St James & St John Church of England Primary School

Age group 3 – 11 Inspection date(s) 22 – 23 March 2012 Inspection number 376516 St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 101132 Local authority Westminster Inspection number 376516 Inspection dates 22–23 March 2012 Lead inspector Natalia Power

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 198 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jean Burton Headteacher Valerie de Angelis Date of previous school inspection 20 November 2006 School address 4 Craven Terrace London W2 3QD Telephone number 020 7641 6218 Fax number 020 7641 6220 Email address office@stjstm.co.uk Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 2 of 12

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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 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

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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 Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 3 of 12

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspectors visited 15 lessons or part lessons, observing 9 teachers, and conducting scrutinies of pupils’ work. The inspectors spoke to parents and carers, listened to pupils read, and held meetings with staff and members of the governing body. They took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at its self-evaluation documents and plans for improvement, the data collected on pupils’ progress, safeguarding information and the minutes of governing body meetings. They received and analysed 61 questionnaires from parents and carers, as well as those from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This school is smaller than the average primary school, and the Nursery and Reception classes are housed in the crypt of a nearby church. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is higher than usual. Over nine out of ten pupils are from a wide range of minority ethnic heritages. Over three quarters of pupils speak English as an additional language, and currently around ten pupils are at an early stage of learning the language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is higher than average. There is a higher than usual turnover of pupils. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 4 of 12

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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

 This is a good school. It is strongly supported by parents and carers. One accurately described it as, ‘A big family, where everyone knows all the children.’ The strong provision for development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural qualities ensures that pupils are kind to new arrivals and respect one another’s values. Progress in English and mathematics is good, and this reflects the good teaching and curriculum. However, because there are pockets of satisfactory teaching and occasional missed opportunities for pupils to write on a range of topics, the school is not yet ready to be graded as outstanding.  Pupils achieve well, reaching national average levels of attainment by the end of Year 6. From their below-average starting points this represents good progress. Pupils are not always given enough opportunities to develop their writing skills fully across the curriculum. This is reflected in pupils’ lower attainment in

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Key findings

writing than reading.  Teaching is mainly good, and in some cases outstanding. The pace of learning is generally brisk. In a few cases, however, teachers do too much for the pupils, and the pace of learning slows.  Pupils are keen to learn, and behave well. They feel safe in school and know how to keep themselves safe. Leaders and managers ensure that pupils are kept safe.  Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and plan effectively for improvement. The governing body is actively involved in the life of the school and is ready to hold it to account. The leadership of teaching and the management of performance are good overall. In their programme of classroom visits, however, leaders do not always focus sharply enough on how well pupils are learning and this means that opportunities for improving pupils’ progress are sometimes missed. Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 5 of 12

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Key findings

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?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by:  making the pace of learning consistently brisk in every lesson, with more opportunities for pupils to take responsibility for their own learning  ensuring senior leaders focus more sharply in classroom visits on how rapidly and successfully pupils are learning.  Encourage pupils to develop fluency in writing by providing as many opportunities as possible for them to write at length in all areas of the curriculum so that attainment in writing rises to equal that in reading.

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Achievement of pupils

Almost all the parents and carers who spoke to inspectors or returned questionnaires agreed that their children were making good progress. Inspectors endorse these views. Pupils’ attainment is broadly average in English and mathematics in the national tests taken at the end of Year 6. Pupils, irrespective of ethnic heritage, make good progress from below-average starting points. Inspection evidence, obtained from looking at pupils’ current and past work, talking to pupils and observing their lessons, confirms this pattern.

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Achievement of pupils

Inspectors found that the children learn particularly well when they are expected to do well, and given challenging tasks. An ethos of high expectations is established in the Nursery and Reception classes, where no opportunity is lost to encourage the children to use language. For example, in a Nursery class, the teacher noticed some boys exploring large pebbles and immediately encouraged them to use words such as ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ and to explore the texture of the rocks to promote their vocabulary. Inspectors also observed instances of high expectations in classes further up the school. In one fast-paced Year 6 mathematics lesson, for example, pupils were set the task of putting decimal numbers in ascending and descending order. They worked independently, setting one another challenges, and were continually encouraged to set high aims for themselves and their partners. There are, however, occasional instances where teachers take over too much, preventing the pupils from

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Achievement of pupils

contributing enough themselves. In these cases the pace of learning slows and the pupils are then not sufficiently motivated to produce their best work all the time.

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Achievement of pupils

Reading is a strong aspect of the school’s work and this is because of a consolidated focus on it from the earliest years. Adults introduce the children in the Nursery and Reception classes to sounds and letters through music and play and, throughout the school, pupils are introduced to a wide range of good reading materials. Overall attainment in reading is below average at the end of Year 2, reflecting pupils’ below- average starting points. However, by the end of Year 6, pupils’ reading skills are generally average, because of the school’s strong focus on improving their understanding of sounds and spelling. Pupils in Year 2 who read aloud to inspectors Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 6 of 12

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Achievement 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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Achievement of pupils

were able to show they understood the books they were reading. The good teaching pupils received gave them the tools to enable them to read unfamiliar words.

