William Davies Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 14–15 March 2012 Inspection number 376760 William Davies Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 102745 Local authority Newham Inspection number 376760 Inspection dates 14–15 March 2012 Lead inspector Nigel Grimshaw

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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 Number of pupils on the school roll 257 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Val Coster Headteacher Maria Maher Date of previous school inspection 20–21 May 2009 School address Stafford Road Newham London E7 8NL Telephone number 020 8472 3864 Fax number 020 8470 9684 Email address info@williamdavies.newham.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 teaching and learning in 18 lessons or parts of lessons taught by eight different teachers and looked at pupils’ work. They listened to pupils read and talked to them about how much reading they did. Discussions took place with members of the governing body, staff, parents and carers and groups of pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including those relating to safeguarding, the school’s improvement plan and self-evaluation report, minutes of governing body meetings, reports from the local authority and the school’s own assessment data. The inspectors analysed questionnaires from pupils and staff as well as those from 216 parents and carers.

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Information about the school

William Davies Primary is an average-sized primary school. Pupils come from a range of backgrounds with 18 different ethnic groups represented. The largest groups are of Bangladeshi and Indian heritage. Almost 90% of the pupils learn English as an additional language, which is well-above average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above the national average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average and the majority of these have speech, language and communication difficulties or behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The school has gained various awards, including the Basic Skills Quality Mark and the Activemark award. The school meets the government’s floor standard, which sets minimum expectations for attainment and progress. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Information about the school

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 William Davies is a good school, which has excellent links with parents and carers and promotes outstanding spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. By the end of Year 6, pupils’ overall attainment is above the national average. Progress is good because the headteacher has focused on improving the quality of teaching. Consequently, the large majority of the teaching is now good or outstanding. The school is not outstanding because plans for pupils to extend their writing and numeracy skills in other subjects are not yet fully in place and the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage requires some improvement.  Pupils make satisfactory progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and the focus on basic literacy and numeracy skills provides a solid platform for accelerated progress in both English and mathematics in Years 1 to 6. Pupils in these year groups enjoy reading and make good progress because it is taught

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Key findings

well, including an effective and well-structured programme that links sounds to letters (phonics).  The quality of teaching is good because senior leaders monitor it rigorously and provide training and support. Planning is detailed and good use is made of individual targets for pupils. Opportunities for pupils to apply their writing, mathematical and other key skills in other subjects are not developed well enough.  Pupils’ behaviour is excellent in lessons and around school and has improved since the last inspection. They are motivated by their work and consequently enjoy learning.  The headteacher is supported well by a motivated senior leadership team. The governing body provides an excellent balance of challenge and support. The school leadership has worked hard and successfully to improve teaching through performance management and to involve parents and carers in their children’s learning and within the school’s life. As a result, outcomes from the

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Key findings

parental questionnaire were very positive. 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?

 Complete the implementation of the newly planned curriculum with a particular focus on increasing opportunities for pupils to develop their speaking, writing and numeracy skills across other subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage through a more rigorous analysis of children’s progress so that adult support is targeted better in supporting small groups of children of similar abilities.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and knowledge below the levels expected for their age, settle well into school life and make satisfactory progress in basic communication skills and mathematics. However, there are missed opportunities to promote these skills further through work in small groups. Overall, standards remain below national expectations at the end of the Reception year.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment in English and mathematics improved in 2011 and remains above national averages, including in reading, by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. The pupils have a genuine enjoyment of reading and most say that they read for pleasure outside school. From their below-average starting points when they enter Year 1, all groups of pupils, including boys and girls, disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and those known to be eligible for free school meals, make good progress in Years 1 to 6. This progress is consistent in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language make exceptionally good progress because of an effective induction programme and a well- structured programme of support. There is no significant difference in the attainment of pupils from different ethnic backgrounds.

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Achievement of pupils

Progress in most lessons observed was good or better. Pupils enjoy learning in lessons and teachers plan work that they find motivating. This has encouraged pupils’ growing levels of confidence. This was particularly true in an outstanding mathematics lesson, when the pace was quick and the pupils were challenged to convert metric measurements, combined with developing numeracy skills in multiplication and division by 10 and 100. Teachers and teaching assistants provide good support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Consequently, these pupils make good progress in line with that of their peers. 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

An overwhelming majority of parents and carers responding to the questionnaire feel that their children make good progress, have good basic skills, and that the school helps them to support their children’s learning. Inspectors agree that this view is accurate overall with progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage being satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching

In almost every lesson observed, pupils were clear about the learning objective and the small steps in learning by which they could measure their own progress. In the best lessons, the pupils were actively involved in agreeing the learning steps with the teacher. They were also given longer-term targets for improving their work. This development of the pupils’ involvement in their own learning is a strength of the school and one reason why the pupils achieve as well as they do. Work planned by the teachers in the better lessons makes good use of their knowledge of the pupils’ attainment to ensure it is appropriately challenging for all. The marking of pupils’ work and the guidance given to pupils on how to improve their work are of a high and consistent standard as a result of a recent whole-school review of practice. In upper Key Stage 2, pupils are now entering into a written dialogue with their teachers that is proving very effective.

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Quality of teaching

The school’s new topic-based approach to the planned curriculum is in the early stages of development and is being planned thoughtfully. It is starting to provide more opportunities for pupils to apply and extend their skills in speaking, writing, and mathematics, but, at this stage, these opportunities are not sufficiently frequent to have the best impact on further accelerating pupils’ progress. The school is using the new curriculum and approach to homework to encourage pupils to undertake their own independent research. This was particularly true in an outstanding Year 3 reading lesson, when the pupils researched current news stories on the internet and wrote reports to summarise these for the rest of the class. This lesson, along with others observed, also had examples of the pupils’ excellent cooperative working.

