John Burns Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Leaders should:
  • continue to support teachers to promote consistently high-quality teaching
  • strengthen the curriculum by making sure that all subjects are well planned and taught
  • develop an effective range of strategies to improve pupils’ spelling.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The new headteacher is spearheading improvements in ways that are already benefiting pupils. Other leaders share his ambitious drive for excellence.
• Parents told inspectors that they feel that the headteacher has made a big difference. One parent commented, ‘We like what we know of the new head and look forward to seeing how the school develops.’ Another spoke of rigorous leadership which ‘makes sure that pupils and parents feel equally valued and safe’.
• Leaders are improving pupils’ outcomes. Pupils are making strong progress. Leaders’ strategies to improve attendance are also bearing fruit. Attendance is on a rising trend.
• Leaders have implemented new reward systems for good behaviour. These are understood and respected by pupils. As a result, behaviour throughout the school is calm and orderly.
• Leaders give priority to improving teaching and learning so that they are of consistently high quality. Staff understand what is expected of them. Leaders provide effective advice to staff. Teachers who spoke to inspectors appreciate the coaching and encouragement in their career progression that they receive from leaders. Leaders recognise that not all the teaching is outstanding. They have set up carefully considered systems to achieve excellence over time.
• Leaders and governors deploy additional government funding well. They use the pupil premium grant effectively to provide additional support for disadvantaged pupils. As a result, these pupils throughout the school are making good progress. Similarly, special needs funding is used effectively to support pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. This enables these pupils to receive the help they need to make good progress in their learning.
• The school makes good use of the additional government funding for primary sport and physical education. Funding is used successfully to attract new participants to a wide range of sports. For example, whole-school gymnastics helps build pupils’ core strength. The school ensures the sustainability of the funding by training their own staff, who know the pupils best, to be sports coaches. Such a personal in-house approach enables all to share in inspiring pupils with a love of physical activity.
• The headteacher and senior leaders are undertaking a root-and-branch reworking of the curriculum offered to pupils. Aspects of the curriculum that were not entirely successful in the past have been revised. The new curriculum is very much on the right track but leaders accept that some subjects are not taught in as much depth as others.
• The curriculum and the school’s wider provision make a strong contribution to promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, in one successful assembly, pupils were taught through an inspiring story not to conceal their worries but to share and hence dispel them. This was reassuring to the pupils and enabled them to understand the point of view of others. Pupils also told inspectors that they value the programme of trips, residential courses and visits to places of interest, designed to provide them with a range of experiences to enrich the curriculum.
• The curriculum contributes successfully to pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values. Pupils who spoke to inspectors showed that they understand and share the school’s values as a Unicef Rights Respecting school. As a result, pupils are polite and respectful, and get on well with others.

