Setting

Mr V Bhanaut Headteacher De Beauvoir Primary School Tottenham Road London N1 4BZ

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Beauvoir Primary School

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 16 June 2011, for the time you gave to our preliminary meeting and for the information which you provided before and during the inspection. Please also pass on my thanks to the members of the governing body, parents and pupils who took the time to meet me during the day.

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Beauvoir Primary School

Since the school’s last inspection, there has been a steady increase in the size of the school so that there are two classes in each year group in Key Stage 1. There has been a rise in the proportion of families who are claiming their entitlement to free school meals. There have also been significant changes to teaching staff.

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Beauvoir Primary School

As a result of the inspection on 2–3 February 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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Beauvoir 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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Beauvoir Primary School

There has been significant progress in developing pupils’ mathematical skills across all year groups. The percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in mathematics rose dramatically in 2010 so that, for the first time in five years, pupils’ attainment was slightly above average in this subject. Attainment in English has risen, though the school has correctly identified that there is still a significant gap between the attainment of boys and girls in English, particularly in the lower part of the school. Inspection evidence confirms the school’s view that progress in reading, writing and mathematics in Year 6 and Year 2 is particularly strong and that elsewhere progress is generally good and is continuing to improve. Learning and progress in Year 1 is 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 0117 311 5319 Direct F 0117 315 0430

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Beauvoir Primary School

email :matthew.parker@tribalgroup.com Page 2 not accelerating at the same rate as other year groups, but school leaders have taken action to address this. As a result of training and in-school moderation exercises, teachers’ assessments are now more accurate. This information is being used by senior leaders to track each pupil’s progress to ensure that any underachievement is spotted and dealt with promptly. There has been a concerted effort to involve parents and carers more in their children’s education, and parents and carers say they have found the regular workshops for Year 2 very helpful. The school has recently undertaken a review of intervention programmes to ensure that additional provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective. School tracking suggests these pupils generally make good progress. Pupils from minority ethnic heritages and those learning English as an additional

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Beauvoir Primary School

The quality of teaching observed throughout the school during the inspection was good overall. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and good behaviour in lessons is the norm. Pupils say they enjoy their learning and that their teachers make learning fun for them by playing games in mathematics lessons and making effective use of computer programs and interactive whiteboards. Good practice in the use of assessment is widespread. In all lessons observed during the inspection, teachers made learning intentions clear and shared criteria with the pupils, so that they knew what they had to achieve and could judge their own success. Generally, teachers now plan lessons with greater attention to the needs of individuals and use varied teaching methods to engage and enthuse their pupils. For example, in one mathematics lesson, higher-ability pupils were working on a different task to their peers which challenged them and extended their learning.

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Beauvoir Primary School

Marking of written is generally thorough, and informs pupils about their next step in learning.

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Beauvoir Primary School

Middle leaders, who were new in post at the last inspection, now make a strong contribution by driving improvement in their areas of responsibility. They, together with the senior leadership team, make good use of a range of monitoring activities to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning. Teachers value the high-quality feedback they receive following a lesson observation or scrutiny of their planning. Senior school leaders are rigorous in evaluating the school’s effectiveness and are self-critical in comparing the school’s performance with national and local authority benchmarks. Members of the governing body are developing their role and are aware of the need to become more involved in monitoring the progress of school plan priorities. The track record of improvement and the determination to continue to develop and make progress mean that the school is demonstrating a greater capacity for sustained improvement.

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Beauvoir Primary School

The school has made good use of support from the local authority and has developed successful partnerships with the University of Plymouth and other local schools. This support has been well targeted and has had a positive impact on the school’s improvement. Page 3 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 February 2010

 Raise attainment in mathematics by: – increasing the proportion of pupils who exceed their age-related levels in numeracy – ensuring that pupils make at least satisfactory progress in all classes and good progress in the majority of classes in mathematics – providing more opportunities for pupils to reinforce their numeracy skills across the curriculum.

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place in February 2010

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning by: – ensuring the majority of teaching is good or better – ensuring all teachers use assessment more effectively to plan lessons that provide appropriate challenge to different ability groups, in particular the more able – providing pupils with consistently good quality written and oral feedback, linked to learning targets, to support them in making further improvements.

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place in February 2010

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: – ensuring that all leaders and managers develop the skills of monitoring and evaluating the quality of pupils’ learning through lesson observations.

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