leaders have created a culture in which teachers challenge themselves and each other about the impact of their practice. Visits to other schools help leaders and teachers refine how they use different strategies to maximise how well pupils learn.
• The school’s values are at the heart of promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. This is a strength of the school. Pupils demonstrate a mature understanding of how these values help them to make positive contributions to their community. For example, pupils explained how the values of ‘care’ and ‘respect’ had inspired them to collect and donate items to a local food bank.
• The curriculum provides pupils with high-quality experiences which broaden their skills and understanding. The wide range of extra-curricular activities underpin this work. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about the clubs they take part in. Examples of these include a debating club, a brass band and a photography club. Leaders analyse pupils’ participation to ensure that all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, have access to the opportunities on offer. Pupils agree that places are allocated fairly so no one misses out. Trips and visits inspire and challenge pupils in their learning. For example, following a visit to the Tower of London, Year 5 pupils wrote diary extracts exploring the experiences of noblemen and peasants who lived in Elizabethan England.
• The sport premium funding is used effectively. Leaders spend money on providing specialist coaches so pupils experience a wider range of sports. Examples include swimming and gymnastics. Leaders’ careful monitoring shows that the funding is effective in promoting the development of pupils’ skills and instilling positive attitudes to sport.
• The leader with responsibility for inclusion has ensured that additional funding is spent wisely. She ensures the early identification of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and that their needs are assessed thoroughly. The impact of additional support is evaluated frequently. Where necessary, leaders refine this support so that pupils’ needs are fully met. As a result, these pupils make progress that is at least in line with, and often better than, their peers with similar starting points.
• Additional funding is spent effectively to support disadvantaged pupils. Leaders know individual pupils well. They analyse carefully the type of support these pupils need in order to achieve as well as their peers. Typically, pupils eligible for the pupil premium start school with skills and understanding below those expected for their age. During their time at Earlsfield, the vast majority make rapid progress and achieve standards that are at least broadly in line with other pupils nationally.
• Leaders have a thorough understanding of what the school does well and its relative weaknesses. Close partnerships with other schools help them to evaluate the impact of their work. They have accurately identified that the early years provision is not as strong as key stages 1 and 2. Leaders are taking effective action to secure rapid improvement in this area of the school.

Governance

• Governors bring a wide range of experience and skills to their roles. They reflect carefully on how to deploy their expertise to maximum effect in order to drive continuous improvement.
• Governors are uncompromising in the way they challenge leaders to strengthen outcomes for pupils. They recognise the school’s strengths but are also acutely aware of what could be even better. Governors interrogate assessment information rigorously and ask leaders challenging questions about pupils’ outcomes. They visit the school regularly to check for themselves how well different groups of pupils achieve, including the most able and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Governors regularly ask leaders for more information to satisfy themselves that the school is doing everything possible to improve pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors apply similar levels of rigour to their oversight of the school’s work to keep pupils safe. They attend effective training regularly to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements. Records of their visits show that they ask staff challenging questions and seek pupils’ views on whether they feel safe. This ensures that procedures are continuously strengthened.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Regular training ensures that staff are aware of the different factors which may present a risk to pupils’ safety, including those relating to radicalisation, female genital mutilation, sexting and neglect. Leaders ensure that staff are clear about the school’s systems for reporting concerns. All staff have a summary of these systems on their identification badge. Records of concerns are detailed and demonstrate that staff are vigilant to signs that a child may be at risk of harm.
• Leaders work sensitively with families to build a detailed picture of the needs of vulnerable pupils. They are quick to refer concerns to external agencies so that these pupils get additional support at the earliest possible stage. Where necessary, they challenge external agencies to ensure that pupils’ needs are fully understood and met.
• Leaders carry out all the required checks to determine whether adults are suitable to work in the school. This includes supply teachers, volunteers and governors. The school’s single central record of recruitment checks is well maintained. Procedures for the recruitment of staff are followed meticulously and reflect the latest statutory guidance.
