Keir Hardie Primary School

Keir Hardie Primary School Edwin Street , Canning Town, London , E16 1PZ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Most pupils make good progress in English and mathematics.  Teaching is mostly good with some exceptional teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Year 3.  In the majority of the teaching, planning is effective in meeting individual needs. There is a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ reading skills.  Teachers and support staff offer great care and guidance to pupils. Consequently, pupils are well behaved and confident, and say they feel safe.  Pupils’ books are marked regularly and pupils comment on the feedback given.  Pupils’ attendance is above average; they are highly engaged in lessons and actively participate in class or group discussions.  The headteacher provides outstanding leadership. She rigorously monitors the quality of teaching and provides effective support and training for teachers.  Leaders including the governing body have high expectations for all pupils and provide

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

effective challenge to successfully drive improvement in teaching and achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some pupils make less progress than they should because of inconsistency in checking the progress of different groups of learners and because pupils join the school at different points during the year.  Some teaching, especially in Key Stage 2, does not fully address the needs of individuals.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 22 lessons, of which two were joint observations with the senior leadership team.  Meetings were held with the local authority’s Achievement Partner, two governing body members and staff.  Inspectors considered parents’ and carers’ views of the school through discussions and the five responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Inspectors also interviewed pupils to find out their opinion of the school. They also ate lunch with the pupils and observed pupils’ behaviour around the school.  The team examined a number of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress and monitoring documentation. They looked at pupils’ work, behaviour records and attendance figures.

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Inspection team

Janice Williams, Lead inspector Additional inspector John Sweet Additional inspector Gill Walley Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger than the average-sized primary school.  The number of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is above the national average.  A large majority of pupils are from ethnic groups other than White British, mainly of Black African and White East European heritage.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The headteacher was appointed in December 2011 after acting for 9 months.  The school is in a regeneration area of Canning Town and pupils join the school at different points during the school year.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 The school has achieved the Sportsmark, inclusion Quality Mark 2012 (IQM), Artsmark, Healthy School Sustainable Travel Plan Accreditation, and Fairtrade Status.  There are plans to build a new school on part of the existing site; this is due to open after 2014.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding, particularly in Key Stage 2, by ensuring that teachers:  examine pupils’ prior knowledge and effectively order activities to further develop and extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding  check pupils’ understanding regularly and respond effectively by adapting teaching and learning strategies when necessary, and provide enough opportunities for pupils to reflect and explore different solutions to challenging questions.  Accelerate all pupils’ achievement by:  improving the tracking systems to monitor all groups of pupils so that they make accelerated progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Although many pupils join and leave the school at different points during the school year, a notable feature of pupils’ good achievement is the good and sometimes excellent progress that pupils make in English and mathematics.  Children enter the Nursery with skills that are well below expectations for their ages in communication and language skills and physical development. Children make good progress in Nursery. A large majority of the children who start in the Nursery do not continue into Reception.  Children enter Reception with similar skills as they did in Nursery and their attainment is below age-related expectations. They also make good progress and, at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, their attainment is broadly average, with some children attaining above.  In Key Stage 1, pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. In Year 1, pupils attain higher than the national average in the Phonics (blending of sounds) Screening

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The achievement of pupils is good

Test. Year 2 pupils’ attainment in writing and mathematics is similar to the national average but their attainment in reading is slightly lower.  Over the last two years, pupils make rapid progress in English and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2 because of very well-tailored support programmes. As a result, all groups make good-to-excellent progress and more pupils achieve higher levels in mathematics. In the 2012 provisional test results, Year 6 attainment in English and mathematics was above the national average.  Pupils in the current Years 3 to 6 classes make good progress given their low starting points in Reception. However, some pupils from White British, White East European and African backgrounds make variable progress in writing or mathematics because they join the school at different points during the school year.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make mostly good progress; however,

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The achievement of pupils is good

in the current Year 6, a few are making slower progress in mathematics. Pupils in receipt of the premium funding make mostly good to outstanding progress throughout the school because of excellent guidance and support that they receive.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is mostly good, although there are some variations in upper parts of Key Stage 2. There is some outstanding teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Year 3.  In some lessons, teachers do not examine pupils’ prior knowledge and order activities accordingly to accelerate pupils’ learning. As a result, some pupils can follow a pattern or steps to a solution but cannot explain what they have learnt or how to apply some of the skills in other subject areas.  In an outstanding Reception lesson, children used talk partners to identify the characters in the story and they were challenged to write a list of how ‘Santa’ travelled through the snow. As a result of very good language modelling and effective questioning, children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make exceptional progress because they are able to repeat new words and use them accurately.  In Key Stage 1, the quality of lessons seen was mostly good in English and mathematics. The

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The quality of teaching is good

strength in these lessons is the effective use of questioning and providing enough time for pupils to reflect, discuss and respond to ideas. Pupils also make good progress because of the quality feedback teachers give in lessons, and the questions asked make pupils examine either their feelings or different ways of solving a problem.  In upper parts of Key Stage 2, some teachers do not regularly check pupils’ understanding and, in some instances, they do not offer effective support to ensure that pupils’ subject knowledge is secure before moving to more challenging concepts.  There is a strong emphasis on reading throughout the school. Teaching assistants and teachers effectively deliver the blending of sounds sessions. Consequently, most disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language make good progress in reading sessions.  Pupils’ books are marked regularly; the work is matched to pupils’ abilities, and pupils comment

