South Grove Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 14–15 June 2012 Inspection number 3376810 South Grove Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 103072 Local authority Waltham Forest Inspection number 376385 Inspection dates 14–15 June 2012 Lead inspector Emma Merva

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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 523 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dawn King and Robbie Stuart Acting Headteacher Consultant Headteacher Paula Wilson Julie Maltwood Date of previous school inspection 18–19 September 2008 School address Ringwood Road Walthamstow London E17 8PW Telephone number 020 8521 6000 Fax number 020 8503 6984 Email address head@southgrove.walthamforest.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 28 lessons or part-lessons, amounting to 14 hours in total, involving 24 teachers, with 10 visits being accompanied by a member of the senior management team. Meetings were held with the consultant headteacher, acting headteacher, members of the governing body, staff, pupils, and parents and carers. The 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 its monitoring, assessment and attendance records, improvement plans, minutes of meetings of the governing body and safeguarding documents. In addition, they analysed questionnaires from 181 parents and carers.

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Information about the school

South Grove Primary School is a larger than average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils who are from minority ethnic groups is above average, the largest group being those of Pakistani heritages. An above-average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. A high proportion of this group of pupils are at the early stages of learning English. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above average. The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or being supported by school action plus, is above average. The main areas of support required relate to moderate and specific learning difficulties. The school has on-site resourced provision for pupils who have autism and global development delay. The consultant headteacher will take up the substantive post in September 2012. The school meets the current floor standards, which set the minimum standards expected by the government.

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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 satisfactory school. It is not yet good because the improvements to teaching are not consistent enough to ensure that pupils regularly make good progress. The monitoring role of the governing body is not yet strong enough to hold the senior leaders fully to account to ensure fast improvement within the school. Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged 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, though improving. All groups of pupils make satisfactory progress from their below average starting points. Progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Attainment is broadly average at the end of Year 6.

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Key findings

 Teaching is satisfactory. There are some elements of strong teaching in most lessons. However, it is not yet consistently good enough to ensure that all pupils are challenged sufficiently to make rapid progress.

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Key findings

 Pupils have good attitudes to learning and, as a consequence, behaviour is good. Pupils concentrate well, enjoy problem solving and show consideration for each other and for the adults around them. They report that they feel safe.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are satisfactory. The school is demonstrating notable signs of notable improvement, especially in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The monitoring of teaching is frequent and accurate in the appraisal of strengths and weaknesses. However, monitoring does not yet translate into fully effective impact on pupils’ outcomes. Members of the governing body are developing their strategic role, but are not yet fully confident in challenging senior leaders. Leadership and management of teaching through performance management are satisfactory. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively across the curriculum so that they are aware of the world they live in and their responsibilities within it. 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 so that it is consistently good or better to accelerate pupils’ achievement by:  ensuring that marking gives pupils clear suggestions as to how they are doing and highlights what needs to be improved  sharpening teachers’ expectations as to the way pupils present their work  planning challenging activities and providing suitable resources that meet the needs of all pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the role of the governing body so that there is greater involvement in monitoring the school’s work by:  ensuring that roles and responsibilities in relation to holding the school to account are distinctly defined.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the school in the Early Years Foundation Stage with knowledge and skills that are considerably lower than those expected for their age. They make good progress in their learning, especially in their physical and personal development. These skills enable them to move into Year 1 with improved but still slightly below- average skills in literacy and numeracy. They achieve satisfactorily overall and parents and carers are pleased with the progress their children make. Letters and sounds are well taught across much of the curriculum. Consequently, pupils read with enthusiasm and with growing confidence. Attainment in reading at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 is broadly average.

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Achievement of pupils

At the end of Years 2 and 6 attainment is broadly average in writing and mathematics. Pupils’ progress from the start of Year 1 to when they leave in Year 6 is satisfactory. Where pupils learn best, lessons are engaging and motivate pupils to achieve well. For example, pupils in a Year 1 lesson were keen on their number work and could work out simple calculations, which helped them to deepen their understanding of number bonds. Similarly, in a Year 2 lesson, pupils were excited about the recent visit to the seaside and, working in groups, they showed great perseverance and determination in researching the key events of the trip. As a consequence, they worked well in pairs to discuss their findings. However, progress is satisfactory because teachers spend too long on their explanations when pupils could be actively learning.

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Achievement of pupils

All pupils make satisfactory progress, including pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, because of the personalised targets and increasingly effective small group support. Pupils within the resourced provision make good progress as a consequence of effective one-to-one guidance, a clear personalised curriculum and learning targets for each 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

lesson. Specialist teachers and learning assistants prepare work which is well matched to their needs.

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Achievement of pupils

Those pupils of Pakistani heritage and those who speak English as an additional language, including those at the early stages of English acquisition, make effective progress in fluency from their starting points. This is as a result of carefully chosen pictorial resources and texts, sometimes in pupils’ home languages. Their success in national tests, however, belies the full extent of the progress they make because they still find difficulty in interpreting fully the language of some of the test questions.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is at least satisfactory and improving with no inadequate teaching seen. Parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire were positive about teaching. Inspectors found that marking showing pupils the next steps to improve their work is not always consistent enough. Although pupils’ presentation of work is improving, this is still not consistent enough across the school and is not picked up regularly by teaching staff. In the most successful lessons, teachers have high expectations of pupils, who work well independently or with an adult. Those who work with an adult are focused on their work and the purposeful environment enables them to think calmly and independently and progress well in their learning. For example, in a Year 5 booster class, pupils used stories to help them to sequence events in their writing so that they made good progress. Similarly, in a Year 1 topic

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Quality of teaching

lesson on designing a strange plant, pupils progressed well because of the careful management of small groups in the class, coupled with one-to-one support to help pupils to recall prior learning. This helped them in designing and successfully making a strange plant. However, examples such as these are not yet consistent features of all teaching and lessons.