• Parents trust the work of the school to keep their child safe. Every parent who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, agreed that their child is safe, happy and well cared for at Earlsfield.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• The quality of teaching at key stages 1 and 2 is outstanding.
• Teachers are creative in how they teach so that pupils are motivated and inspired by their learning. They use their excellent subject knowledge to plan interesting activities which help pupils build rapidly on their existing skills. Work in pupils’ books shows that this is the case for all groups of pupils, including the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils are genuinely excited about their learning and the opportunities they have in school. One pupil told inspectors that ‘teachers do everything they can to give us the best lessons’’
• Pupils present their work to a consistently high standard in all subjects. This reflects the high expectations they have of themselves and the pride they take in their achievements.
• Teachers’ use of questioning is a strength. Pupils are challenged to think deeply about their learning because teachers do not settle for the first answer pupils give.
• Additional staff contribute well to the outstanding quality of teaching. Their questioning is of the same high standard as that of teachers. They expect pupils to think for themselves about how they can be successful, rather than simply telling them the correct answer.
• Teachers and staff are quick to spot pupils who are finding the learning difficult. They waste no time in helping pupils correct their mistakes. Where appropriate, they plan further activities so that pupils’ knowledge and skills are secure before they move on to new learning.
• The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, tackle more demanding learning as soon as they are ready. For example, in Year 1 mathematics, pupils were challenged to measure accurately to the nearest half centimetre and to explain why this might be useful when measuring items.
• Pupils’ reading and writing skills are stretched through frequent opportunities to write at length, both in English and in their topic work. For example, Year 5 pupils were challenged to write a sonnet in the style of Shakespeare as part of their work on Elizabethan England. Pupils record their ideas accurately because teachers ensure that they apply their grammar, punctuation and spelling skills consistently.
• In mathematics, pupils of all ability groups have frequent opportunities to solve complex problems which make them think hard about their mathematics. For example, in Year 1, pupils discussed different ways to measure items that were longer than the rulers they used in the classroom. Older pupils are encouraged to think of their own questions to deepen their learning. For example, in Year 6, pupils when learning about pie charts asked what would happen if they changed the number of people represented by the pie chart. The teacher questioned pupils skilfully to help them work out the answer by themselves. However, in some year groups, pupils have insufficient opportunities to deepen their mathematical knowledge and skills in their topic and science work.
• Specialist teachers enhance the high standard of teaching across the school and support pupils’ excellent progress in all curriculum subjects. For example, pupils in a Reception music lesson demonstrated levels of skills and understanding significantly above those expected for their age. They confidently identified different elements of the song they were learning, discussing features such as ‘pitch’, ‘tone’ and ‘rhythm’. They performed the song in two parts and described why that was effective.
• Leaders and teachers have ensured that homework builds effectively on pupils’ learning in school. Weekly homework is supplemented by longer-term research projects focused on key questions such as ‘Who is Anne Frank?’ Pupils present their findings to their peers at the end of the project. They told inspectors that these projects help them to develop their research skills and become confident speaking in front of others.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are impressive and contribute significantly to their excellent progress. They discuss ideas confidently and listen respectfully to the views of others. Pupils told inspectors that the school’s values of ‘achieve’ and ‘challenge’ motivate them to keep trying and do the best that they can.
• Positive relationships between pupils, parents and staff create a strong sense of community. Parents report that staff are ‘always there for pupils and parents’ and that the school ‘deals with any problems brilliantly’.
• Pupils feel very safe and well cared for in school. They say that staff treat them with respect and listen carefully to their worries. One pupil told inspectors: ‘Nothing is too much for our teachers. They do everything they can to help us.’
• Pupils say that their learning about British values inspires them to challenge unkind behaviour and treat everyone fairly. They were able to give clear examples of when they had done this, both inside and outside school.
• Events such as ‘anti-bullying’ week help pupils to identify different types of bullying, including that which occurs online. Pupils told inspectors that they had written their own songs and poems to help them remember how to tackle bullying. Pupils and parents agree that bullying and prejudicial behaviour is unusual and dealt with promptly if it does occur. This is confirmed by the school’s own records.
