Montpelier Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 13–14 March 2012 Inspection number 376642 Montpelier Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 101912 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 376642 Inspection dates 13–14 March 2012 Lead inspector John Anthony

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed

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Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Glenda Shawley Headteacher Am Rai Date of previous school inspection 25–26 September 2006 School address Montpelier Road Ealing London W5 2QT Telephone number 020 8997 5855 Fax number 020 8810 7602 Email address admin@montpelier.ealing.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 a nd training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school

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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. The inspection team observed 28 lessons taught by 23 teachers. They held meetings with the Chair of the Governing Body, staff and groups of pupils, and met informally with parents and carers. 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 strategic and curriculum planning, records of pupils’ progress, school documentation, and monitoring records of teaching and learning. Inspectors analysed 379 parents’ and carers’ questionnaire returns, as well as 42 from staff and 100 from pupils.

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Information about the school

This is a much larger than average primary school. Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage into two Nursery classes from the age of three on a part-time basis and three Reception classes on a full-time basis. The pupils come from a wide range of cultural heritages, the largest group being from White British and other White backgrounds. Just over half the pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below the national average, as is the proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. A small number of pupils have moderate learning difficulties. The school hosts a breakfast club and after-school club, which are managed by external providers and are inspected separately. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

The school holds the Healthy Schools award, the International Schools Award and has been awarded an Activemark. 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 and parents and carers, overwhelmingly, agree. During the six years since the previous inspection, at which the school was judged to be good, the headteacher, staff, and governing body have been successful in raising standards at all levels, so that pupils, throughout the school, are achieving extremely well.  Achievement is outstanding because pupils’ attainment is well-above average and the pupils make excellent progress in their learning at all stages of their education. They also progress very well in areas other than the strictly academic, in their social, moral, spiritual, and cultural development, in their enthusiastic take up of the school’s many extra-curricular activities, and in their development as mature, reflective and articulate young people.  Teaching is excellent throughout the school. Pupils say that this is because ‘teachers make learning more fun by making lessons more fun’. Parents and

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Key findings

carers agree. In the words of one parent, ‘My child adores her teachers.’ Pupils are eager to learn and are encouraged to participate in lessons, although a lack of flexibility in some lesson planning limits opportunities for extending pupils’ discussions beyond the prepared lesson outline.  Pupils’ exceptional behaviour is a major contributory factor in their high standards of achievement. Pupils concentrate very well during lessons, treat each other with respect and consideration, and enjoy excellent relationships with the staff; however, sometimes, opportunities to contribute to their own learning are limited. Without exception, pupils said that they feel safe in the school and parents and carers, overwhelmingly, agree.  Leaders and managers, supported throughout by a governing body which demands high standards, have driven the process towards outstanding performance with exceptional energy and determination. The main features are

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Key findings

a drive to improve teaching through rigorous management of performance and the development of a vibrant curriculum which enthuses and inspires pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

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?

 Enrich pupils’ learning experience by:  planning for more flexibility in lessons to build on pupils’ own ideas and opinions  enabling pupils, in discussions, to explore their own ideas and thoughts and become leaders of learning.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ achievement is outstanding, including of those pupils who speak English as an additional language, who make rapid progress in their literacy skills. Children enter the Nursery with skill levels that are broadly in line with those expected for their age. They make excellent progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage so that they enter Key Stage 1 with levels of attainment above those expected. The vast majority of parents and carers, conservatively, believe that their children make good progress in their education. A typical response was that this is ‘a fantastic school - very inclusive’, noting in particular that ‘the Nursery is brilliant and the best start any child could have’. Pupils continue to make excellent progress through Key Stage 1. A Year 1 parent commented, ‘We are absolutely stunned at the progress our child has made over the past seven months.’ Pupils reach well-above average levels of attainment by

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Achievement of pupils

the time they reach the end of Key Stage 1 in reading, writing, and mathematics. Their high standards of competency in reading leave them well-prepared to continue to accelerate their learning. Excellent teaching continues to accelerate progress through each year group, so that pupils reach well-above average standards of attainment in all subjects by the end of Year 6. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs also make excellent progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils learn exceptionally well because they participate in lessons, concentrate throughout, and work well together. They become confident in their own abilities and talents and develop skills in using initiative. Teaching is also organised to boost the performance of specific groups. This was seen in a spectacular numeracy ‘booster class’, when inspirational teaching fully engaged pupils in their own learning, such that they were highly focused throughout the lesson. They made such outstanding progress in their understanding in a short space of time that the teacher was able to skip part of the lesson and move on quickly to the next stage.

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Achievement of pupils

Because planning and assessment take into account aspirational predictions for their learning, pupils are constantly challenged to reach higher standards. This leads to a growing trend of improvement, for example, in reading, where pupils are encouraged to read aloud in groups and to write about and discuss their books with each other. This ensures that pupils also understand the context of the story and identify with the issues faced by the various characters. It was evident to inspectors on listening to pupils’ often delightful reading that even weaker readers in Year 1 had achieved good reading skills and pupils were working well above expected levels. By the time 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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Achievement of pupils

pupils leave the school, their overall standard of reading is very high.

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Quality of teaching

Most parents and carers informed inspectors that their children are taught well. ‘The quality of the teaching is outstanding,’ in the words of one parent, a view which is fully endorsed by inspection findings. Teachers’ excellent subject knowledge, their use of stimulating resources, and the focus on making learning fun all contribute to pupils’ accelerated learning. For example, in a literacy lesson in which pupils were encouraged to use ‘wow’ words to describe monsters, the teacher used the opportunity to develop pupils’ writing skills, whilst also emphasising the use of phonics (words and the sounds they make) to help pupils to identify new words. The element of fun is clearly evident in the Early Years Foundation Stage, where children enjoy discovering the basic principles of learning as ‘collaborating koalas’, ‘meta- cognitive monkeys’, ‘questioning queen bees’, or ‘noticing newts’. The effective

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Quality of teaching

planning for indoor and outdoor activities is aligned with preparing activities that promote the children’s speaking and listening skills through collaborating with teachers and with each other.