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Achievement of pupils

The school is skilled at removing barriers to learning so that all groups of pupils make good progress. Girls and boys perform equally well. The children in the Nursery and Reception classes start school with language, number and social skills which are below those expected for their age, but make fast progress in learning new skills because of consistently outstanding teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported well in class by the teachers and their assistants who know their needs. Pupils who arrive part way through the year, many speaking English as an additional language, are given well-focused support and quickly become confident members of the school family, making good progress in line with others.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers consider teaching in the school to be good. One remarked, ‘My child seems to learn something new every day.’ Inspectors endorse these views. Teachers use questioning skilfully to challenge pupils to think for themselves. They plan the curriculum carefully to combine whole-class activities with tasks adapted to meet the needs of individual pupils. In many lessons observed pupils were busily involved in their own learning and clearly enjoyed their voyage of discovery. For example, in a well-planned Year 4 English lesson, pupils built on what they had learnt about Vikings in history lessons to write their own folk tales. The teacher set the atmosphere effectively through the use of pictures and sound effects, so that the pupils were stimulated to bring their ideas to life. As a result, they used imaginative language in their stories. Similarly, a Year 1 history lesson came to life for the pupils

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Quality of teaching

when the teacher dressed in Victorian costume and stayed in character to answer their questions about life in the past. All the pupils enjoyed the task and were fully engaged, not only in questioning the teacher, but also in exploring with their partners what living conditions were like for Victorian children and how it differed from today. Occasionally, however, the teachers take too long to explain tasks to the pupils, or do too much that the pupils could do for themselves. In these cases the pace drops and pupils do not have enough opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching actively promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, encouraging pupils to respect the views of others. For example, in an assembly led by the headteacher, pupils were encouraged to celebrate one another’s success and to feel proud of winning, while remaining gracious in defeat. As a result of such focus on considering the feelings of others, pupils behave well in lessons.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils told inspectors that the good behaviour seen in and around the school during the inspection was typical of behaviour generally. They understand and generally respond well to the clear classroom rewards systems. They reported that lessons are Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 7 of 12

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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

very rarely interrupted. Pupils are polite and welcoming to visitors. They told inspectors that there is no actual bullying, such as cyber-bullying or religious or racial abuse. One pupil said, ‘Sometimes a couple of boys accidentally hurt one another and have a small fight,’ but reported that the incidents were quickly dealt with. They know which adults to turn to if they have any worries. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive, and this is seen in the school’s attendance record, which has been improving year after year so that it is now above average.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, and the older ones report that they enjoy their frequent opportunities to look after the younger ones. The head boy and head girl are confident in handing out achievement certificates to their fellows. All of the parents and carers who completed the questionnaire agreed that behaviour is good and they would recommend the school to others. A typical comment from one parent was, ‘The children are friendly and polite and there is a happy atmosphere.’

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Leadership and management

Strong leadership by the headteacher, the deputy and the leadership team ensures that the school’s ethos is happy and cohesive. The staff show through their responses to the questionnaire and through their stable service to the school that they feel valued as part of the team. The school has met its recommendations for improvement from the previous inspection so that, for example, most lessons are fast paced and challenging. The Nursery and Reception areas are very well resourced and inviting, and provision at this stage is stronger than at the time of the previous inspection. As a result of this forward movement, together with the school’s accurate understanding of its strengths and what remains to be done, the school is well placed to continue to improve. Leaders and managers visit classes to ensure that standards of teaching are maintained, and the contribution they make towards teachers’ professional development is mostly effective. However, leaders accept that

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Leadership and management

occasionally they tend to focus more on teaching techniques than on how well pupils are learning. This results in some inconsistency in the quality of teaching and learning.

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Leadership and management

Leaders, managers and the governing body are effective in ensuring that the arrangements to keep pupils safe are rigorous. Statutory requirements concerning safeguarding are met. Staff are regularly trained in child protection procedures and all adults are thoroughly checked and vetted before working at the school. Leaders and managers promote equality of opportunity well, ensuring that all pupils, whatever their social or ethnic backgrounds or needs, make good progress. Pupils respect one another, and those from all backgrounds get on well together, because discrimination is not tolerated.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum prepares pupils well for the next stage of schooling. However, they do not always have sufficient opportunity to practise writing at length on a range of topics, such as history or science, to improve their fluency and to bring their writing to the level of their reading. Pupils report that they enjoy the school’s programme of Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 8 of 12

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Leadership and management

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

clubs, trips and visits, which are designed to raise their aspirations. A strength of the curriculum is the many opportunities pupils receive to encourage their physical fitness, for example by walking briskly to their swimming lessons or to visit the nearby museums of South Kensington. The school places considerable emphasis on shared experiences and on respecting the views of others, and this shows the strength of its development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural qualities. Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 9 of 12

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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. Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 10 of 12

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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. Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 11 of 12

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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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School, London W2 3QD

We very much enjoyed our recent visit to your school, and it was lovely to see how helpful you are and how nicely you play together. Thank you for making us welcome and telling us your views, both in person and through your questionnaires.

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School, London W2 3QD

 You go to a good school. You told us that your school keeps you safe. We saw how well you behave in lessons and around the school. You told us that pupils are kind to one another, making new arrivals quickly feel part of the community. You are polite and welcoming to visitors. All these good ways of behaving reflect the impressive contribution all the adults make to your spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  You make good progress and leave school with results in English and mathematics which are very much like those of pupils across the country as a whole.  Your teachers teach you well, asking you questions which really make you think. You told us how much you enjoy school and how the teachers help you and make learning fun. We saw how you learned really quickly and enthusiastically when you played an active part in your own learning. We have asked those in charge, when they visit your classes, to check even more carefully how well you

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School, London W2 3QD

are learning, and to make sure that all of you do as well as you can.  We have asked your teachers to give you as much practice as possible in writing at length in subjects such as history and science so that your writing improves.

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School, London W2 3QD

You, too, have a part to play in improving your school. Work hard and do your bit to keep up the school’s improved attendance.

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School, London W2 3QD

We wish you all the very best for the future.

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School, London W2 3QD

Natalia Power Lead inspector Inspection report: St James’s and St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, 22–23 March 2012 12 of 12

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School, London W2 3QD

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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