• Pupils have an excellent understanding of the different things they can do to keep safe and healthy. For example, pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 explained the importance of eating a balanced diet and taking part in regular exercise. Pupils also know how to stay safe when they go online. They can confidently describe how school systems help them use the internet safely. They know what to do if they see something online that worries them. Leaders also arrange for community police officers to talk to older pupils so they know how to use social media sites safely.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Leaders and staff ensure that pupils have high expectations for their own behaviour and that of their peers. The school’s values are the foundation of pupils’ exemplary behaviour. One pupil told inspectors, ‘Our values are important because they help us know what is expected of us.’ As a result, pupils’ conduct around the school is sensible, courteous and respectful. Pupils require very few reminders from adults to maintain these high standards.
• School records confirm that incidents of poor behaviour are extremely rare. Leaders analyse behaviour records carefully to ensure that pupils receive extra support when it is needed.
• Parents appreciate these high expectations. One parent commented that ‘poor behaviour is not tolerated’.
• Overall, pupils’ attendance is above the national average. Leaders are quick to identify groups of pupils who are not attending school as regularly as they should. For example, absence rates for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities increased in 2016. Close partnerships with families have reversed this decline. The attendance of both these groups is improving quickly and is now just below the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils make rapid progress from their starting points. As a result, they achieve above-average standards by the time they leave in Year 6. This has been the case for the last six years.
• The school’s assessment information indicates that the current pupils are also making rapid progress. This reflects the work inspectors saw during visits to classrooms and in pupils’ books. Different groups of pupils achieve equally well. This includes pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, the most able and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The most able pupils are challenged consistently to achieve the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics. For the last four years, the proportion of Year 6 pupils who have exceeded the standards expected for their age has, in the majority of cases, been above the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils, including those who are the most able, make progress that is at least in line with their peers nationally. In 2014 and 2015, their progress at key stage 2 was significantly above average. As a result, by the time they leave Earlsfield, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is at least in line with, and often better than, other pupils nationally.
• At key stage 1, the majority of pupils also make rapid progress from their different starting points. In 2016, the proportion of pupils who achieved and exceeded the expected standard was above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders identified accurately that the proportion of middle-attaining pupils, who achieved greater depth within the standard, could have been even higher. As a result, this group of pupils are receiving additional support in Year 3. Work in their books shows that they are currently making rapid progress. They are already completing work that exceeds the standard expected in Year 3.
• Excellent teaching ensures that pupils attain above-average standards in the Year 1 phonics screening check. Disadvantaged pupils, who do not meet the required standard, attend bespoke small-group teaching so they catch up quickly. As a result, the vast majority of disadvantaged pupils meet the required standard by the end of Year 2.
• Leaders are quick to identify where pupils’ outcomes could be even better. They take swift action to ensure that no individuals or groups of pupils fall behind. For example, in the 2016 key stage 1 mathematics assessments, they accurately identified that too few disadvantaged pupils with low prior attainment achieved the expected standard. As a result, they put in place additional support for these pupils in Year 3. Work in pupils’ books shows that these pupils are making the rapid progress needed to catch up with their peers.
• Pupils across the school read widely and with enthusiasm. They told inspectors they enjoy reading because ‘it takes you into a whole new world.’ The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, read complex texts which stretch their vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Early years provision Good

• Leaders and staff have created a warm, caring environment where children feel safe and secure. Children’s well-being is given the upmost importance. Regular training ensures that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to make sure that all welfare and safeguarding requirements are met fully.
• Parents appreciate the work of staff to instil children with an enthusiasm for learning. Parents value the way they are kept informed about their child’s learning through events such as parents’ workshops and ‘stay and play’ sessions.
• Classrooms are well organised, bright and attractive. The different aspects of the curriculum are catered for effectively, both in the classrooms and the outdoor areas. Children are excited about their learning and are keen to share their experiences with adults and each other. Staff are skilled in building children’s confidence so they are willing to try out new experiences and challenge themselves in their learning.
