St Saviour's Church of England Primary School

St Saviour's Church of England Primary School Chrisp Street, Poplar, London, E14 6BB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils’ progress is not consistently good in all year groups, though is improving.  There is too much variation in the quality of teaching. As a result of this, progress is uneven.  Not enough pupils are reaching the higher levels in their work because activities in lessons are not always challenging enough and, as a result, pupils are not always stretched.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 has declined in reading, writing and mathematics.  The teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make) is not yet good.  There has been limited impact of the school’s new leadership team, as the headteacher and governors have not had sufficient time to establish themselves as drivers of school improvement.

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The school has the following strengths

 The new headteacher has quickly ensured that leaders and managers work well together as a team to support her vision for improving the school.  Parents and carers agree that the school is improving under the leadership of the headteacher.  Behaviour is good. Pupils feel safe, have positive attitudes to their work and enjoy coming to school. Attendance has improved and is now above average.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 23 lessons or parts of lessons, including one-to-one support and small- group intervention work. There were six joint observations undertaken with the headteacher. Eight teachers were observed in total.  Meetings were held with the acting Chair of the Governing Body, the local authority representative and school middle and senior leaders.  Pupils’ views were sought throughout the inspection during lessons and break times and inspectors met with two groups of pupils, including members of the school council.  Inspectors listened to pupils reading and asked them about their enjoyment of reading.  Staff views were noted during the inspection and staff questionnaires were also analysed.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents. These included the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress, planning and monitoring documentation, behaviour and attendance information and safeguarding records and policies.

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Information about this inspection

 Parents’ and carers’ views were sought in the playground, before and after school. Inspectors also took account of the 32 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Aune Turkson-Jones, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Clifford Walker Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 St Saviour’s is an average-sized primary school with Early Years Foundation Stage provision for children in Nursery and Reception.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is low.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs, is above average.  The majority of pupils are White British, with an above average proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. The proportion that speaks English as an additional language is below average.  There is a breakfast club on site, managed by the governing body.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher took up post in September 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and of achievement to good by ensuring that:  all teachers plan lessons and activities that are closely matched to pupils’ individual needs so that all are effectively challenged and a greater proportion can reach the higher levels in their work  lessons are not over-directed by teachers and pupils are given more opportunities to take an active role in their learning  rates of progress increase, especially in Key Stage 1  phonics teaching becomes more effective in helping pupils to become more competent readers  Strengthen the leadership and management further by:  ensuring that the school’s improvement plans are fully implemented by all staff, so that consistency in teaching is secure across the school  developing the skills of the governing body by improving its understanding of the links between attainment, progress and the quality of teaching, so that it can be more effective

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

in challenging the school and holding senior leaders to account.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Although children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and abilities below those typically seen for their age, and leave in line with age-related expectations, rates of progress are inconsistent as they move through the school.  Standards in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6 are improving and 2012 figures showed an increase on those in 2011. Standards of attainment by the end of Year 2 are declining and have fallen to below average in reading, writing and mathematics. Teaching in phonics is not yet consistently good enough to raise standards and promote consistently good progress in reading from an early age.  The majority of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are making progress at similar rates to the others in school, with some examples of good progress and others less so. This follows the whole-school picture of uneven progress.  The achievement of pupils from minority ethnic groups is similar to other pupils. Those who

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

speak English as an additional language make similar progress to other groups as a result of the support provided by the school.  Progress in lessons sometimes slows because teachers do not assess pupils’ learning adequately and make the necessary adjustments to their work in response. Teachers’ expectations of their pupils’ capabilities are not always high enough, particularly in the case of the most able and least able, and this results in them setting work which does not adequately stretch or challenge them.  In the best lessons, pupils know their targets and make good use of their teacher’s advice and comments to help themselves to improve further. However, this is not typical in all lessons.  The school has made effective use of additional funding received to support those known to be eligible for the pupil premium, by tailoring support packages for each individual pupil. As well as additional music provision, involvement in extra-curricular clubs and enrichment activities, the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

school has provided some pupils with laptop computers so that they can use this technology at home and have the same advantages as others when researching or using them to complete homework. The achievement of these pupils is in line with others in the school, showing that the school is successfully narrowing achievement gaps.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement overall, because it is not yet consistently good enough to ensure that pupils make good progress from their starting points; there have been some signs of improvement recently.  Where teaching in lessons is less than good, pupils have limited opportunities to be actively involved and in some cases they become passive as learners. Teachers spend too much time talking and pupils have few opportunities to develop and apply their knowledge and skills.  Where pupils do not make good progress, it is usually because lessons are not planned using information about pupils’ starting points to ensure that all groups, including the most able, make progress from the start of the lesson.  Progress is not checked consistently during lessons so tasks are not always suitably adapted; this results in variations in pupils’ understanding and overall success. Teachers’ use of questioning to check understanding and stretch pupils further is inconsistent. In the better

