Ruislip Gardens Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 1–2 December 2011 Inspection number 376720 Ruislip Gardens Primary School Inspection report

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Unique Reference Number 102416 Local Authority Hillingdon Inspection number 376720 Inspection dates 1–2 December 2011 Reporting inspector Joanna Toulson

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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 383 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andy Julian Headteacher Robin Tollyfield Date of previous school inspection 25 March 2009 School address Stafford Road Ruislip Middlesex HA4 6PD Telephone number 01895 632895 Fax number 01895 676022 Email address ruislipgardens@hillingdongrid.org 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

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors. The inspectors visited 16 lessons taught by 15 teachers, observed an assembly and held meetings with pupils, governors and staff. They observed the school’s work and looked at the school improvement plan, minutes of governing body meetings, a range of policies and risk assessments, data relating to pupils’ progress and attainment, documentation relating to safeguarding, lesson plans and pupils’ work. The questionnaires returned by 138 pupils and 88 parents and carers were also scrutinised. Inspectors looked in detail at a number of key areas.

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Introduction

 How effectively the expanded leadership team is promoting improvements to the quality of teaching.  How effectively the school is ensuring that all pupils, particularly the more able, those eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make the progress they should in mathematics.  How good a start to school children are being given in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about the school

Ruislip Gardens is a larger than average primary school. The majority of pupils are White British with the next largest ethnic group being of Indian heritage. The proportion of pupils with English as an additional language is nearly twice the national average. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities who are being supported in school is slightly higher than the national average and most of these difficulties relate to a specific learning difficulty or speech, language and communication needs. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is in line with the national average. There is a morning and an afternoon Nursery. The school provides a before- and after-school club for its pupils.

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Information about the school

The school has achieved the Basic Skills Mark, Healthy Schools award and the Gold Artsmark.

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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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Main findings

Ruislip Gardens Primary is a good school. Attainment has been average for several years but it rose in 2011 to being significantly above average. Pupils’ work and the school’s own data show that this improvement in attainment is continuing. This is due to rapid improvements in learning and progress, which are now good. Since the previous inspection, a great deal has been achieved to improve the quality of teaching, which is now good. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher has a clear ambition for improvement and self-evaluation is accurate and rigorous. The governing body is good and holds the school to account well. Actions taken to improve key aspects of the school, including achievement and the quality of teaching, provide evidence that the school has a good capacity to continue to improve.

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Main findings

Teaching is good overall although there remains some which is satisfactory. In the best lessons, teaching moves on at a brisk pace and pupils are given opportunities to talk to each other about their learning and share ideas. There is also a good balance between how much the teacher talks and the opportunities for pupils to be active learners. However, this good practice is not consistent across the school and this slows pupils’ progress in some lessons. Teachers have a good grasp of assessment and are using the information with increasing effectiveness to plan work for the different abilities in their classes. This, together with carefully targeted additional support, ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with English as an additional language make good progress.

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Main findings

The school provides good care for all its pupils and there is a very positive atmosphere in which pupils feel safe. Adults provide excellent role models and there are good relationships across the school. As a result, behaviour is good and pupils are polite, friendly and kind to each other. Those parents and carers who returned the questionnaire are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. Typical comments were, ‘I feel that the staff genuinely care about each child and support them to achieve their maximum potential’ and, ‘My son has required additional support and his class teacher and classroom assistant have worked so hard to build his confidence and provide extra help.’ Central to pupils’ good personal development is an effective curriculum which promotes learning and which has been validated by the Basic Skills Mark and the Gold Artsmark awards.