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Quality of teaching

On occasions, opportunities are missed for accelerating the progress of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. This is because progress is not analysed rigorously enough to target adult support to those small groups of children of similar ability who need it the most.

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Quality of teaching

The teaching is often inspirational in the very effective way that it promotes aspects of spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. Pupils are given excellent opportunities to reflect on their work in lessons. Through teachers’ high expectations pupils have an excellent appreciation of right and wrong, and how to behave appropriately with other children and adults in lessons.

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Quality of teaching

A very high proportion of parents and carers feel that their children are taught well and are prepared for the next stage of their education. The inspection findings support this view overall, although learning and progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage are satisfactory. One parent wrote, typically, ‘William Davies 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

provides a safe, warm, caring environment. It has enabled my child to have a very varied and rich learning experience.’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are extremely polite, confident and very welcoming. All groups of pupils behave excellently in lessons and around school. They show consideration for others and work and play together harmoniously. School records indicate that there are very few incidents of bullying. Pupils have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying and they agree that bullying in any form only happens rarely, is seldom serious, and is dealt with promptly and effectively by the adults in school. Racist behaviour is even less common because the pupils show mutual respect for each other at all times. New pupils into school say that they are made to feel welcome very quickly and they all say that they settled happily into school life. Pupils are confident that they feel very safe at school and this is echoed by parents and carers. Pupils have a good awareness of possible dangerous situations. The school has ensured that the pupils are well aware of safe and appropriate use of the

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance has improved significantly over the last three years because the school’s leadership and governing body have applied an updated policy rigorously and fairly, and the establishment of a breakfast club has also helped. Consequently, current attendance levels are above the national average.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The response of pupils, parents and carers was again extremely positive, with the significant majority having views that behaviour is excellent, that the rare incidences of bullying are handled effectively and that disruption in lessons is minimal. The inspection evidence again confirms this view. One pupil said ‘Behaviour is really good now and hardly anyone ever gets sent to the headteacher or the deputy headteacher any more!’

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Leadership and management

The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher and senior staff, make a very strong leadership team with a clear vision and a successful track record of improvement in the school. The quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection through raising teachers’ expectations and focused professional development. A very knowledgeable governing body, led well by the Chair and other experienced governors, ably supports the senior leaders. They have a clear view of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement because of their active involvement in monitoring and challenging the school’s work. Improvements in subject leadership, although disrupted by unavoidable absences, have been very evident and the monitoring role the subject leaders undertake has developed well.

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Leadership and management

The areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been tackled successfully and are now strengths of the school, particularly the pupils’ evaluation of their own work and the use of pupils’ individual targets to identify what they need to 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

do to improve. The school’s self-evaluation is focused clearly on the correct priorities and stems from an effective programme of monitoring and evaluation and analysis of data. Consequently, the school is well placed to sustain improvement.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is being reviewed to create opportunities for enjoyable learning that are meeting the needs of the great majority of pupils. The opportunities for pupils to apply their writing and mathematical skills across the curriculum have improved, but are not yet fully established. The curriculum and the expectations of staff are also providing a very effective platform for promoting outstanding spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development.

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Leadership and management

School leaders, the governing body and staff are successful in promoting equality of opportunity and tackling discrimination. There are effective systems for identifying groups and individuals who need additional support that have proved successful in providing appropriate strategies to accelerate pupils’ learning and close any gaps in their outcomes compared to their peers. School leaders ensure that safeguarding procedures meet statutory requirements. The site is secure and all visitors are checked on arrival at the school before they can gain entry. Consequently, parents and carers were almost unanimous that their children feel safe at school. They also agree that the school keeps them well informed and responds well to any concerns raised. The inspection evidence confirms these views.

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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 William Davies Primary School, Newham, E7 8NL

On behalf of the inspection team, I would like to thank you for making us feel so welcome when we visited your school. We enjoyed our time with you. We enjoyed talking to many of you in lessons, in our meetings with you and at break times. We were impressed with your enthusiasm for your work and the progress you are making, especially in English and mathematics.

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Inspection of William Davies Primary School, Newham, E7 8NL

We have judged that yours is a good school. You behave excellently, get on well together and value each other’s cultures and backgrounds exceptionally well. We know from talking to you and from your questionnaires that you like coming to school very much and enjoy your learning. This is because the teachers try to make the work interesting and fun and so you are making good progress. You report that you feel safe at school.

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Inspection of William Davies Primary School, Newham, E7 8NL

Although yours is a good school, we have asked the headteacher, staff and the governing body to make some changes to help it to improve further. We have asked them to provide more opportunities for you to learn your basic speaking, writing and mathematical skills when you are doing your topic work and work in other subjects, as the school is already planning to do. We have also asked that, in the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers plan more effectively so that they provide more focused support for small groups of children who are working at the same level.

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Inspection of William Davies Primary School, Newham, E7 8NL

Having met you, we are very confident that you will want to help too. You can do this by trying your best at all times and checking that your work in lessons is as good as expected. We would like to wish you all the very best in the future at William Davies Primary School and also when you move on to your next school.

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Inspection of William Davies Primary School, Newham, E7 8NL

Nigel Grimshaw 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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