• Well-established routines help children play and learn together well. Adults set high expectations for behaviour which children are keen to meet. Children are increasingly successful in being able to manage their own behaviour with few reminders from adults. The behaviour observed by inspectors was exemplary.
• Children make at least good progress from their different starting points and are well prepared for their learning in Year 1. The proportion of children who achieve the standard expected for their age has risen considerably over the last three years. In 2016, it was significantly higher than the national average.
• Excellent phonics teaching ensures that children acquire the knowledge and skills they need to read and write well. The majority of children are making rapid progress in this aspect of their learning. Staff have strong subject knowledge and demonstrate accurately how to pronounce the sounds that different letters make. They provide children with clear guidance so they know how to say the sounds and write letters correctly. Staff intervene quickly to correct errors so children do not fall behind with their learning.
• Teachers’ questioning helps children to identify patterns and rules in the way language works. For example, in one phonics group, a teacher asked the most able children to think about the different sounds they could hear in the word ‘short’. Children accurately identified the different sounds and explained that ‘sh’ and ‘or’ were ‘digraphs’ because they had ‘two letters but only made one sound’.
• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds make good progress from their typically low starting points. However, not all disadvantaged children make the rapid progress needed to achieve a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year. Leaders are taking swift action to speed up the progress of these children as soon as they join the school. They have an in-depth understanding of their individual barriers to learning. As a result, additional support is tailored well to their needs. Effective daily phonics teaching is a key component of this work. The school’s assessment information shows that a greater proportion of the current disadvantaged children are on track to achieve a good level of development by the end of Reception.
• Although, overall, children’s progress is good, it is not as rapid as that found at key stages 1 and 2. Historically, the majority of children at Earlsfield started school with knowledge and skills that were below those expected for their age. The most recent cohorts who have joined the school have considerably higher starting points. Teachers have not taken this into account fully when making assessments and planning learning. Checks when children begin school often underestimate what they know or can do. Consequently, there are instances where teaching does not challenge children to achieve as highly as they could in all areas of the curriculum. Leaders are tackling this with urgency and are making the necessary changes to strengthen the accuracy of assessment information.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority 101005 Wandsworth Inspection number 10008713 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 Maintained Age range of pupils Gender of pupils 3–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 480 Appropriate authority The governing body Co-chairs Headteacher Stephen Adamson and Costanza De Toma Stephen Trow Telephone number 020 8946 5452 Website www.earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk Email address admin@earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 23−24 January 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Earlsfield Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• Overall, the proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above the national average. However, there is considerable variation between year groups, with some having a much lower or much higher proportion than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than the national average. Pupils are from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds, the largest of which is White British, followed by Black or Black British African.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly in line with the national average. However, in some year groups this proportion is higher than that found in other schools nationally.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited lessons across the school. Many of these visits were conducted jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors observed a range of subjects as well as learning in all year groups.
• Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, including leaders with responsibility for different year groups and subjects. Inspectors also met the leader with responsibility for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• A range of school documentation was scrutinised by the inspection team, including records related to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, and information on pupils’ progress. Inspectors also reviewed the school’s evaluation of its own effectiveness, as well as reviews of the school’s work carried out by external consultants and the local authority.
• An inspector met with a group of governors to evaluate the impact of their work. Records of governing body meetings, as well as governors’ visits to schools, were also reviewed. A meeting was also held with the local authority’s school improvement partner.
• Inspectors spoke to parents before school to seek their views about the school. They also spoke to staff and pupils, both formally and informally. Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys, including 164 from parents, 85 from pupils and 49 from staff.
• Inspectors heard pupils from Year 2 and Year 6 read. They also spoke to them about their attitudes to reading.
• Inspectors conducted an in-depth scrutiny of the work in pupils’ books to evaluate the rates of progress made by current pupils in the school and the quality of their learning in all subjects.

Inspection team

Sarah Murphy-Dutton, lead inspector Shaun Dodds Sean Flood David Lloyd David Bryant Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector