St Paul's CofE Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 22–23 February 2012 Inspection number 376659 St Paul’s Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 102035 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 376659 Inspection dates 22–23 February 2012 Lead inspector Brian Netto

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 419 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Barry McNee Headteacher Sally Moore Date of previous school inspection 16 May 2007 School address Ringwood Way Winchmore Hill N21 2RA Telephone number 020 83603137 Fax number 020 83604559 Email address office@st–pauls.enfield.sch.uk 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

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 19 lessons taught by 14 teachers. Four of the lessons were jointly observed by a member of the school’s leadership team. Discussions were held with senior and middle leaders, staff, members of the governing body and different groups of pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at the school’s self-evaluation and planning documents, external evaluations of the school’s work, policy documents and pupils’ work. They analysed 247 questionnaires sent in by parents and carers, questionnaires completed by a sample of pupils in Key Stage 2, and 24 completed by staff.

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Information about the school

St Paul’s Church of England Primary School is a larger than average-sized school. A majority of the pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average. There is a breakfast club and an after-school club managed by the governing body. The school has received a number of awards including Healthy Schools status. The school meets the current floor standard. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is an outstanding school which provides a strong, caring ethos in which pupils of all abilities thrive. The dynamic and inspirational leadership of the headteacher and her deputy ensures that all pupils experience a diverse and rich curriculum which contributes extremely well to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Achievement is outstanding. Children leave the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills well above those typical for their age. By the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment is significantly above that expected for their age. Progress for all groups, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, is consistent across the school so that all pupils make outstanding progress.  Teaching is typically outstanding and never less than good. Teachers set high expectations, provide a wide range of challenging activities, and promote independence in thinking. As a result, pupils are fully engaged with their

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Key findings

learning.  The school is a harmonious and cohesive community, and consequently pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. Excellent relationships at all levels help to ensure that pupils thrive in a safe and secure environment.  Leaders have focused on raising the quality of teaching with remarkable success. This has been supported by very effective professional development of staff and a rigorous programme of quality assurance. An overwhelming majority of parents and carers are extremely happy with the school. The curriculum provides rich and diverse opportunities for learning. A minor weakness is, however, that occasionally insufficient attention is given to planning for progression in core skills across the curriculum, particularly in subjects other than English and mathematics. This does not have a measurably negative impact on pupils’ achievement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase opportunities, building on the good practice already in the school, by Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

developing planning for progression in core skills in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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Achievement of pupils

Typically, a wide range of activities is planned which stimulates and engages all learners, so that all pupils are purposefully engaged and for the vast majority of the time develop skills at a brisk pace. Consequently, all groups of pupils make outstanding progress across each year.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills typical for their age. By the time they leave they have made rapid progress in all the early learning goals, so their attainment is well above that typically found. For example, children developed skills in recording and counting in completing a traffic survey in the school playground. This progress is sustained across the school so that by Year 6 pupils’ attainment is markedly above national averages in English and mathematics. This represents an overall profile of outstanding achievement,

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers are accurate in their view about the significant progress made by their children. Inspectors listened to pupils reading in Years 1 and 2, and looked at home-school reading records. These indicated that pupils know letter sounds, blend them together effectively to tackle new words and become competent readers. As a consequence, standards in reading by the end of Key Stage 1, and when they leave the school, are significantly above national averages. This is the case in writing and also in mathematics. The ‘bug club’ system of electronic books which pupils can access at home has enabled parents and carers to make a greater contribution to improvements in reading. Pupils develop a wide range of skills which help them develop independence and self-reliance. For example, in a typical Year 6 guided mathematics lesson, pupils worked independently on a range of activities and demonstrated resilience in tackling unfamiliar and challenging tasks. As a result,

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Achievement of pupils

pupils are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their education.

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Achievement of pupils

Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make outstanding progress. This is because they receive timely and well-targeted support. Teaching assistants are well qualified to provide additional support and successfully use every opportunity to build confidence and self-esteem.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is typically fun and extends pupils’ thinking through probing and well- targeted questions from teachers and other adults. Outstanding teaching is characterised by excellent relationships which promote very positive attitudes towards learning. Teachers have high expectations and pupils cooperate well in pairs and small groups. Other adults are effectively deployed so that as a result all pupils’ Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Quality of teaching

needs are met. Teachers demonstrate a confident command of subject knowledge. Year 4 pupils were able to talk about how they can improve their own story telling skills following a workshop with a story teller. As one said, ‘More adjectives make it more interesting.’ Pupils in Year 5 developed excellent knowledge and understanding of life in Ancient Greece through well-structured questioning by the teacher. The best teaching involved open-ended questioning which required reflective thinking, for example in a Year 3 lesson on fairy tales. Fast-paced questions and lots of opportunities for pupils to discuss their ideas with their partners ensured that they excelled in language skills and vocabulary. Despite the few occasions when core skills are not fully accounted for in planning, the planned curriculum makes an excellent contribution to pupils’ learning and outstanding progress.

