Southfield Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 17–18 May 2012 Inspection number 376639 Southfield Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 101890 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 376639 Inspection dates 17–18 May 2012 Lead inspector Mehar Brar

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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 504 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Andrew Bickley Headteacher Mr Simon Prebble Date of previous school inspection 2–3 October 2008 School address Southfield Road Bedford Park London W4 1BD Telephone number 020 8994 6173 Fax number 020 8742 3569 Email address admin@southfield.ealing.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education 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 18 lessons involving 17 different teachers. They held meetings with senior and middle leaders, groups of pupils, parents and carers, and with members of the governing body. They took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at curriculum and development plans, monitoring information and samples of pupils’ work. In addition, they analysed questionnaire responses from 212 parents and carers, 32 staff and 100 pupils, and took their views into account.

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Information about the school

Southfield is a larger-than-average-sized primary school. The largest group of pupils in the school are of White British heritage; a large majority of pupils are from a wide range of other ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average. The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is above average. The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is average. The number of pupils joining and leaving the school at times other than the start of the year is high. In 2011, the school met the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress. There is a breakfast and after-school club that is not managed by the governing body and was not part of this inspection. 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

 This is a satisfactory school. It is not yet good because of some weaknesses in teaching, the curriculum and in leadership and management. Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged as satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ achievement is satisfactory. Children are now making good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage which provides them with a firm foundation for the future learning. In the rest of the school they make satisfactory progress, although it is stronger in mathematics than it is in reading and writing. There are not enough opportunities for pupils to develop key skills across the curriculum.

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Key findings

 Teaching is satisfactory. In Years 1 to 6 teachers use regular marking and accurate assessments to help pupils understand how well they are doing overall, and how to improve their work. However, assessment is not consistently well used in lessons to ensure that all pupils are challenged and pupils do not have enough opportunities to work independently or with each other. Teaching is good in the Early Years Foundation Stage where teachers use ideas that interest children to keep them highly motivated to learn, and adjust their teaching throughout sessions to help maintain good progress.

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Key findings

 Behaviour and safety are satisfactory. Attendance is average and improving. Most pupils feel safe in school and have good attitudes to learning. Almost all are respectful and courteous toward adults and each other. Although a few parents and carers still have concerns about behaviour, pupils confirm that it has improved.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher has developed clearer roles and responsibilities for leaders across the school and established a performance management system for all staff. This, combined with a more accurate and reliable assessment system and a particular focus on improving 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

pupils’ literacy skills, is improving the quality of teaching. Leaders, some of whom have recently taken on these responsibilities, have begun to evaluate their impact on pupils’ achievement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement by ensuring that all groups of pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 make good progress throughout the school by:  providing more opportunities for pupils to apply and practise their skills of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology across the curriculum  ensuring that leaders at all levels are fully involved in monitoring, evaluating and developing teaching and learning to raise pupils’ achievement.  Improve the quality of teaching throughout the school to be good or better by July 2013 by:  ensuring that teachers use assessment to adjust teaching within lessons to sustain an appropriate level of challenge for all pupils  providing more opportunities for pupils to develop their independent learning skills so that they become more confident and active learners.  providing more opportunities for pupils to work with each other.

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Achievement of pupils

Achievement is satisfactory and pupils make satisfactory progress from Year 1 to Year 6. Most parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire, however, believe that their children make good progress. Progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage is now good. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those with a statement of special educational needs, are identified early and provided with comprehensive support. As a result, their progress is in line with the rest of the school. All other groups also make similarly satisfactory progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils settle quickly in lessons because they understand the established routines and expectations. They waste little time moving between activities because teachers give clear instructions. Overall, most pupils enjoy lessons and work hard. When opportunities are provided they work well independently and particularly enjoy discussing their ideas with other pupils; such opportunities are however limited. Pupils’ progress in literacy, numeracy and using information and communication technology (ICT) is satisfactory, but a lack of opportunities to practise these skills in other parts of the curriculum limits the progress pupils make.

