Setting

Ms Taranum Baig Headteacher Miles Coverdale Primary School Coverdale Road Shepherd Bush London W12 8JJ

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Coverdale Primary School

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 17 February 2011, for the time you gave to our phone discussions and for the information which you provided before and during the inspection. Please thank the senior staff, the chair of governors and the local authority school improvement partner, who gave their time to the discussions.

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Coverdale Primary School

Since the previous inspection, one of the three assistant headteachers retired last summer and was replaced with one who leads on inclusion and has oversight of the school’s on-site language impaired unit. This specialist provision for a small number of Key Stage 1 pupils has now been extended to a few Key Stage 2 pupils. The school is currently in the process of recruiting a new Early Years Foundation Stage phase leader. A new chair of governors was appointed in December 2010 and a school business manager commenced post very recently.

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Coverdale Primary School

As a result of the inspection on 14 January 2010, the school was asked to address the most important areas for improvement, which are set out in the annex to this letter.

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Coverdale Primary School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school has made good progress in making improvements, and good progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.

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Coverdale Primary School

There have been good improvements in pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 6 since the previous inspection. In 2010, national test results were above average in English and mathematics. In particular, an above-average proportion of pupils achieved the higher level in mathematics. The school’s tracking data show that the current Year 6 pupils are on track to sustain this above-average level of attainment. Tribal 1–4 Portland Square BRISTOL BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0845 123 6001 Direct F 0117 315 0430 email :sarah.cartlidge@tribalgroup.com Page 2 Progress has been good, and sometimes outstanding, from pupils’ generally below- average starting points. Progress by the end of Reception and Year 2, while improved, remains an area that the school is rightly concentrating on. Here, achievement is not so strong, as children and pupils do not make the same high

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Coverdale Primary School

levels of progress as they do by the end of Year 6.

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Coverdale Primary School

The leadership team has been very effective in raising the expectations of staff about what pupils are capable of achieving. As part of this, there is now a much sharper focus on the use of assessment that results in better provision for the more- able pupils. Whole-school analysis is evaluated carefully and intervention for any pupils who are seen to be falling behind is rapid and effective. As a result, pupils’ attainment in writing and mathematics has improved and a good proportion have made rapid progress in Years 4 to 6, which can be demonstrated clearly from the regular assessments that are made each term or half term. Effective assessment has given the leadership team a very clear picture of progress, so that they can target those pupils who need help. There is still some variability in how well these assessments are used in each class to ensure that work meets all abilities and needs, depending on the expertise of the teacher, but good progress is being made

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Coverdale Primary School

In lessons, teachers demonstrate their improved use of ongoing assessment by good questioning techniques to probe pupils’ understanding. Pupils in Year 5 and 6 were hard at work peer assessing character descriptions and story atmosphere creation using a clear set of criteria. Teachers’ challenging questioning stimulated the thinking of the more able pupils about how the piece of writing could be improved. Going around the school, it is evident that writing has a high profile and raising attainment in writing is a key priority. For example, working walls in classrooms and corridors display extended pieces of writing for different purposes, sometimes with comments on post-it notes written by pupils as part of peer assessment. There is a range of stimulating prompts for writing. Reception children, for example, recently visited the local fire station and wrote down questions to ask the fire professionals.

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Coverdale Primary School

Year 1 pupils made good progress when they wrote brief sentences to show the sequence of events in the ‘Whatever Next?’ story using a set of pictures as prompts. The school recognises that improving attainment and progress in writing by the end of Year 2 is a key area for development.

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Coverdale Primary School

Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning remain highly positive. They are enthusiastic learners and want to do their best. In conversation, they talk about the many opportunities they are offered and how they think relationships are very strong throughout the school. Much has been done to improve the attendance of those who were persistently absent by working closely with families. The education welfare adviser deployed by the local authority has been working effectively with the school to combat poor attendance. The weekly monitoring and tracking system is rigorous and effective. As a result, the school exceeded its local-authority-imposed summer 2010 target and has sustained attendance at the national average level. Page 3 The strong and decisive leadership team has demonstrated its commitment to improving the school. It has set challenging targets for pupils and teachers and there is a whole-school expectation that these will be achieved. Expertise from the

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Coverdale Primary School

local authority has been used well to monitor improvements and to provide specialist help, for example in helping to define the most important areas for improvement in the Early Years Foundation Stage. In addition, a productive partnership with two local primary schools as part of the Improving Schools Programme has helped bring about improved teaching and assessment through the sharing of good practice. The developments that have taken place and the sustained level of improvement in pupils’ attainment and progress all indicate a school that is moving forward well.

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Coverdale Primary School

I hope that you have found the inspection helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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place in January 2010

 By the end of the summer term 2010, improve attendance levels to the target agreed with the local authority of 93% by: – continuing to work with parents and carers to emphasise the importance of attendance for their child’s learning and progress.  Ensure the good practice seen in some lessons of using data to match work and activities to the needs of individual pupils, in particular those who are more able, is consistently followed in all lessons.  Raise attainment in writing by: – providing more extended opportunities across the curriculum for pupils to write independently and at length.

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