Hampstead Parochial Church of England Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 18–19 June 2012 Inspection number 395566 Hampstead Parochial Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 100031 Local authority Camden Inspection number 395566 Inspection dates 18–19 June 2012 Lead inspector Gulshan Kayembe

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 200 Appropriate authority Interim executive board Chair Elizabeth Wolverson Headteacher Simon Atkinson Date of previous school inspection 22 September 2008 School address Holy Bush Vale London NW3 6TX Telephone number 020 7435 4135 Fax number 020 7435 3777 Email address admin@hampsteadprim.camden.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 14 lessons taught by seven teachers and made a number of shorter visits to classrooms. They held meetings with groups of pupils and heard some reading. Inspectors also held discussions with members of staff and the Chair of the Governing Body, and spoke informally to parents and carers at the school gate. The team observed the school’s work, and looked at relevant documents, plans and records related to behaviour, safety and pupils’ achievements. As part of the inspection, the team also analysed questionnaire responses from staff, pupils and 106 parents and carers.

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Information about the school

Hampstead Parochial is a smaller-than average-sized school with more boys than girls on roll. The majority of pupils, just under 60%, are from a broad range of minority ethnic backgrounds, the largest group being White pupils from other European countries. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than the national average, although most are fluent speakers of English. The proportion with a statement of special educational needs or receiving support at school action plus is below average. An average proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for free school meals. The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which is the minimum standard expected for pupils’ achievement and progress. The school has a breakfast and after-school club. These are managed by the governing body and formed part of this inspection. The school has recently undergone significant turbulence in staffing and two classes have had

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Information about the school

several teachers this year. An interim executive board took over governance of the school in September 2010. The board is in the process of a re-establishing a governing body. 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 which provides a good quality, rounded education for its pupils. As a result, pupils achieve well. The school is not outstanding because teaching does not always provide enough challenge for the more-able pupils and pupils are not involved sufficiently in assessing their own progress.  Pupils make good progress across the school, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Their attainment is high at the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils develop their skills in communication, literacy and numeracy well and make effective use of these in subjects across the curriculum. However, some more- able pupils do not progress rapidly enough, especially in developing high level thinking and reasoning skills.  Good teaching underpins the good progress made by pupils. Teachers plan diligently and prepare interesting activities and resources to support learning. While they mark work well, exceptionally well in some cases, they do not

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Key findings

involve pupils enough in identifying for themselves how their work could be improved. This limits the extent to which pupils take responsibility for driving their own learning or learn from one another. Teachers and support staff question pupils well and support staff provide just the right amount of help.  Behaviour is typically good. Pupils are happy and secure at school and their parents and carers agree. They enjoy the breakfast and after-school clubs where they are well looked after. In lessons, pupils demonstrate positive attitudes and engage with enthusiasm especially when working with others. Attendance is high.  The school is well led and the leadership of teaching is systematic and effective. School leaders have managed the staffing issues well to stabilise staffing and ensure that standards of work have not dropped. Performance management is used well to develop teaching and teachers are not only keen to receive

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Key findings

feedback but make active use of this to improve their practice. 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?

 Ensure that more-able pupils progress more rapidly in developing high-level thinking and reasoning skills, by consistently providing challenge for them in all lessons, and so raise attainment even further.  Improve pupils' involvement in driving their learning forward and learning from one another by:  giving pupils opportunities in lessons to assess their own and others’ work  making more use of the learning criteria developed by teachers to help pupils to assess their own and others’ work.

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Achievement of pupils

Children begin school with knowledge and skills that are expected for their ages. Their numeracy skills tend to be stronger than their literacy when they start. Nonetheless, they make good progress across all areas of learning and achieve well in Reception. Children enjoy their work and concentrate really hard when writing or getting to grips with letters and how they sound (phonics). They are more than ready for the more formal National Curriculum by the time they reach Year 1.

