Arden House

The Lloyd Williamson School Independent school standard inspection report

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DfE registration number 207/6399 Unique Reference Number (URN) 132788 URN for registered childcare EY306937 Inspection number 361394 Inspection dates 16–17 March 2011 Reporting inspector Michèle Messaoudi achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk No. 090070 Independent school standard inspection report

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school. 1, 2

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

The inspection of registered provision was conducted under Section 49(2) of the Childcare Act 2006. 3, 4

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Information about the school

The Lloyd Williamson School is a small independent day preparatory school located in a multicultural area of the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It opened in April 2000 and is registered to provide education for up to 190 boys and girls from the age of six months to 14 years. The main departments are a nursery, a ‘transition’, a senior and an upper school. There are currently 110 children and pupils on roll, aged from six months to 14 years. There are 59 children in the Early Years Foundation Stage, 25 of whom attend part-time and 25 receive their entitlement to free nursery education. There are two pupils with statements of special educational needs. Pupils and staff have diverse cultural heritages. There are a few pupils learning English as an additional language. The school offers an extended day from 7.30 am to 6.00 pm during term time and ‘wrap-around’ care during school holidays. It is registered on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register

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Information about the school

for up to 78 children at any one time. The school was last inspected in December 2007. As the Early Years Foundation Stage provision was last inspected in June 2010, it was not inspected on this occasion, although the provision for child care was inspected.

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Information about the school

The school aims to ‘foster individuality, initiative and a love for learning’.

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Evaluation of the school

The Lloyd Williamson School continues to provide a good quality of education and meets its aims fully. A culture of continuous improvement ensures that the school maintains high standards in all aspects of its work and parents and pupils are very positive about the provision. The quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection and is consistently good with outstanding features, and so pupils make at least good progress. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is

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Evaluation of the school

1 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/ukpga_20020032_en_14#pt10-ch1-pb4-l1g162 2 www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2005/ukpga_20050018_en_15#sch8 3 Schools which provide childcare for children from birth until the term in which they reach their third birthday must register this provision separately with Ofsted. 4 www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/ukpga_20060021_en_4#pt3-ch2-pb4-l1g49 Independent school standard inspection report outstanding and so is their behaviour. Provision for their welfare, health and safety is outstanding and safeguarding arrangements are robust. The school complies with all the regulations for independent schools.

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Quality of education

The curriculum is good. Its main strength is that it promotes pupils’ personal and intellectual development extremely well and helps them to develop a wide range of skills and knowledge base. It is broad and well balanced between the various areas of learning. In addition to National Curriculum subjects, pupils from Years 1 to 9 study drama, general knowledge, and logic and reasoning. In Year 1, they also have cooking and gardening. There is an appropriate emphasis on English and mathematics and consistent cross-curricular links give coherence to pupils’ learning experiences. Literacy is promoted very well in most subjects, particularly reading and writing skills. Languages are given prominence and are chosen to reflect pupils’ needs and heritages in negotiation with parents. Pupils learn French from Year 1 and Latin from Year 3. Additional options include a second modern language (currently Afrikaans, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish), British social history and world geography.

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Quality of education

However, the school does not have sufficiently clear strategies to teach modern languages in transition and senior classes, and so pupils do not always develop sufficient speaking, listening and reading skills before moving on to writing in these languages. Pupils learn to sing, play instruments and learn about music history, which contributes well to their cultural awareness. Social studies include personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship and contribute greatly to pupils’ personal development. Provision for information and communication technology (ICT) has improved since the last inspection and it is used effectively as a learning tool in many subjects. Pupils receive good careers guidance that raises their awareness of future opportunities and choices. The curriculum is well enriched by a broad range of educational visits and a variety of clubs that extend pupils’ creative, physical and logic skills.

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Quality of education

Schemes of work and medium-term plans support the teaching satisfactorily and a rolling programme of topics ensures that pupils taught in mixed-age classes will progress in their learning from year to year without unnecessary repetition. Early identification of pupils’ needs enables the school to personalise the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who learn English as an additional language, and those who are gifted and talented. Where pupils have statements of special educational needs, the provision meets all the requirements of the statements.

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Quality of education

Teaching and assessment are good. Teaching has improved since the last inspection and well-established procedures to disseminate best practice ensure that teachers continuously strive to improve their skills. Consequently, teaching is consistently good with outstanding features. All teachers establish excellent working relationships in lessons and create a relaxed but purposeful atmosphere in which pupils can flourish. Classes are small and teachers know their pupils very well and have a good understanding of their prior attainment and aptitudes. Consequently, Independent school standard inspection report they match well to pupils’ needs their questioning, the tasks which they plan and the support which they give. Teachers have high expectations and are particularly skilful at using their good subject knowledge and probing open-ended questions to promote a high level of intellectual development in pupils. They also plan many opportunities