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Achievement of pupils

The main variation in progress made by pupils is between the Early Years Foundation 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

Stage and the rest of the school. In the Early Years Foundation Stage children are curious, active, and enjoy being given opportunities to learn by exploring. They are able to sustain effort and concentration because the learning is well matched to their abilities and interests. They understand the guidance teachers give them, and are responsive to the questions teachers ask them. This leads to good progress. Progress is satisfactory in the rest of the school where this clear focus on individual needs and level of pupil engagement is less well established.

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Achievement of pupils

Children join the Early Years Foundation Stage with knowledge and skills at expected starting points for their age. They now make good progress and are currently achieving well in all their learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage.. By the end of Key Stage 2 attainment in English and mathematics is in line with national averages, confirming satisfactory achievement from their starting points. Examination of pupils’ books showed that over time pupils were learning well about number and calculation but not enough about data handling and mathematical inquiry.

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Achievement of pupils

When listening to pupils read, inspectors found all pupils enthusiastic about reading. By the end of Year 2 even the weakest pupils can confidently separate and join sounds together, and older pupils can speak passionately about why they enjoy reading the work of particular authors. Middle and higher ability pupils read confidently, and are able to infer and deduce wider meanings which they can then discuss in a conversation. Overall, attainment in reading is average by the end of both Key Stages 1 and 2.

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Quality of teaching

Inspectors found the quality of teaching to be satisfactory overall. This differs from the views of parents and carers and pupils who believe that teaching is good. Pupils also feel that they are taught well. Although some strong practice was seen during the inspection, teaching in Years 1 to 6 is inconsistent, resulting in satisfactory progress. The Early Years Foundation Stage now shows good teaching leading to good progress. In the rest of the school, the amount of good teaching is increasing. The application of skills, including inquiry skills, to promote independent learning is not a developed feature across the curriculum.

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Quality of teaching

In the Early Years Foundation Stage teachers know their children well. They make detailed observations to adjust their teaching at the time, and to support subsequent planning, and enable children to learn by exploration and inquiry. Conversations with children are question led, activities are matched to their interests as well as abilities, and the learning areas are welcoming, language rich and engaging. Equipment to support independent learning and practical activities is accessible to all so different children can make progress at different rates. Teachers continue to ensure that even more children are able to engage fully with this approach to learning.

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Quality of teaching

Most teachers from Year 1 to Year 6 have established productive relationships, effective routines and some teachers have ambitious expectations. As a result, most lessons start promptly and generally proceed briskly. Teachers create a calm 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

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Quality of teaching

purposeful atmosphere in most lessons which helps to promote positive behaviour. Most lessons are further supported by regular marking of pupils’ work through which pupils are helped to understand how well they are doing and their next steps for learning. Teaching assistants are effective in helping disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs to make similar progress to other pupils in their classes. Meaningful ideas and, where provided, opportunities to learn collaboratively engage pupils well. In a Year 6 lesson, for example, the teacher used a letter about extending the school buildings to motivate pupils to write their own letter for or against the development, from the perspective of the school or local neighbours. This generated excitement and accelerated the pace of learning, providing good opportunities to develop social skills, weigh up moral issues and the needs of different communities.

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Quality of teaching

Regular reading opportunities in school through guided reading, and at home with parents or carers, are strongly encouraged by the school, and although not all pupils read as much as they can, the overall school strategy contributes well to the development of reading for learning and reading for pleasure.