Governance of the school

• Governors provide effective support to leaders.
• Governors are committed to the school and visit it often to see its work for themselves.
• Governors are proud of the progress leaders have made in bringing about improvements. At the same time, they recognise that there is more to do before the school achieves excellence in all aspects of its work.
• Governors know how well the pupils and groups of pupils are learning. They receive all the information they need to challenge leaders and hold them to account. As a result, all groups of pupils make good progress.
• Governors use additional government funding well, ensuring that it goes to those entitled to support.
• Governors check the work of adults carefully and set stringent targets for leaders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school, shared by all.
• Staff who spoke to inspectors were clear about who they should inform if they have any concern about a pupil’s safety or well-being. They know which leaders and governors to turn to if there were ever an allegation made against an adult.
• The school makes thorough and careful checks on the backgrounds of all adults who come into contact with pupils.
• Staff training is thorough and up to date. Staff are trained in identifying concerns and in looking out for possible signs that pupils are at risk of harm. The school works effectively with external agencies, such as those provided by the local authority, to ensure that pupils are kept safe.
• Parents who spoke to inspectors or who responded to the online questionnaire of their views all agreed that their children are safe at school. Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe at school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is good overall and there is some outstanding practice. Teachers plan clearly to meet the needs of pupils. This enables pupils from a range of different starting points to make strong progress.
• The teaching provides pupils of all abilities with enough challenge to enable them to make good progress. This is because of the deep understanding the adults all have of the pupils in their care. As a result, the most able pupils complete work in depth, and those in danger of falling behind receive the support they need to catch up. Disadvantaged pupils learn well, as do other groups, such as the most able and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Teachers deploy additional adults well to provide individual pupils and groups of pupils with effective focused support.
• Pupils are clear about what they have to do to learn successfully. Adults, through skilful questioning, check that pupils are learning well and clear up any misconceptions. In the best teaching, pupils are challenged to use language in a sophisticated way. For example, pupils in Year 6 used words including ‘nonchalant’ and ‘vigilant’ accurately to improve their writing. However, pupils are often uncertain about how to spell words correctly. This is because teachers insufficiently identify and use strategies to enable pupils to improve their spelling.
• Adults inspire in pupils a love of reading. Young children are given the tools with which to learn to read. Pupils who read aloud to inspectors talked about how the school encourages them to read for pleasure at home as well as at school.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. This caring school, with its family feel, enables each pupil to be known and valued. As a result, pupils grow in confidence and are happy.
• Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy learning and love their teachers. They particularly enjoy opportunities to help fellow pupils, for example by serving as prefects or running house activities.
• Pupils reported that there is rarely any bullying at school. Parents confirmed that any unkindness among pupils is quickly and effectively dealt with by the school.
• Pupils are given the skills they need to keep themselves safe when in school or when out and about. They are very clear about e-safety. Pupils all sign an e-safety contract, and this enables them to understand risks from cyber bullying and grooming.
• Pupils understand how fire and police services work, so that they can use the services if need be. Pupils are taught about road safety and the potential risks from talking to strangers. All these measures enable pupils to stay safe.
• Pupils who attend breakfast club or the after-school care provision are looked after well. They receive good food and engage in worthwhile activities. They are well supervised by the caring staff.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are polite to visitors and get on well together.
• Pupils are quiet and respectful in class, happy to listen to others and to join in discussions when asked. Only rarely do they lose concentration and become restless. This can happen when the pace of learning drops and pupils are not sufficiently engaged.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school. The school’s strategies to improve attendance, for example by introducing a competitive element between classes, are bearing fruit. Attendance is on a rising trend and is now average.
• The school is a pleasant and welcoming environment. It is tidy, with no litter. Pupils’ work is well displayed on the walls. Pupils take pride in showing their neat work to visitors.
• Pupils understand the school’s reward systems and were able to explain these clearly to inspectors. Pupils are keen to behave well. School records show that pupils respect those of all backgrounds and faiths. There are no racist or discriminatory incidents.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ outcomes throughout the school are now strong. Leaders swiftly implemented new ways of checking pupils’ progress. As a result, adults and pupils now clearly understand how well pupils are learning and how much progress they make. Parents, too, are positive about the amount of information they receive about their children’s progress.
• Children enter the early years provision with language, number and social skills that vary, but that are generally below those typical for their age. Inspection evidence shows that pupils make good progress across a range of subjects. This is true for the youngest children in the early years provision and right through the school to Year 6.
• Although the proportion of pupils in Year 2 who reached and exceeded the expected standards in 2017 was below the national average, current pupils in key stage 1 are making strong progress and attaining well, including disadvantaged pupils.
• A higher proportion of pupils than found nationally met the expected standard in the Year 1 national phonics screening check.
• By the time pupils leave school at the end of Year 6, they make good progress and leave with above-average attainment. In 2017, for example, combined Year 6 reading, writing and mathematics attainment was well above both the local authority and the national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress, in line with other pupils nationally. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive the right support and make good progress.
• Pupils are prepared well for the next stage of schooling. Pupils typically enter secondary school with good skills in reading, writing and mathematics. The school recognises the need to provide pupils with successful strategies to help them with their spelling. This will ensure that spelling does not hold back pupils’ otherwise strong writing skills.