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Achievement of pupils

Progress and learning are good in Years 1 to 6. Pupils in one class, in particular, where progress earlier in the year was somewhat uneven due to staffing instability, are now rapidly making up any lost ground. Pupils' reading skills develop well. Pupils read fluently and with good understanding of meaning by the end of Key Stage 1. All groups of pupils use their knowledge of phonics very effectively to help them to spell when writing, as well as to decode unfamiliar words when reading. Lower attainers, for example, sound out words to help their reading and enjoy using the pictures to expand the story line. Attainment at the end of Year 2 is above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils in Key Stage 2 build on the strong foundation in these key skills established at the end of Key Stage 1 so that their attainment is further above average by the end of Year 6. Pupils across the school make good

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Achievement of pupils

progress in science. The focus on practical and investigative work is benefiting pupils' learning considerably and encouraging curiosity. Art work around the school is vibrant and expressive. Most parents and carers are pleased with the progress their children are making. They are rightly pleased with how well the school helps their children to develop skills in communication, reading, writing and mathematics.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils say they enjoy learning because lessons are fun. They work well together and their exceptionally good oral skills help them to communicate effectively when working in pairs or groups. In a Year 2 lesson on Florence Nightingale, for example, pupils discussed her life and shared information maturely to help them establish an accurate timeline. Boys and girls achieve equally well, as do pupils from different ethnic backgrounds and those known to be eligible for free school meals. Many disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make outstanding 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

progress. This is because support staff are very skilled in working with them in lessons and teachers tailor work closely to their needs. In contrast, more-able pupils are not always challenged and extended to achieve their best and reach even higher standards, especially in relation to skills for the future such as analysis and reasoning. Pupils who speak English as an additional language pick up language skills rapidly and by the end of Key Stage 2 their attainment matches that of others in the school.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers establish strong relationships with their pupils. This helps to secure good levels of cooperation. Teachers give pupils good opportunities to work in pairs and groups and this supports social and personal development well. Tasks provided are usually interesting and engaging, and structured well. While work is well matched to the needs of lower and middle-attaining pupils, it is not always challenging enough for the more able. At times, tasks are not open ended enough to help these pupils to develop higher levels of thinking and creativity. When such work is provided, more- able pupils learn exceptionally well. In a Year 6 mathematics lesson, for example, more-able pupils made excellent progress when they were given the opportunity to explore patterns in the area and perimeter of a complex shape as it expanded. They were able to establish a formula to accurately predict what these would be as the

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Quality of teaching

Support staff are very well briefed about their roles in lessons. Consequently, they provide strong support to the pupils they work with, usually disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Pupils learning English as an additional language are well included in whole-class questioning and this, together with the regular pair and group work, helps them to practise their English. Most parents and carers say that teaching is good, and pupils agree, and that the school meets their child's needs.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers monitor pupils' work diligently and their interventions successfully keep pupils focused and their learning on track. Marking is generally good, with examples of exemplary marking for pupils' next steps. However, pupils are not involved enough in assessing work. While teachers draw out clear learning outcomes and share these with pupils along with a clear set of criteria, or list, of what successful learning will look like, these criteria are not used enough by pupils to assess how well they are doing.

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Quality of teaching

Cross-curricular topics work well enabling pupils to make links between different subjects. Some of the cross-curricular work has inspired strong connections to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, a science topic about shadows was extended in history to examine the moral and social 'shadows' characteristic of Victorian times, such as poverty, promoting profound reflection. Reading and phonics are well taught both in Reception and the main school. Opportunities to use and develop literacy, mathematics and information and communication technology skills in other subjects are good. 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