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Quality of teaching

Assessment is used effectively and consistently throughout the school to celebrate success and to identify areas to improve. Marking and guidance to pupils are consistently of a high standard. Pupils say they ‘always know what our targets are’, and that the learning is ‘not too easy’ because ‘it’s a bit of a challenge and, if we don’t understand, the teacher goes over it’. A common feature in lessons is the excellent relationships that teachers have established with pupils. In one outstanding lesson, pupils were discussing what they understood about the qualities of sound. Because they were enthusiastic about the topic and the teacher encouraged them to develop their own learning, the pace was fast, the pupils learned from each other and they made excellent progress. When coupled with confident and interesting use of information and communication technology, pupils became fascinated in their learning and were keen to press on and learn more. Thus, pupils learn very quickly

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Quality of teaching

because they are enthused and because they are enabled to use their imagination, stimulating many other aspects of their learning, such as in developing further their speaking and listening skills.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching impacts strongly on pupils’ social, moral, spiritual, and cultural development, as the pupils become confident in making mature observations and offering their own perspectives on issues. Opportunities for pupils to take the lead and pursue an interesting dialogue to its natural conclusion are lost sometimes in the interests of pursuing the set agenda of the lesson plan. However, the planned curriculum is applied flexibly and meets the intellectual and developmental needs of pupils of all abilities very successfully, including those with English as an additional language, who make excellent progress and quickly catch up with their peers.

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Behaviour and safety of 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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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour is outstanding over time and the very large majority of parents and carers agree. Pupils are consistently attentive in lessons, work very well with each other, and use their own initiative to move their own learning on when they have completed set tasks.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The attendance level of pupils is high and their punctuality is exemplary. This was seen in one impressive example, when pupils moved seamlessly between classes, from their sets in numeracy to their class groups for a guided reading lesson. The move was so calm and orderly that it was not evident at first that the make up of the class was changing. The teacher then went straight into the reading session, with a minimal pause in momentum.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

During the inspection, pupils were consistently courteous, calm, and relaxed and their personal relationships were seen to be friendly and encouraging. No evidence of inappropriate behaviour was seen during the inspection, nor was it alluded to by pupils, other than to say that there have been rare occasions of inappropriate use of language. Several parents and carers raised concerns about perceived bullying; these were discussed with the headteacher and are being investigated. The very large majority of parents and carers fedback through the inspection questionnaire that the school deals with any cases of bullying effectively and they are almost unanimous in confirming that their children are safe. Pupils also feel extremely safe and are aware of the different types of bullying, but said when interviewed that there is ‘a little bit of bullying’, but that it was confined to ‘someone saying rude names to you’. They

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

felt that ‘the school does deal with it very well’ and cited, for example, assemblies where the impact of bullying is fully explored and the school emphasises its policy of non-tolerance of bullying at all times.

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Leadership and management

Leaders and managers at all levels set very high expectations, which have been instrumental in achieving, in the words of one parent, ‘A very ambitiously led school.’ The headteacher and senior colleagues lead a highly committed staff team, which shares fully a determination to provide pupils with an outstanding learning experience. They are supported very ably by the governing body, which plays a pivotal role in leading the strategic overview. A well-structured professional development programme for staff, combined with a concerted drive to improve teaching and the quality of guidance offered to pupils, has been instrumental in the school’s success. A very strong and fruitful relationship has been developed with parents and carers, one commenting typically, ‘We are truly delighted with Montpelier Primary School. The school encourages parents to participate actively in the education process and supports us in doing so.’

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Leadership and management

The outstanding curriculum, which is enriched through a comprehensive range of educational visits and extra-curricular clubs, is broad, balanced, and innovative. The school’s ‘Basics’ philosophy encourages a sense of ‘belonging, aspiration, success, 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

independence, challenge and safety’, which, in turn, underpins the promotion of pupils’ social, moral, spiritual, and cultural development. The school has developed an excellent range of partnerships with support agencies and has a strong commitment to fostering equality, evident in the outstanding progress made by all groups of pupils. The school does not tolerate any form of discrimination. Safeguarding, throughout the school, meets statutory requirements. The many improvements made in the school since the last inspection and the drive and determination of the school leadership demonstrate clear evidence of strong capacity to improve.

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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. 15 March 2012

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Inspection of Montpelier Primary School, London W5 2QT

Thank you very much for welcoming us into your school. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank those of you who met with us and told us about the many exciting things that you do and how proud you are of your school. Your school gives you an outstanding education. These are some of the things that stand out.

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Inspection of Montpelier Primary School, London W5 2QT

 You are very responsible, friendly, and extremely kind to each other and your behaviour is excellent.  You enjoy working hard and are keen to achieve great things. You get excellent guidance from your teachers, which helps you to make very good progress in your lessons.  You tell us that you feel very safe in the school and that bullying is very rare, but, when it does occur, it is dealt with very quickly.  All those who lead and manage your school work hard to give you the best possible education and look after you very well.

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Inspection of Montpelier Primary School, London W5 2QT

Although yours is an outstanding school, we have asked your headteacher and staff to make sure that they make more use of your ideas and opinions to help you learn even better. You can help by learning to express your own views more clearly during classroom discussions.

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Inspection of Montpelier Primary School, London W5 2QT

John Anthony Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is availab le 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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