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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 and consistency of teaching by ensuring that all lessons: − move forward at a lively pace and provide more opportunities for pupils to work independently − provide good opportunities for pupils to discuss their learning and generate their own ideas.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Children enter Nursery with levels of skills which are broadly in line with those expected for their age, although with lower social and language skills. By the end of Key Stage 2, they reach standards of attainment which have been broadly average but are now higher. The amount of progress that pupils make as they move through the school has improved markedly over the last two years and is now good and resulting in improved attainment in both English and mathematics. The improving teaching is successfully closing the attainment gap between those pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers and was seen in an outstanding Year 6 science lesson where all pupils made good progress because the teacher continuously reinforced the key vocabulary of ‘force’, ‘weight’ and ‘gravity’.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Pupils say that they enjoy school. This was reflected in an effective Year 1 mathematics lesson where all pupils, including the more able, were challenged to use mathematical language to describe their own movements and how to find Christmas presents on a grid. In another successful lesson in Year 1, pupils were being appropriately challenged when writing an ending to a story about a monster.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Pupils feel safe and want to do their best. This is reflected in their good attendance and shows that they are well prepared for their future life and learning. Pupils’ good understanding of healthy eating and the importance of exercise supports them in making healthy choices, as recognised by the Healthy Schools award. Pupils develop good spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding through, for example, assemblies which celebrate achievements and give time for reflection. Pupils make a good contribution to school life by growing and selling produce in the school garden for a ‘Love Local Food’ competition, making decisions about spending on the school council and being ‘playground rangers’.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

These are the grades for pupils’ outcomes

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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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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Pupils’ attainment 1 The quality of pupils’ learning and their progress The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress

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contribute to their future economic well-being

Taking into account: Pupils’ attendance 1

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How effective is the provision?

Teachers have created bright classroom environments with prompts on the walls which support learning. Teaching assistants are used well to support pupils. Teachers make it clear to pupils what they are learning and how they can be successful. Marking of pupils’ work is regular and gives advice on improving work. Effective use of assessment was seen in a Year 6 lesson where the teacher adapted her lesson to take account of some gaps in pupils’ understanding about pie charts. This good use of assessment to match work to different ability groups, including the more able, was also seen in a mathematics lesson in Year 3 where the teacher adapted her teaching after noticing that several pupils were unsure about halving odd numbers.

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How effective is the provision?

In well-taught lessons, there is a good balance between how much pupils listen to the teacher and the time they spend working independently or in groups. In lessons which are less successful, the pace of learning is too slow and there is too much teacher talk at the expense of giving pupils opportunities to talk about their learning or being engaged in the activities.

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How effective is the provision?

The curriculum provides a good range of visitors to the school and these, together with visits out of school, such as to the Houses of Parliament and the Science Museum, contribute well to pupils’ academic and personal development and well- being. Care, guidance and support are good. Transition arrangements for pupils as they move through the school and on to their secondary school are thorough and support pupils well. The school makes good use of the advice and guidance from external agencies to support pupils whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable. The school runs an after-school club, which the parents and carers really appreciate, until 5.00pm and a breakfast club each morning, where pupils can enjoy toast, cereal and drinks and a cheerful environment in which to start the day.

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How effective is the provision?

1 The grades for attainment and attendance are: 1 is high; 2 is above average; 3 is broadly average; and 4 is low

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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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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

These are the grades for the quality of provision

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The quality of teaching

Taking into account: The use of assessment to support learning

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How effective are leadership and management?

The headteacher is ably supported by his senior leaders. The expansion of the leadership team to focus on improving teaching has been successful and lesson observations are very perceptive and identify both strengths and areas for development, which are followed up in subsequent observations. Senior leaders are clear about the actions needed to drive school improvement, as is shown by the measures they have taken to raise attainment and accelerate the rate of progress that pupils make as they move through the school. Central to this improvement is the good system to track the progress of all pupils, together with frequent meetings with staff to discuss individual pupils.

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How effective are leadership and management?

The governing body supports the work of the school well and ensures that good safeguarding procedures are in place and that equality of opportunity is well promoted to eliminate any discrimination. Its challenge on the school’s performance is strong and persistent, so influencing the rate of improvement well. Links with parents and carers are good. They are kept well informed of what is happening in school, with encouragement given to support their children’s learning both at home and in school. The parents’ forum is providing an additional channel for communication which parents and carers appreciate. The school promotes community cohesion well. It has a good understanding of its context and promotes a good understanding by pupils of local communities and cultures.

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How effective are leadership and management?