Children in Reception are provided with a good balance of adult-led and independent activities though independent work does not always extend the more able.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are polite and considerate to one another and to adults. They work and play together happily. Even the youngest work with whoever they are paired with without any fuss. Most pupils concentrate well in lessons and sustain focus on their work. Transitions from one task to another, or when pupils move from their desks to the carpet, take minimal time. Very occasionally a few lose impetus, although they are usually quickly re-focused by adult intervention. Overall, pupils' attitudes make a positive contribution to their good learning. Teachers manage pupils and behaviour well. There is a clear set of staged sanctions and pupils know and understand these well. Almost all parents and carers agree that behaviour in the school is good. Scrutiny of behavioural records and discussions show this is the case over time too. Pupils' good behaviour and attitudes extend to the breakfast and after-school clubs.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils in the school say they feel safe and their parents and carers agree. They have a good understanding of how to stay safe both in school and when, for example, using the internet. Pupils are less positive than their parents and carers about bullying and how well it is dealt with. The large majority, however, feel it occurs rarely and is effectively handled. Inspection findings indicate that there is little evidence of bullying and that any issues of behaviour are dealt with robustly. Pupils were clear though that bullying based on race or other prejudices is very rare and that, in such instances, the school takes very decisive action.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher provides good leadership and is well supported by his deputy. Performance management is used effectively to maintain a strong focus on continuous improvement in teaching and learning. Feedback from monitoring of teaching is used effectively to support improvement and identify professional development needs. The very effective management of teaching during the period of staffing difficulties has enabled achievement to remain good. This, together with better achievement in science and outdoor provision in Reception, both issues in the previous inspection, indicates strong capacity for further improvement. The currently small group of middle and senior leaders has had a good impact on maintaining high levels of attainment. With a full complement of staff from September 2012, the school is well placed to extend leadership responsibility more widely across the school.

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Leadership and management

Pupils' progress is exceptionally well tracked so that any who are beginning to lag behind are quickly identified and appropriate intervention or support provided. The school also promotes equal opportunity well by checking the performance of different groups. It is increasing opportunities for more-able pupils to achieve, although more remains to be done. The progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is rigorously tracked and the impact of different strategies to Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

support individual needs is particularly well evaluated. Equal opportunities are also well promoted through the school's robust response to any discriminatory behaviour.

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Leadership and management

The interim executive board executes its responsibility well and ensures that pupils are kept safe and rigorous procedures are in place. The board receives good quality information from the school which enables it to ask probing questions and to hold the school to account for the outcomes it achieves.

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Leadership and management

The after-school club is well managed by the board. Pupils are well looked after and supervised. The after-school club is flexible and dovetails well with a wide range of other after-school activities, such as Mandarin classes. Pupils say they enjoy the wide range of extra-curricular and enrichment activities. Curricular provision and opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good.

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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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London NW3 6TX

Thank you for giving us such a friendly welcome when we visited your school recently and for sharing your views with us. We really enjoyed talking to you and visiting your classes. Your school is giving you a good education and you are doing well across a wide range of subjects including English and mathematics. The art work around school shows how creative and expressive you are. Children in the Reception class get a good start to their education and enjoy their learning.

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London NW3 6TX

You told us you enjoy school and we can see this in your high levels of attendance. You particularly talked about the trips and how much you enjoyed these. It is clear that you get on well with one another. We were impressed with the way you work with one another in lessons and discuss ideas. You really are very articulate and have a wide vocabulary. This helps you with your writing as well as in sharing ideas.

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London NW3 6TX

Teachers make lessons interesting for you and are always ready to support you if you get stuck. The way in which help is provided for pupils who find learning difficult is really good. Your headteacher, deputy headteacher and other staff work together to keep improving the school. They know what needs to be done to make the school even better. We have asked the school to do two things.

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London NW3 6TX

 It should make sure that work is never too easy for those of you who are quicker learners so that you can achieve even more.  It should make sure that you are involved in checking your own and others’ work so that you can learn from more from one another and be more aware of how to improve.

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London NW3 6TX

To help your school improve, continue to do your best work at all times and keep up your high level of attendance. We wish you all every success in the future.

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London NW3 6TX

Gulshan Kayembe 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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