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Quality of teaching

Although pupils are responsive to teaching, work hard and complete much of the work set, they are not given enough opportunities to work at different rates and, consequently, work is not consistently challenging for all pupils. There are also insufficient opportunities for pupils to make their own decisions about how to develop their work and to discuss and develop their ideas with each other. There is not enough use of ICT to support progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Quality of teaching

These aspects of lessons slow down progress for different groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. When a Year 2 class was analysing poems, for example, the time allowed for pupils to discuss the development of their own similar poems was insufficient to enable a discussion to develop. Therefore, not enough pupils were able to respond to the teacher’s questions about their poems. In other satisfactory lessons seen, teachers did not extend planned literacy activities for pupils who needed to be further challenged, or give pupils specific advice about their research skills to accelerate their progress.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour is satisfactory. During the inspection there were no significant behaviour incidents, and behaviour in lessons was mainly good. Over time the evidence indicates that behaviour is improving and this is confirmed by pupils. The school has revised its behaviour policy and pupils say that most staff now respond promptly and effectively when dealing with behaviour incidents. The vast majority of pupils are courteous to each other and to the adults they meet. Most pupils, parents and carers and staff feel that behaviour is good. A small minority of pupils are concerned about how the school manages behaviour that they perceive as bullying.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The recently implemented behaviour policy has led to more effective use of rewards and sanctions. A school house system has also been developed, which has generated 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

pride and loyalty from pupils. The recording of incidents has recently been extended to include more detail about how all behaviour incidents are investigated and resolved. All these developments are supporting prompt and consistent behaviour management throughout the school.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The great majority of parents and carers say that their children feel safe in school, and most pupils agree. Pupils demonstrate a secure awareness of risk and unsafe situations, including the dangers of cyber-bullying. They have no concerns about racial or homophobic bullying, and they also confirm that name calling and verbal abuse are rare. Attendance has now improved to average, reflecting increasingly positive attitudes towards school. As one pupil commented, ‘This school gives us the courage to try new things.’

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Leadership and management

The headteacher, supported by the governing body, has gradually and successfully developed systems to accurately assess and track pupils’ progress. As a result, the school is now able to identify earlier those pupils who need additional support. It has improved the teaching of reading and writing across the school, leading to better progress for pupils. An improving Early Years Foundation Stage is now enabling pupils to demonstrate good progress. Leaders have improved teaching through the development of agreed structure to lessons, the use of increasingly accurate assessments and the sharing of success criteria for lessons with pupils to guide them towards their next steps in learning. The regular and rigorous monitoring of teaching and learning, combined with targeted professional development, is helping to raise the quality of teaching across the school. There has been solid improvement to date, despite staff changes at all levels of the school. A clear understanding of what the

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Leadership and management

school needs to do to improve further, and the growing focus of recently appointed leaders at all levels on evaluating the impact of their work on the quality of teaching demonstrate that the school is in a secure position to improve further.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum has adequate breadth and balance. It does not, however, provide sufficient opportunities across the curriculum to develop key skills, although it is strengthened by visits, trips and clubs. The curriculum adequately promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. This includes some strengths, such as the hosting of pupils from a school in Chernobyl, enabling pupils to learn about contrasting lifestyles, and the effects of disaster on people’s lives.

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Leadership and management

The effective promotion of equality of opportunity has ensured that no group of pupils underachieves compared to the rest of the school. The school ensures that there is appropriate support for pupils whose circumstances have made them vulnerable. The governing body ensures that safeguarding requirements are met. A recent independent audit of safeguarding carried out on behalf of the governors also confirmed this.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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 Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

Thank you for making us feel welcome when we came to inspect your school. We enjoyed talking to you, and watching you learn and play. Thank you for talking to us about your work and sharing your views about your school. You helped us to understand your school better.

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Inspection of Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

Most of you told us that you enjoy school, and that you enjoy your lessons too. You feel that the school helps you learn and behave well. When we visited your school, you worked hard, and showed respect to each other and to all the adults around you.

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Inspection of Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

We found your school to be satisfactory. It is improving all the time. Your headteacher and all the staff in the school are working hard to make your school even better. To help you learn even better, we have asked the school to help you:

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Inspection of Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

 practise your literacy and numeracy in other subjects  use computers more often  work independently so that you can decide how you want to learn best  work more with each other.

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Inspection of Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

We have also asked all school leaders to be more involved in helping you make progress.

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Inspection of Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

You can help make your school even better by working as hard as you can.

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Inspection of Southfield Primary School, London, W4 1BD

Mehar Brar 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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