Setting

Ms Helen Connor The Headteacher North Harringay Primary School Falkland Road London N8 0NU

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Harringay Primary School

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 14 September 2011, for the time you gave to our phone discussions and for the information which you provided before and during the inspection. Please pass on my thanks to everyone who gave up their time to talk to me.

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Harringay Primary School

At the time of the last inspection the school was finding it difficult to recruit staff, particularly middle leaders. The problems have now been resolved and the school has a full team of middle leaders.

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Harringay Primary School

As a result of the inspection on 10 and 11 June 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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Harringay 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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Harringay Primary School

Pupils’ achievement continues to rise and the school met its targets last year. The proportion of pupils attaining the expected levels in the Key Stage 2 national tests increased significantly, although the proportion reaching the higher levels was relatively low. These pupils made much greater progress from their starting points at the beginning of Key Stage 1 than pupils taking the tests in recent years. Pupils’ achievement in the Key Stage 1 national assessments improved significantly in 2010; this improvement was sustained in 2011. The focus on improving writing is having a clear impact: the quality of pupils’ writing is rising rapidly, although there is still a gap between their attainment in writing and in reading and mathematics. 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 Direct email :

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Harringay Primary School

rebecca.jackson@tribalgroup.com Pupils’ achievement is tracked carefully. Leaders make extensive use of this data and are fully aware of any gaps in achievement between different groups of pupils; well- considered and effective action is taken to reduce any such gaps. The variable quality of teaching in previous years has meant that levels of achievement across year groups are uneven. Additional support for pupils and a relentless focus on improving teaching are helping to even this out.

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Harringay Primary School

The quality of teaching has improved significantly in the past year. It was good in most of the lessons observed during the inspection; no inadequate teaching was seen. Teachers’ expectations are high. Pupils behave well and have good attitudes to learning, readily discussing their ideas with each other. Teachers plan together, helping to ensure that lessons are well structured and interesting. Teachers now routinely provide pupils with a clear understanding of what they are meant to achieve during the lesson. Different activities are planned to meet the needs of pupils of different ability; this helps to ensure that everyone is able to make progress. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 are taught English and mathematics in small classes, grouped by ability. Teachers make good use of this opportunity to challenge pupils of different abilities. Marking has improved. It now focuses more sharply on whether pupils have achieved the objectives of the lesson. Teachers’ comments are

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Harringay Primary School

At times, however, the pace of learning slows, particularly when the teacher spends too long talking to the whole class. Teachers’ questioning is sometimes insufficiently targeted at individual pupils, or not probing enough to test or extend pupils’ learning and thinking. As a result, more-able pupils in particular are not always fully challenged.

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Harringay Primary School

Improvements are being very well led by the headteacher, senior team and governors. They have very high expectations, which they communicate and share with staff extremely effectively. As a result, everyone understands what they need to do, and practice across the school is consistent. Good use has been made of a range of external support, including support from London Challenge, visits to other schools and targeted support from the local authority.

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Harringay Primary School

Both governors and senior leaders have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development, supported by a range of effective monitoring work. Monitoring is carried out rigorously and focuses very sharply on evaluating and improving teaching and pupils’ learning and progress. The work of each year group is rigorously reviewed in detail each term. Senior leaders have successfully eradicated inadequate teaching and have done much useful work to improve the practice of individual teachers.

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Harringay Primary School

The school now has a strong team of middle leaders, although some have only been in post for a few weeks. Middle leaders’ roles are clear and well understood. Much is expected of them, but much has also been done to ensure that they are quickly able to make a useful contribution to the school’s leadership. For example, one of the new subject leaders spent a term shadowing the work of the senior leader who was previously undertaking the role. Middle leaders are given time to carry out their role, but there are clear expectations about how this time will be used and they are held accountable for their impact. Subject coordinators’ plans provide a useful summary of important actions, but are not clear enough about the intended impact of these actions.

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Harringay 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 June 2010

 By July 2011 :  raise standards in English, especially in writing, throughout the school  maintain the improvement to standards at the end of Year 6, by ensuring that the school's statutory targets for 2011 for the proportion of pupils reaching the expected level 4 and the higher level 5 in English and mathematics are attained.  Increase the proportion of good or better teaching and the progress which pupils make, by:  reviewing the arrangements whereby some pupils work on tasks in different subjects during English and mathematics lessons  ensuring that teaching maintains a brisk pace and is consistently matched to pupils' different abilities  using questioning more effectively to challenge and assess different groups  ensuring that pupils are not expected to listen for long periods and have sufficient time to write at length  using marking to pinpoint precisely where pupils have made mistakes and

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place in June 2010

might improve their work.  Strengthen overall leadership through:  developing subject and middle leadership  ensuring that lesson evaluations have a sharp focus on evaluating pupils' learning and progress.

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