Earlham Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 22–23 February 2012 Inspection number 381348 Earlham Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 131478 Local authority Haringey Inspection number 381348 Inspection dates 22–23 February 2012 Lead inspector Heather Yaxley HMI

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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 All-through School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 442 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dylan Williams Headteacher Maria Hadjisoteris Date of previous school inspection 6–7 July 2009 School address Earlham Grove Wood Green London N22 5HJ Telephone number 020 8888 2780 Fax number 020 8365 8993 Email address admin@earlham.haringey.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. All 15 teachers were observed during a total of 23 lessons, some jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Meetings were held with senior staff, the school’s Vulnerable Children Team and the Attendance Team, the Chair of the Governing Body, groups of pupils and a representative from the local authority. The lead inspector had a conversation with the leader of Haringey Council. Inspectors observed the school’s work and pupils’ work, and looked at case studies, assessment and tracking information, minutes of meetings of the governing body, the school improvement plan, the recent review by the local authority and the single central record of checks on staff. There were no responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Two hundred and eighty responses to the pre-inspection questionnaire for parents and carers were considered, alongside those from staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

This school is larger than the average, with two classes for each year group and an Early Years Foundation Stage for nursery and reception children. Almost all pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The largest group is of Turkish heritage. Most pupils speak English as an additional language and some are at the early stages of learning English. Higher-than-average proportions of pupils join the school at times other than at the beginning of the Nursery or the Reception Year. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is twice the national average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is broadly average and includes nine pupils with a statement of special educational needs. A breakfast club operates before school and is managed by the governing body. 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

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

 In accordance with section 13(3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform. The school is therefore given a notice to improve. Significant improvement is required in relation to pupils’ achievement and in the use of assessment to support teaching and learning.

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Key findings

 This is not a satisfactory school because the decline in pupils’ attainment and progress since the previous inspection means that pupils underachieve significantly, particularly in mathematics. There is inequality in the achievement of boys and girls and between pupils of different abilities.

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Key findings

 The quality of teaching is inadequate because weaknesses over time have led to pupils’ inadequate achievement. Weaknesses lie in the use of assessment, which is not sufficiently thorough or used consistently to ensure that pupils move on in their learning fast enough. Assessments of what some children in the Early Years Foundation Stage can do are particularly weak.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ behaviour and safety are satisfactory because although behaviour in class is often good, this is not always the case at playtimes and their attendance is just in line with the national average.

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Key findings

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have injected a sense of urgency to school improvement this year, but the leadership of teaching and learning, including the management of teachers’ performance, has not been sharp enough to ensure teachers’ accountability for pupils’ performance.

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Key findings

 Leaders and managers demonstrate that they have the capacity to bring the school back to a position of strength because their actions this year have already had a sufficiently positive effect on pupils’ progress, on attendance and on ensuring that the quality of teaching currently is now mostly satisfactory or better. 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?

 Ensure pupils make at least satisfactory progress in lessons by assessing how well they are doing as they work through activities, use that information to move their learning on quickly and plan the next lesson accordingly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure all staff use assessment information frequently and effectively, and are all held robustly to account for the part they play in improving pupils’ attainment and progress by:  making good use of continuous assessments in lessons and lesson plans by teachers and support staff  staff in the Early Years Foundation Stage making frequent and sharply focused assessments of what the children can do  developing the roles and responsibilities of middle leaders to focus primarily on the impact of their work  increasing the frequency of monitoring teaching and learning by senior leaders so that individual teachers are clear about their performance and receive the support that they need to improve their practice  revising the way that senior leaders track and measure pupils’ achievement  giving higher profile to pupils’ achievement in meetings of the governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the management of pupils’ behaviour at break times by supervising pupils more effectively and providing more for the pupils to do.

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Achievement of pupils

Some parents and carers say that their children are not making enough progress and their concerns are well founded. Some, but not all, of the low attainment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 can be explained by pupils still developing their use of English and some who are relatively new to this country. But this is not the whole story because weaknesses in teaching mean that pupils are not making the progress they should in lessons and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has declined over the past three years. Younger pupils are not always clear about the purpose of an activity, they lose concentration and do not build their knowledge and skills sufficiently. By the end of Year 2, pupils’ reading skills are at levels generally well below those found nationally although inspection evidence indicates that pupils enjoy reading and most have a secure understanding of how to

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Achievement of pupils

use letter sounds to spell simple words and to have a go at reading unfamiliar words. They do this with confidence and determination.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment and rates of progress for pupils in Key Stage 2 have declined to the point that the gap with the national average widened significantly by 2011 in English and 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 mathematics for Year 6 pupils. Their progress was inadequate and their attainment low. Too few pupils attained the reading skills expected for their age. Boys underperformed significantly in English, girls in mathematics and pupils of low and middle ability underperformed generally. This pattern of underachievement is not confined to Year 6 pupils. The school’s assessment information and lessons observed during this inspection show an uneven and slow pattern of progress across other year groups. Pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs sometimes make better progress than

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Achievement of pupils

other groups because pastoral support, including effective management of behaviour, helps them to be ready to learn. This was observed in several lessons, where individual pupils’ behaviour was managed sensitively and learning for all proceeded without incident.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ progress for the first half of this year is looking more positive. As a result of some effective actions taken by senior leaders after the 2011 national test results, pupils now make better progress and significant underachievement in lessons is no longer widespread, although some underachievement remains. Achievement in mathematics has improved and pupils now make satisfactory progress in developing their numeracy skills, as a result of better teaching. The work to support pupils and families of Turkish heritage is having a positive effect on the achievement and attitudes to learning of this particular group. In general, pupils are keen to learn, although their work is not always sufficiently well presented to provide a good record of their learning for future reference. Pupils say that they like mathematics and they are very keen to read. This was confirmed by inspection evidence.

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Quality of teaching

Most pupils and their parents and carers are positive about the quality of teaching. Inspection evidence does not give such a positive picture. Since the previous inspection, not all pupils have experienced teaching of sufficient quality to make the progress that they are capable of. There are two important weaknesses in teaching and both are linked to how well teachers use assessment. First, learning is not always moved on fast enough. For example, pupils who understand what to do next often have to wait for too long on the carpet before they can get on with practising what they have learned. Similarly, when pupils work independently, staff do not always check whether the work is too easy or whether they are struggling, so time is wasted and learning lost. Second, teachers do not identify the gaps in pupils’ learning quickly or precisely enough. Not all teachers are secure in identifying the levels that pupils are working at. Additionally, assessment information is not used

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Quality of teaching

well enough to pitch tasks at the right level for pupils’ different levels of ability. Too often, all pupils are given the same task. Some then have to rely on adults to help them, reducing their independence and not contributing well to their self-esteem. Others find the learning too easy and lose interest. In some lessons, opportunities are missed through teaching and the curriculum to develop pupils’ personal skills.

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Quality of teaching

There is now a wider range of teaching quality. A small amount of inadequate teaching remains but most pupils are now experiencing teaching that is at least satisfactory. There is now more good, and sometimes outstanding, teaching and an 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 improvement in the planned curriculum which makes a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, but more consistently good teaching is needed to make up for considerable past underachievement. The best teaching is characterised by pupils’ knowledge and enjoyment being stimulated by challenging tasks. For example, in a Year 6 English lesson, pupils worked independently with a high level of concentration and made outstanding progress as a result. Similar progress was evident in a Year 3 lesson, made possible because the

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Quality of teaching

teacher planned a good level of challenge for pupils of all levels of ability.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

There are particular strengths in this aspect of the school’s work. The work with families and support services for pupils whose circumstances have made them vulnerable is very well organised and given high priority. There are striking examples where pupils have benefited as a result, including accelerated academic progress.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils know how to take care of themselves and others when problems arise. They say that when they tell staff about incidents, things are quickly sorted out. The main concern that comes from the inspection questionnaires for parents and carers, and in speaking to pupils, is that there is some bullying at playtimes. Several parents and carers comment that supervision is insufficient. The school’s records confirm that incidents of boisterous and sometimes careless behaviour happen, which sometimes end up with pupils being hurt. Observation of playtimes during the inspection indicates that although adults are on duty they are not always highly visible or active participants. There is very little for pupils to do at playtime and very few organised games, leaving most to run around and others to concentrate on staying out of their way.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

In contrast to behaviour on the playground, behaviour in class and during breakfast club is often good and allows learning to take place in an orderly and well-respected environment. Pupils speak enthusiastically about rewards for their behaviour and, in class, demonstrate a strong moral code and good social relationships. Younger children are not always respectful of resources or thoughtful about the needs of others, as seen in the Nursery. Despite some challenging times since the previous inspection, staff have successfully helped pupils to maintain a generally good standard of behaviour. Exclusions, although never high, have reduced and are now rare.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ attendance and punctuality have improved, and attendance is now very close to the national average. The figures are disproportionately affected by the poor attendance of a minority, mostly those who are new to this country. The school works with this group very well and their attendance improves quickly. As each group of new pupils arrives, however, the overall attendance rate declines.