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

lessons, skilful questioning supports good progress.  Phonics teaching is not yet secure and this has contributed to declining attainment in reading by the end of Year 2. The school has introduced plans to drive up achievement in phonics; although there are some early signs of success, new strategies have not yet had time to fully impact on pupils’ reading.  A positive climate for learning has been established throughout the school and there are mutually caring, respectful relationships between staff and the pupils. This contributes to the pupils’ positive attitudes to learning which are evident even when the work is not suitably matched to their abilities.  Teaching assistants are generally both skilful and supportive. They effectively promote learning in lessons and lead interventions for individuals and small groups of pupils outside the classroom. This is contributing to a rise in pupils’ achievement.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching is at its best, expectations are high and teachers are skilled in developing pupils’ thinking through effective questioning and progress monitoring. Although not yet consistent in all classes, pupils are supported effectively and understand how to improve their work, through comments from teachers’ marking in their books.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour in and around the school has improved dramatically since the last inspection and even when work fails to challenge them sufficiently, pupils retain their positive attitudes and try hard to complete it. The headteacher and her team have successfully raised expectations of behaviour and improved attendance and punctuality to school. Staff management of pupils’ behaviour is good and there have been no exclusions for over a year.  Pupils say that the behaviour seen during the inspection is typical and that there have been improvements at lunchtimes due to a programme of interesting lunchtime clubs and activities that have recently been set up.  Pupils are polite, get on well with each other and show respect and kindness to others regardless of age, race and disability. They enjoy all aspects of school life and speak about the school community with a sense of personal pride. This is a result of the school’s good promotion

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

of social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.  Younger pupils are friendly and confident and show their keenness to find out who visitors are and to engage in conversations. They benefit from the company of older pupils, known as ‘Early Years mentors’, during one of the lunchtime clubs where they learn from them.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school and speak highly of the care they receive from the staff. They understand that some situations are potentially unsafe and have good strategies to keep themselves safe. Pupils know that they cannot play in part of the school grounds if there are no staff to supervise.  Incidents of bullying and disruptive behaviour are rare. When they do occur, staff deal with them effectively. In a discussion with pupils during the inspection, one pupil commented,’ we all get on well here, the headteacher reminds us that we are all the same.’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership requires improvement because pupils’ achievement and teaching require further improvement. However, the headteacher and her leadership team have already made noticeable improvements within the school. Working in close collaboration with the previous headteacher during a period of transition into the role, the headteacher’s drive has been pivotal in securing the positive changes in a short space of time.  Addressing the pattern of declining attainment at the end of Year 2 and improving the teaching of phonics and overall progress for all pupils in the school have been correctly identified by leaders as the most urgent priorities, and are at the heart of the school’s journey to becoming good. The school is now on the right path, with effective plans in place to achieve this.  The headteacher knows the strengths and weaknesses of the school and has formed a close working partnership with leaders who know their roles and accountabilities and share in her

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The leadership and management requires improvement

vision for making the school more successful. She has introduced a new system to help them to identify and track pupils’ progress more closely, and leaders are becoming more skilled in using this to identify underachievement and provide additional support.  The headteacher has set up a new system to monitor the quality of teaching and this is integrated with personalised professional development programmes for staff. This places a strong emphasis on the quality of pupils’ learning and is beginning to have a positive effect. However, the system is in its infancy and it is too soon for the full impact to be visible in raising the quality of teaching to a consistently high standard.  Although there has been some effective professional development to improve the quality of teaching, this has not been in place for long enough to have a greater impact in ensuring consistency across the school.  The curriculum requires improvement because achievement is not yet good. It has now been

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The leadership and management requires improvement

improved so that it focuses on themes which the pupils enjoy and is enhanced by more extra- curricular and enrichment activities.  The school has formed a strong partnership with the local authority and advisers are already working with the school to improve the quality and consistency of teaching and learning. Support in the Early Years Foundation Stage has successfully driven up the quality of teaching, which inspectors observed to be consistently good.  Parents and carers are happy with the school and the school is further developing opportunities for parents and carers to be more involved in supporting their children’s learning at home. Year 1 parents and carers have an open invitation to remain in class for a short start-of-day writing activity every morning and this is generally well attended.  All statutory requirements are met which relate to safeguarding.  Considering the recent improvements in teaching, progress for some groups, attendance and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

behaviour, the school is well placed to improve further.  The governance of the school:  is not good because the governors are in the process of improving their knowledge and understanding of the links between attainment, progress and the quality of teaching  recognises that, by undergoing training to help them to develop the skills to understand performance data better, the governors will be in a much stronger position to challenge school leaders and drive school improvement.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 100961 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 404745

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 231 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Bob Gilbert Headteacher Mrs Fanoula Smith Date of previous school inspection 13−14 July 2011 Telephone number 020 7987 4889 Fax number 020 7537 4507 Email address head@st-saviours.towerhamlets.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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