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The quality of teaching is good

on the feedback given. However, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of feedback.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour and safety are good and, where lessons are particularly well planned, behaviour is often outstanding.  Around the school, behaviour is also good. There is an inclusive community where pupils are involved in different aspects of the school and have various roles and responsibilities. There are Green Ambassadors who grow their own food in the school, and the school chef uses some of the foods to prepare meals at lunchtime.  During lunch, there are lunchtime helpers. Pupils proudly hand out cutlery, direct peers in the disposal of unwanted food and ensure that used plates are stacked appropriately. Pupils have other roles including the Fair Trade Steering group, class buddies and cloakroom monitors.  There are also prefects and school council representatives who help to maintain discipline, pass on pupils’ opinions to staff and contribute to some decisions that are made. These roles enhance

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

pupils’ confidence and self-esteem.  There is a strong sense of ownership where all pupils feel valued; this is evident at the front of the school’s office where there is a colourful display of pupils’ vision for the school.  In lessons, pupils work well in group and peer activities and actively engage in their learning. Pupils are caring and supportive. For example, in a mathematics lesson, one pupil passionately debated his wrong solution, while the other pupil patiently tried to explain why his solution was inaccurate.  Pupils are aware of the different types of bullying and how to keep themselves safe. Their knowledge is reinforced through the annual ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ which includes cyber-bullying and other types of bullying. They produced anti-bullying leaflets which were shared with their peers and parents and carers.  Most of the few parents and carers interviewed, and those who responded to Parent View,

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

thought that the school was safe and incidences of bullying were uncommon.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new headteacher’s leadership is outstanding. She thoroughly monitors the quality of teaching in the school, and teachers and teaching assistants are given regular feedback on the strengths of their lessons or small group sessions, and areas for improvement are clearly identified. The grade given to teachers and teaching assistants about the quality of their teaching not only relates to the lessons seen, but also evaluates the quality of feedback given to pupils, the work in pupils’ books and usefulness of the displays for learning. As a result, teaching has improved rapidly with some exemplar lessons in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Year 3.  The headteacher has worked closely with the local authority to accurately evaluate the quality of teaching in the school and gain additional support and training for all staff. As a result, there is effective training for teachers and teaching assistants; all staff are involved in discussions related

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The leadership and management are good

to pupils’ attainment and improving pupils’ reading skills.  To date, the strong emphasis on monitoring teaching has been more effective in fully securing improvement in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1, than in Key Stage 2, where some inconsistencies remain.  All leaders communicate high expectations and ambition. The English and mathematics leaders offer excellent support programmes and extra tuition for pupils, and this has increased pupils’ rates of progress at the end of Key Stage 2.  The other subject leaders are passionate about the ‘creative curriculum’ and constantly evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum in meeting pupils’ needs. The curriculum is linked by many interesting topics from art, design and technology, science, and information and communication technology (ICT). Pupils are taken on trips to places that relate to a topic. Consequently, pupils are often engaged in their learning and contribute positively to discussions.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders ensure that the curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness by introducing opportunities for critical thinking or higher-order thinking in lessons. As a result, pupils are now becoming more confident in expressing their ideas and lessons are more engaging as pupils contribute to their own learning. Pupils’ feelings and creativity are also expressed in the numerous attractive art displays around the school.  Leaders’ evaluation of the school is mostly accurate. Leaders also hold teachers to account for pupils making at least good progress. However, progress tracking procedures do not provide a sharp enough focus on the progress made by different groups of learners.  The school has spent some of the pupil premium funding in effectively supporting pupils through small group sessions to develop literacy and numeracy skills. As a result, pupils’ reading skills

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The leadership and management are good

have improved through the school and pupils are attaining higher than the national average in the Year 1 tests. The funding is also used to provide additional tuition for Key Stage 2 pupil premium pupils. Consequently, last year, the Year 6 pupil premium pupils made outstanding progress in English and mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school: The governing body is very supportive and continuously evaluates the school’s work with the aim of ensuring that pupils make at least good or better progress. Governors use questionnaires to obtain pupils’ opinions about the quality of teaching they receive and their engagement in lessons. They are aware of their roles and responsibilities; some can analyse data effectively and they all know how the school compares to other schools nationally. Governors manage the budget effectively. They have ensured that the pupil premium funding is spent appropriately. They monitor its impact carefully to ensure that these pupils make good to outstanding progress. Governors are aware that some teaching still requires improvement and have invested in a thorough support and training programme for teachers. They effectively match the systems for performance management for both teachers and leaders to

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The leadership and management are good

pupils’ achievement. Governors have ensured that all safeguarding requirements are fully met and effective.

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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 102725 Local authority Newham Inspection number 400566

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 366 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gordon Miller Headteacher Violet Otieno Date of previous school inspection 10–11 February 2010 Telephone number 020 7476 1284 Fax number 020 7476 1262 Email address info@keirhardie.newham.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

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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School details

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

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