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Leadership and management

Senior leaders are not complacent. They are determined to put the school securely back on its feet. More than this, their capacity to bring about the necessary changes 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 is proven, as seen in the sustained improvement in pupils’ progress and in other aspects of the school’s work this academic year. Since the previous inspection, senior staff and the governing body diverted attention from the main purpose of improving pupils’ outcomes because of external pressures and instability in the staff team. They have now put this behind them and the improvements show that their actions bring about the required changes. In the past, they have not acted quickly enough or decisively enough in response to what they know.

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Leadership and management

Until relatively recently, much of the school’s leadership rested solely with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. This has changed. There is now more delegation, which has spread the load for monitoring as well as giving others responsibility and accountability at middle leadership level. Middle leaders and governors are not yet doing enough to measure the impact of the school’s work.

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Leadership and management

The quality of teaching has improved because senior leaders raised the awareness of staff about the task that needs to be done to improve pupils’ performance. Staff are held accountable for the part that they play. Although this is an improvement on the previously weak practice for monitoring teachers’ performance, monitoring is not sufficiently rigorous. Nevertheless, most teachers have risen to the challenge, either by consistently applying agreed strategies or by taking advantage of the support on offer.

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Leadership and management

Staff have not yet evaluated how well the curriculum supports pupils’ academic performance and where any weaknesses lie. The curriculum is satisfactory because it provides sufficient breadth and balance. There are examples where pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported well through teachers’ delivery of an increasingly creative curriculum. The teaching of philosophy as a means of challenging pupils’ thinking makes a positive contribution to their moral and social development. Cultural development is supported well. The wide range of pupils’ heritages is well represented in learning activities, resources and displays, and contributes well to a harmonious community.

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Leadership and management

Evaluation of pupils’ performance through analysis of assessment information and tracking this over time has improved. For example, assessments are now more frequent but the procedures are still not ‘smart’ enough, particularly in how to use targets for the end of each year and each key stage. The headteacher and deputy headteacher are aware of the need to revise the current arrangements. Tracking the progress of different minority ethnic groups, as well as that of boys and girls, means that staff aim to promote equality of opportunity, but in practice inequalities exist because not all pupils achieve as well as they should.

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Leadership and management

Relationships with parents and carers are generally very positive. Although some express concerns about their children’s progress and behaviour on the playground, most are positive about the school’s work. Senior staff place high importance on overcoming any discrimination and ensuring pupils’ safety, and the recording of concerns and incidents is sufficiently thorough. The governing body ensures that all safeguarding requirements are met, including those relating to breakfast club.

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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 Earlham Primary School, Wood Green N22 5HJ

I am writing on behalf of the inspection team to tell you about our judgements and to thank you for your help in letting us know what you think about your school. We considered what you told us from the discussions and from the inspection questionnaires. We saw some good things but overall we judge that you get an inadequate standard of education at the moment because not enough of you are doing as well as you should. For this reason, the school now has a notice to improve, which means that in about a year’s time inspectors will return to see if you are making enough progress in your learning.

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Inspection of Earlham Primary School, Wood Green N22 5HJ

The things that will make the difference will be if teachers, subject leaders, senior staff and the governing body make better use of the information that they have about your progress. We have also asked them to look at your behaviour at break times because some of you and your families are concerned that sometimes children get hurt unnecessarily.

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Inspection of Earlham Primary School, Wood Green N22 5HJ

You told us that you are happy in school and enjoy being with friends from all different backgrounds. We also know that you are trying really hard to improve your attendance. We know that you will all want to help staff make the improvements that are needed, so please ask them what you can do to help.

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Inspection of Earlham Primary School, Wood Green N22 5HJ

We wish you well for the year ahead and look forward to hearing how things have improved.

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Inspection of Earlham Primary School, Wood Green N22 5HJ

Heather Yaxley Her Majesty’s 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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