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Quality of teaching

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, teaching is good. It is not yet outstanding, because progress is not always rapid enough. There is careful consideration given to children’s needs and to well-planned indoor and outdoor activities. There is a good balance of adult- and child-led initiatives. For example, this was seen in the dinosaur project, where children designed and made their own bones for the display. The teaching of letters and sounds is effective and staff have gained from recent training. Pupils can sound, blend and read words and stories confidently to adults and to each other. Pupils consider they learn well in school and said that they felt encouraged by adults to participate in learning.

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Quality of teaching

Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs benefit from bespoke programmes of learning, where necessary. As a result, they make satisfactory progress. Pupils who attend the special resource provision are included effectively in some mainstream lessons. In discrete sessions within the base, they experience highly effective adult support so they are helped to overcome their difficulties in personal and social development, numeracy and literacy. As a consequence, their gains in these areas enable pupils to participate in and access much of the 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

Pupils are confident to work together and develop their own thinking. For example, in a Year 6 lesson, pupils were able to work in groups to design a song through activities that were well matched to their personal and academic abilities. The curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively through the many trips, visits and opportunities. For example, in a Year 6 religious education lesson, pupils were working well together in groups to present their findings of what it means to follow the Buddhist faith, in preparation for a visit to the temple. As a result, their appreciation of other customs, faiths and traditions was enhanced.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour is typically good, both in lessons and whilst at play. This supports a calm and positive atmosphere for learning. The school has a comprehensive behaviour management system, which is well developed to encourage pupils to make the right choices. Parents and carers who returned questionnaires believe that behaviour is good and that pupils are safe in school. In lessons, pupils mostly want to do well and help each other to meet the school’s expectations. A small number of parents and carers feel that some pupils misbehave. Inspectors found that where any pupil, including those from the resource provision, displayed challenging behaviour, well-embedded procedures ensured that learning was not disrupted.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are aware of what constitutes bullying in its many forms. They are particularly aware of the need for pupils from the unit to play as full a part as possible in the school. On the rare occasions that bullying happens, including racist comments and cyber bullying, it is swiftly dealt with. As a result, pupils say they feel safe in school and adults help to deal with any problems arising from bullying. Attendance is above average and there are good systems in place to indentify and monitor pupils’ absence from school.

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Leadership and management

The consultant headteacher, acting headteacher and phase leaders provide strong leadership and set high expectations for staff. This has led to improvements in the quality of teaching and in the pupils’ achievement over the last year. Pupils’ attendance has also improved and good behaviour has become the norm. The above improvements, together with accurate self-evaluation and more regular monitoring of staff performance, demonstrate that the school has a sound and growing capacity to improve further. The recent professional development opportunities have been embraced by all staff and they are benefiting from helpful links with other colleagues. However, inconsistencies in the quality of teaching are not always dealt with robustly enough by leaders, meaning that teaching remains satisfactory and not better. The partnership with parents to support those whose circumstances make them vulnerable is having a marked impact on individual pupils’ gains. School

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Leadership and management

development planning, monitoring and target setting are securely in place, but too 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

Recent training has helped the governing body to gain a growing understanding of the school’s performance. The new systems for monitoring and evaluating the school are informing accurately their view of the pupils’ achievement. Members of the governing body are diligent in ensuring that all statutory safeguarding requirements are met and are effective. The school actively promotes equality of opportunity through its highly inclusive ethos, as witnessed by the integration of the pupils from the unit in much of the daily life of the school.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is satisfactory in the main school and is strongly enhanced with provision such as horse riding, French and many musical events that promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural and social development. The breakfast club is effectively organised and supports pupils’ social development well. Pupils’ knowledge of different faiths is growing because of the planned programme to visit places of worship and explore a range of traditions.

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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 South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

Thank you for the very kind welcome that you gave to us during our visit to your school. You are polite and friendly and we appreciated how delightfully helpful you all were. Your opinions helped us to find out about your school. South Grove Primary School is a satisfactory school; some things are good and some things have yet to be improved.

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Inspection of South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

These are some of the positive aspects of your school.

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Inspection of South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

 Your achievement is improving and you are working hard to ensure you do your very best.  The school is a safe environment, and adults care for you well and help you if you have problems or difficulties.  Your attendance is above average and you say you like coming to school.

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Inspection of South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

We have asked your headteacher and the governing body to do the following things to make your school even better.

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Inspection of South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

 Ensure that teaching is good all of the time to help you to you achieve your very best.  Make sure that your teachers tell you how you are doing in your work and how you can improve.  Help you to present your work as neatly as possible.  Ensure that members of the governing body check that your school is always doing its best for you.

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Inspection of South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

You too can help by continuing to try your best and keeping up your good attendance.

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Inspection of South Grove Primary School, London, E17 8PW

Emma Merva Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', wh ich 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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