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Quality of education

to promote pupils’ reading and writing skills in most subjects. Consequently, most pupils have reading ages well above their chronological ages and write at length using complex sentences and interesting vocabulary from the transition classes. Where the teaching is outstanding, the lesson is conducted at a fast pace and a high level of challenge is maintained throughout because the teacher closely checks on individual pupils’ understanding and progress and responds to their needs promptly. The use of assessment has developed well in the last three years and consistently constructive marking helps pupils to understand how to improve on their work. However, the learning objectives for lessons are not always sufficiently detailed to give pupils a clear picture of success criteria against which they can assess their learning. The school has rightly identified the need to develop strategies to involve pupils more closely in the assessment of their own learning so that they can progress

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Quality of education

As a result of the good curriculum and good teaching, pupils make good progress, including those who have additional linguistic or learning needs. Most make outstanding progress in their reading and writing skills in English. All senior pupils gain entry to a selective school of their parents’ choice.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. The school successfully creates a village school ethos that gives pupils a strong sense of belonging to a tightly-knit community. A pupil encapsulates the views of many peers and parents when saying, ‘This school makes you feel like you are part of a family and helps you learn not just about different subjects, but about yourself and other children.’ Consequently, pupils enjoy school a lot and their active participation in lessons and their good attendance reflect their excellent attitudes to learning. Emotional literacy, taught through assemblies and small group work, enables them to develop empathy with others, extremely positive relationships based on mutual understanding and respect, and high levels of emotional well-being. Pupils’ spiritual development is further promoted through moments for reflection, for example in an

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

assembly on the Japan earthquake when they were invited to consider that with every hardship comes an opportunity to surpass oneself.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Pupils’ social development is very effectively promoted by involving several year groups in activities where the older pupils exercise responsibility towards the youngest. Pupils demonstrate strong commitment to diversity and great sensitivity to each other’s differences and needs, enhanced by a good programme of multicultural education. The school is an all-inclusive and supportive community and no-one feels left out, a strength noted by parents and pupils. Pupils can all find something they can be good at. They take responsibility for their behaviour, and so they develop self-discipline and their behaviour is outstanding. They contribute to their community Independent school standard inspection report by helping to run clubs, recycling materials, participating in public performances and helping to raise funds for charity. Pupils gain a good understanding of public institutions through citizenship and educational visits. Their cultural development is

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

extremely well enhanced by school outings and clubs. The good basic skills which they develop and their high levels of self-confidence prepare them well for their future.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

Provision for pupils’ welfare, health and safety is outstanding. Staff gain a clear understanding of their duties and responsibilities through detailed and up-to-date policies and procedures aimed at minimising risks in all circumstances, which they implement consistently, and through extensive training. Safeguarding arrangements are robust. The school obtains references on all staff and volunteers. Staff receive the appropriate level of child protection training at the required intervals, supplemented by termly shorter training sessions. Risk assessments are thorough. Staff are skilful at promoting very high standards of behaviour, and instances of bullying are very rare. Pupils feel extremely well cared for and consequently they feel safe. They have a good understanding of what constitutes a healthy diet and participate in a wide range of physical exercises. The childcare provision contributes effectively to pupils’ welfare and meets the requirements of the Childcare Register.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

The school meets its obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended, and has planned extremely well how to further improve access to the premises and the curriculum. This represents a good improvement since the last inspection.

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Suitability of staff, supply staff and proprietors

Rigorous recruitment procedures ensure that all the required checks are made on staff and the proprietor to ascertain their suitability to work with children prior to confirmation of their employment. These checks are recorded in a single central register in the proper manner.

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Premises and accommodation at the school

The premises enable effective learning in a safe and homely environment. The school compensates for its restricted outdoor space effectively by making daily well- supervised use of an adventure playground located nearby.

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Provision of information

Parents and others are informed through a wide range of accurate and up-to-date information, including a prospectus, a parents’ handbook, newsletters, message books and a developing website. Parents feel well informed of their children’s progress through detailed six-monthly reports and the open door policy. They are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school’s work. Independent school standard inspection report

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Manner in which complaints are to be handled

The school has suitable procedures to handle complaints fairly and promptly.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The proprietor has ensured that the school meets The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010, schedule 1 (‘the Regulations’).

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by regulations, the school might wish to consider the following points for development:

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What the school could do to improve further

 further develop strategies to teach languages in the transition and senior schools  ensure that the learning objectives for lessons are always sufficiently detailed to give pupils a clear picture of success criteria against which they can assess their learning  as identified by the school, develop strategies to involve pupils more closely in the assessment of their own learning so that they can progress at an even faster rate. Independent school standard inspection report Inspection judgements outstanding

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The quality of education

How well the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of pupils 

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The quality of education

How effective teaching and assessment are in meeting the full range of pupils’ needs 

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The quality of education

How well pupils make progress in their learning 

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The quality of education

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Quality of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

The overall welfare, health and safety of pupils  Independent school standard inspection report

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School details

Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 52 Girls: 33 Total: 85

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School details

Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 14 Girls: 11 Total: 25

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School details

Number of children aged 0–3 in registered childcare provision Boys: 17 Girls: 12 Total: 29

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School details

Number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs Boys: 1 Girls: 1 Total: 2

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School details

Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0

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School details

Address of school 12 Telford Road Ladbroke Grove London W10 5SH

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School details

Email address lloydwilliamsonschools@yahoo.co.uk

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School details

Principals Lucy Meyer Aaron Williams Proprietor Lucy Meyer

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