These are the grades for leadership and management

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driving improvement

Taking into account: The leadership and management of teaching and learning

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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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Early Years Foundation Stage

Children thrive in the clean and friendly environment. A well-planned induction programme, which includes a home visit, helps children to settle quickly into school life. As a parent said, ‘The team helped my child settle into Nursery in a calm and professional manner.’ Progress is stronger in Reception but improving in Nursery where a greater focus is now being made on identifying skills on entry and building on these starting points. The classroom areas are well set out to promote learning but the outside area is a little less exciting. There is a good range of planned activities but these sometimes do not provide sufficient opportunity for children to be creative and children do not always sustain their interest unless supported by an adult. This sometimes slows learning, especially for the more able children. There is an appropriately strong emphasis on developing language skills. For example, in an

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Early Years Foundation Stage

effective lesson in Nursery, children made good progress as they enjoyed acting out the story of the Three Little Pigs, making pig hats and learning to take turns.

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Early Years Foundation Stage

During the inspection, preparations for Christmas were well under way with children counting the buttons on Santa’s coat and learning songs with actions for the performance to parents and carers. This is a well led and managed setting where children are given a good start to their time in school. Good self-evaluation by the Early Years Foundation Stage leader has highlighted where further action is needed.

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Early Years Foundation Stage

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage

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Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage

Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage

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Views of parents and carers

The proportion of questionnaires submitted during the inspection was lower than is typical of primary schools. All of those who returned questionnaires agreed that their child enjoys school and is kept safe. All also agreed that teaching was good. Inspection evidence supports this view. A few parents and carers who responded disagreed that the school took account of their suggestions and concerns. The inspection found that the school took opportunities to consult with parents and

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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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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Ruislip Gardens Primary School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school. In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school. The inspection team received 88 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 383 pupils registered at the school.

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

My child enjoys school 52 59 36 41 0 0 0 0 The school keeps my child safe 59 67 29 33 0 0 0 0 The school informs me about my child’s progress 44 50 42 48 2 2 0 0 My child is making enough progress at this school 43 49 44 50 1 1 0 0 The teaching is good at this school 53 60 34 39 0 0 0 0 The school helps me to support my child’s learning 43 49 42 48 2 2 0 0 The school helps my child to have a healthy lifestyle 40 45 46 52 2 2 0 0 The school makes sure that my child is well prepared for the future (for example changing year group, changing school, and for children who are finishing school, entering further or higher education, or entering employment) 37 42 45 51 1 1 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school meets my child’s particular needs 42 48 45 51 1 1 0 0 The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour 51 58 33 38 1 1 1 1 The school takes account of my suggestions and concerns 46 52 34 39 4 5 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school is led and managed effectively 45 51 40 45 2 2 0 0 Overall, I am happy with my child’s experience at this school 56 64 31 35 1 1 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.

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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 43 47 10 0 Primary schools 6 46 42 6 Secondary schools 14 36 41 9

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Sixth forms 15 42 41 3 Special schools 30 48 19 3 Pupil referral units 14 50 31 5

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements were introduced on 1 September 2009. This means that inspectors now make some additional judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 08 April 2011 and 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. Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Sixth form figures reflect the judgements made for the overall effectiveness of the sixth form in secondary schools, special schools and pupil referral units.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, development or training.

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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

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on 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 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. The following judgements, in particular, influence what the overall effectiveness judgement will be.  The school’s capacity for sustained improvement.  Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils.  The quality of teaching.  The extent to which the curriculum meets pupils’ needs, including, where relevant, through partnerships.  The effectiveness of care, guidance and support.

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

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Ruislip Gardens Primary School, Middlesex HA4 6PD

Thank you for welcoming us so warmly when we visited your school recently. The other inspectors and I really enjoyed meeting you. It was lovely to see you rehearsing so well for your Christmas productions. We hope the performances went well. You told us that you enjoyed school. We thought you were well behaved and it was lovely to see how kind and respectful you are to each other. All the staff care about how well you are doing and how happy you are. You have a good understanding about how to keep safe and healthy and you attend school regularly. We think that the leaders and managers in your school are doing a good job and that, as a result, Ruislip Gardens Primary is a good school.

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Inspection of Ruislip Gardens Primary School, Middlesex HA4 6PD

In order to make it even better, we have asked your headteacher to make sure that all lessons:

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Inspection of Ruislip Gardens Primary School, Middlesex HA4 6PD

 move forward at a lively pace so that you get more opportunities to work independently  provide you with the opportunity to discuss your learning and to generate your own ideas.

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Inspection of Ruislip Gardens Primary School, Middlesex HA4 6PD

You can help by always working hard and continuing to enjoy all that the school offers you. We wish you every success for the future.

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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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