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Quality of teaching

Outstanding teacher modelling in Year 4 enabled all pupils to rapidly learn decimal fractions. The work contained a high level of challenge for pupils of all abilities. The interactive whiteboard and other resources, such as small computers with mathematics games, provided a varied and rich learning environment which stimulated thought and independence. This ensured that pupils developed resilience in their learning, and quickly found strategies to tackle difficult problems. This complements the school’s strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils develop strong reading skills through focused work on letters and sounds. Even weaker readers are able to use different strategies to help them to decode texts. Parents and carers agree that St Paul’s encourages pupils to be ‘confident, independent and resourceful’.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils show excellent attitudes to learning in most subjects because they are highly motivated and have exceptionally good relationships with adults.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils show a high degree of respect for each others’ feelings. They have a good understanding of what constitutes bullying and are confident that staff will deal with any incident effectively, including homophobic and cyber bullying. As one pupil, noting that incidents were few and far between, summed up the common view, ‘Staff find out everything before they jump to conclusions.’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Around the school, and during breakfast and after-school club, pupils’ behaviour is exemplary, and pupils in Year 6 take on specific roles to support the younger pupils in the playground. Attendance is consistently high and punctuality very strong throughout the day.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils report that they feel exceptionally safe and parents and carers agree. Pupils have a strong sense of personal safety, for example through the ‘bikeability’ road safety training. Children in the Reception Year successfully learned about road safety while playing with different toy vehicles. The strong moral ethos of the school is being supported through the UNICEF programme on Rights Respecting Schools. As a result of this work each class has drawn up a class charter so that, as one pupil said, ‘Everyone respects each other.’ Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The school’s lovely environment, including the quiet quadrant, and the environmental garden, supports a culture of respect and tolerance. This ethos permeates all aspects of school life, from the before- and after-school provision, to typical classroom practice.

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Leadership and management

School improvement is very effectively supported through the ambitious vision of the headteacher and deputy headteacher who drive the school forward. As one parent summed up the views of many others saying, ‘The head and deputy head have a very clear direction and the school has hugely benefited by their leadership.’ The headteacher and deputy headteacher are ably supported by a very experienced and well-informed senior team and governing body. Governors use performance management and school performance data very well to focus priorities and ensure that they challenge the school to do even better. This has very positive effects on the quality of provision and, subsequently, on pupils’ achievement. Staff are well supported through an individualised programme of professional development which also seeks to support the school’s plan for improvement. This is enhanced through local partnerships with other schools, and joint training is regularly undertaken.

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Leadership and management

Significant improvement in a wide variety of areas since the last inspection, especially including achievement and the quality of teaching, has ensured that the school has a strong capacity for sustained improvement.

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Leadership and management

A rigorous programme of monitoring and support underpins the professional development of staff. This has had a strong impact on the quality of teaching throughout the school. The school’s robust system for tracking the progress of pupils ensures that appropriate actions are taken if a pupil falls behind in any subject.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad with a strong focus on creativity. It is enriched by a diverse range of extra-curricular activities, and a rich diet of visits and visitors to the school. Pupils are given every opportunity to develop their creative skills through regular school productions and performances. Inspectors agreed with the view of one parent, echoed by many others, who said, ‘There are always some wonderful and exciting activities happening.’ The school’s outstanding provision in a number of areas helps the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to excel. Pupils leave the school academically able and socially mature. Curriculum planning carefully sets out the expectations for each subject area. However, a small minority of subject plans tend to describe pupil activities rather than specific skills to be developed or how literacy and numeracy skills will be developed across the curriculum.

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Leadership and management

A large majority of parents and carers responded to the Ofsted survey. Many took the opportunity to comment on the school. The vast majority are supportive of the school, and although some offered critical comments these were mostly constructive. Parents and carers clearly share the school’s aspiration ‘to be the best’. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

Leaders and managers ensure that all safeguarding requirements are met with a very positive impact on pupils’ safety. Discrimination is not tolerated and the fact that all groups of pupils make equally outstanding progress reflects the school’s exemplary promotion of equality of opportunity.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, London N21 2RA

Thank you for your warm welcome when we recently visited your school. We enjoyed being told about all the wonderful things going on at St Paul’s, and how you enjoy going there. We were very impressed by the way you took part in lessons and showed great maturity and independence in tackling challenging tasks. I enjoyed being shown around by some of the older pupils who told me why you are so proud of your school. They took me to the lovely areas around the school, such as the quiet quadrant and the environmental garden. You also told me about the wide range of opportunities you have to show off your creative talents, such as the regular school productions.

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Inspection of St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, London N21 2RA

We would like to tell you about what we found. Yours is an outstanding school. Excellent teaching builds upon the strong relationships that you have with adults. These ensure that all of you make outstanding progress, so that by the time you are in Year 6 you have developed into thoughtful and mature young people, with highly- developed skills in reading, writing and mathematics. You have a strong sense of right and wrong, and you demonstrate this through your own class charters which have arisen out of the work you are doing with UNICEF. We are pleased that your attendance is good, and that you enjoy all aspects of school life.

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Inspection of St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, London N21 2RA

Even outstanding schools can do something better. We have asked your headteacher and staff to help you develop, and make even more use of, basic skills in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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Inspection of St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, London N21 2RA

I hope you will continue to enjoy school and take full advantage of the excellent activities your school arranges for you. We wish you all the best for the future.

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Inspection of St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, London N21 2RA

Brian Netto Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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