Early years provision Good

• The early years provision is well led. Leaders plan well for future improvements. For example, the new leadership team quickly identified the Reception outdoor area as a priority for improvement. Backed by governors, work is currently under way to improve this area.
• Leaders are ambitious to improve children’s outcomes. The proportion of children leaving Reception with a good level of development has been broadly average for a number of years. This represents good progress from children’s starting points.
• Outcomes for disadvantaged children are on an upward path. This is because leaders and governors make sure that the additional funding is used effectively to raise the achievement of these children.
• Adults carefully record children’s achievements and check their progress. Such systematic checks enable adults to provide focused teaching to meet children’s individual needs. Challenge is strong for children of varying capabilities, including the most able. Children’s ‘learning journals’ show that children typically make good progress.
• Teaching is good in the early years. Adults engage children in conversation designed to promote their speaking skills. Adults prepare activities for the children that have a good level of challenge. For example, in one task, children used grapes to add and subtract, and were then able to eat the grapes. The difficulty of the sums was skilfully adapted to suit the abilities of the children.
• The curriculum is wide-ranging. Language and number skills are delivered successfully. For example, an activity based on the current topic of ‘rescue’ encouraged children to begin to understand maps and to use their phonics skills to write such words as ‘river’.
• The curriculum is enriched with activities that have a strong appeal to children’s imagination. Children clearly enjoyed their recent visit to a fire station and dressed up as firefighters. This activity stimulated a flow of language. Children explained, ‘Firefighters put out fires. They use a hose and water.’
• Parents spoke warmly of the trips and visits their children enjoy in the early years provision. For example, a trip to a wooded part of Battersea Park was used partly to develop children’s physical skills and partly to stimulate their imagination as they hunted for ‘bears’.
• Adults look after the children very well. They are caring. Staff are well trained in keeping children safe. Adults make sure that the children are fully engaged in their learning. Children behave well. They are ready to share the resources with one another and to take turns when using the outdoor equipment. Squabbles are rare and, when they do happen, are gently but firmly resolved.
• Children who have SEN and/or disabilities are given good support. The school works effectively with external agencies to meet the needs of these children.
• Parents told inspectors that there is a close partnership between school and home. A typical comment from one parent was ‘Parents are involved in how the children are taught, so we are able to support them at home.’
• By the time children leave Reception, they are well prepared for moving into Year 1. Adults hold meetings to ensure that the needs and abilities of each child are known before transition. Children leave with all the skills they need to move confidently to the next stage of learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 101014 Wandsworth 10037676 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 219 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Daniel Johns Brian Grogan 020 7228 3857 www.johnburns.wandsworth.sch.uk/ office@johnburns.wandsworth.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 16 May 2013

Information about this school

• John Burns Primary School is a little smaller than the average primary school.
• The headteacher has been in post since September 2017.
• The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is much higher than average.
• The proportion of pupils with minority ethnic heritages is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is a little above average.
• The school runs a breakfast club and after-school care provision.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited classes throughout the school and observed pupils’ learning in a range of subjects, including English, mathematics, music and Spanish. The headteacher and senior leaders joined inspectors on most of their classroom visits.
• Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ workbooks covering all the subjects they learn.
• Inspectors talked to pupils at work and at play. Inspectors listened to pupils read and talked to them about their enjoyment of reading. An inspector met a group of key stage 2 pupils to hear how they felt about the school. There were no responses to the Ofsted online survey of pupils’ views.
• Inspectors met several leaders, including those with responsibility for specific subjects. The lead inspector held a meeting with newly appointed members of staff.
• The lead inspector met the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and four other governors. Five governors, including the chair, attended the final feedback meeting.
• The lead inspector held a telephone interview with an improvement adviser from the local authority. A representative from the local authority attended the final feedback meeting.
• Inspectors spoke to a number of parents during the inspection. Inspectors took account of the school’s own survey of parents’ views, held in December 2017. There were 39 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, including 15 written comments. Inspectors took all responses and comments into consideration.
• Inspectors took account of 12 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire for members of staff.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and took evidence from a range of sources on the work of leaders and governors to promote pupils’ outcomes and well-being. Inspectors examined safeguarding information and records relating to attendance, behaviour and welfare.

Inspection team

Natalia Power, lead inspector Peter Nathan

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector