Crowland Primary School

Crowland Primary School Crowland Road, London, N15 6UX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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

 The standards pupils reach in reading, writing and mathematics across the school are not yet high enough.  Pupils in most year groups, but particularly in Year 3, are approximately a year behind pupils in other schools nationally.  A significant proportion of pupils have reading ages that are well below their actual age.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are not making rapid enough progress in developing their communication, language and literacy skills.  The school’s list of pupils with special educational needs is not kept up to date effectively.  Pupils who join the school mid-year do not have their learning needs evaluated quickly enough.

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The school has the following strengths

 The leadership of the headteacher and deputy headteacher is outstanding. Their high expectations, relentless drive and determination to improve pupils’ achievement have led to the school being removed from special measures in less than a year.  The headteacher knows how to improve the school further. Her great ambition for pupils’ high achievement inspires staff, governors and parents.  Governance is excellent. The governors support the headteacher effectively to tackle poor performance. They take tough action when required to ensure that the quality of teaching is good or better.  The quality of teaching is good. Staff are working effectively as a team to raise pupils’ achievement.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. They feel confident and safe in school.  The senior leadership team keeps a close check on the standards pupils achieve, particularly those who are eligible for the pupil premium funding.  Senior leaders set challenging targets which

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The school has the following strengths

pupils are eager to achieve. They discuss all pupils’ progress regularly with each teacher.  The curriculum is meeting pupils’ learning needs well.  The new way of teaching literacy is helping teachers to raise pupils’ attainment in reading and writing rapidly.  The school has built a strong partnership with the local secondary school, which benefits pupils in Year 6.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 20 lessons, all of which were joint observations with the headteacher or the deputy headteacher. Inspectors carried out two learning walks and heard pupils read.  Meetings were held with staff, a representative of the local authority and the Chair of the Governing Body.  The inspectors spoke to parents and took account of seven completed online questionnaires (Parent View) as well as written comments from 47 parents who attended a school event in December 2012.  The inspectors looked at the work in pupils’ exercise books during lessons.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school development plan and self-evaluation, pupils’ progress data, minutes of meetings of the governing body and local authority, and safeguarding records.

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Inspection team

Gill Jones, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Fatiha Mangera Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those from service families, is above the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average, as is the proportion supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  Most of the pupils are from minority ethnic groups. A high proportion of these speak English as an additional language. Some pupils join the school speaking little or no English.  No alternative provision is used by the school.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 Since the school was placed in special measures in March 2012 there has been a high turnover of teaching staff. The deputy headteacher and several senior teachers are new to the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop children’s communication, language and literacy skills in the Early Years Foundation Stage by ensuring that:  all activities are targeted to increase children’s vocabulary and develop their language skills  the recommendations from the recent audit of literacy are fully implemented  all adults in the setting use every opportunity to develop children’s understanding by using stories to enrich their experience of the world around them  the indoor and outdoor space is used effectively to capitalise on children’s natural inquisitiveness and enthusiasm for learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the information on the register for pupils with special educational needs includes their latest assessment data and evaluate the impact of the additional support provided.  Ensure that pupils entering the school during the school year have their learning needs assessed rapidly.  Raise standards in English and mathematics by:  implementing fully the recommendations set out in the recent audit of literacy  continuing to provide training in the teaching of reading and comprehension skills  ensuring that teachers who are less confident in checking pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding in mathematics and English are provided with opportunities to learn from the best  continuing to improve teachers’ subject knowledge in both English and mathematics through regular training in line with the school’s planned programme of improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is well below that expected for their age. Pupils’ low attainment is due to the turbulent recent history of the school, which led to it being judged as inadequate at the last inspection. Pupils are now making much faster progress, but their achievement overall is not yet good.  More-able pupils do not achieve as well as other pupils nationally, mainly because of the poor quality of education they received in the past.  Many pupils in Key Stage 2 are approximately a year behind where they should be for their age. They have a lot of ground to cover before they catch up with pupils at other schools. The school set ambitious targets for pupils in the autumn term. These were met by most pupils.  In the Reception class, children do not progress as quickly as they might because there are too many activities that are not purposeful. Children are too easily distracted by other activities in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

the room.  Since the introduction of the new literacy programme, pupils’ progress in reading and writing is improving rapidly. Pupils in Year 1 achieved well in the phonics screening check for six-year-olds; most reached the expected level. This is improving standards in Year 2.  Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium are achieving as well as other pupils in the school. Their attainment is slightly below pupils who are not in receipt of this extra funding at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2, but in Year 1, it is well above the national average for this pupil group.  The standards pupils achieved in Year 6 in 2012 were much higher than previously and closer to those expected nationally for 11-year-olds. This is because of the targeted support provided by booster classes and the better quality of teaching they received overall.  Pupils concentrate well in lessons and are making rapid gains in their reading, writing and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

mathematics. They are keen to learn and want to do well. Inspectors observed a good level of challenge for more-able pupils in most lessons.  Pupils are joining Year 1 with higher levels of skills and abilities than previously. Most pupils left Reception in 2012 with levels of skills, knowledge and understanding typical of their age, except in communication, language and literacy.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language do not always have their needs assessed quickly enough. This means that the support in a small minority of specialist lessons is not effective and pupils’ progress is much slower than it should be.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs receive support from teaching assistants. Targets for this group of pupils do not fully reflect the better quality of teaching they receive in the classroom, meaning that some pupils are inaccurately identified as requiring extra

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is now good. Since the last inspection, the headteacher has recruited some exceptionally strong staff who are leading the teaching and learning effectively throughout the school.  Typically, lessons are interesting, with a good balance of teacher talk and pupils’ working together and alone. Pupils respond well to teachers’ questioning and are keen to work hard.  Teachers make good use of resources, such as the interactive whiteboards and the new literacy materials. They are becoming very skilled at judging whether pupils understand their work and set ambitious targets for them to achieve by the end of each lesson.  Staff are keen to improve their teaching. They willingly attend training and want to learn from the lesson observations by senior leaders and consultants. They are implementing school policies for teaching the basic skills effectively. Consequently, pupils are making much better progress

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The quality of teaching is good

than previously and are catching up well.  Teachers match the work they set carefully to the learning needs of the pupils. Almost without exception, pupils made good progress in the lessons observed during the inspection because teachers continually assess the pupils’ skills and abilities well.  More-able pupils were challenged effectively during the inspection by activities that made them think hard. For example, pupils in Year 5 had to fill in a grid with decimal numbers, which their partners then had to halve and double. They enjoyed finding difficult numbers for their partners, testing their understanding of decimals.  Teachers are quick to notice when pupils do not fully understand their work and take time to go over it individually. Consequently, pupils are gaining in confidence and are not afraid to ask for help.  Teachers make the work fun and meaningful. For example, in a good literacy lesson in Year 2,

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The quality of teaching is good

the teacher provided pupils with plates of different fruits and vegetables to taste. This ensured that all pupils knew what the fruits and vegetables looked and tasted like, so they were able to describe them effectively in their discussion and writing. Pupils who speak English as an additional language made excellent progress in this part of the lesson.  Teachers’ expectations for pupils’ achievement are high. This is demonstrated by the good volume of work in pupils’ books, helpful marking which gives pupils their next steps and the displays of pupils’ work in the classrooms.  Lessons capture pupils’ interest. There is a good balance of teaching the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics and applying those skills to history, geography, science and other subject areas.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Most pupils behave well around the school, as school records and comments from parents confirm. They are polite and friendly to visitors. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy school and feel safe in the playground. They say that teachers are fair and when pupils are told off occasionally, it is because they are misbehaving.  Attendance is average. The school is monitoring absence carefully and has introduced systems which are improving punctuality and attendance.  There have been a small number of exclusions over the past year. These are well documented and related to pupils who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The school supports these pupils well and their behaviour is improving.  Celebration assemblies and reward systems are popular with the pupils who are keen to share their successes.  Pupils say bullying is rare. They talk with understanding about different forms of bullying. They

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

are tolerant towards each other and welcoming to those who are new to the school.  Pupils take responsibilities seriously. Older pupils are helpful towards younger pupils and in lessons, pupils work well together, supporting each other as ‘talking partners’ to improve their work.  In lessons, pupils work well together. They listen to each other and contribute well.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is an inspirational leader. She is determined that all pupils should achieve well. Together with her tenacious deputy headteacher, she has removed numerous barriers to pupils’ achievement quickly and is driving up standards rapidly.  Since the school was judged as inadequate in March 2012, the headteacher has made many good decisions that transformed the school. She has appointed teaching staff who are driving improvements in teaching and learning effectively and are raising pupils’ standards in reading, writing and mathematics.  The headteacher uses performance management effectively to improve the quality of teaching. Weaker staff are supported well to improve within a realistic timescale. She expects all staff to provide good value for money and makes a strong link between staff performance, pupils’ results and progression on the salary scale.  Staff morale is high. Teachers needing to improve the quality of their lessons have made great

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The leadership and management are outstanding

strides in raising the quality of their teaching. The impact of this can be seen already in the results gained by the pupils.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher know the standards achieved by pupils well. As part of a reading check, they tested all pupils’ skills in reading. Following this, they introduced a programme of support for pupils who have a reading age well below their actual age. The impact of this is rapid improvement in pupils’ reading skills.  The school development plan outlines clearly the next steps which need to be taken to improve the school further. It sets reasonable timescales for improvement and to check the progress made.  The headteacher makes good use of outside support. For example, she has received excellent advice from the headteacher of the local secondary school. The school has also benefited from the support of literacy experts and the local authority. The local authority adviser has been

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The leadership and management are outstanding

sensitive in his approach to school improvement, providing a good level of challenge to the headteacher.  The curriculum is meeting pupils’ learning needs well. Teachers are skilful in engaging pupils’ interest in the world around them and use it well to develop pupils’ communication and literacy.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well promoted. The school corridors show excellent examples of work done with local artists and the quality of display is good. Assemblies provide good opportunities for pupils to consider how to support one another.  The governance of the school:  Governors are fully informed about the performance of the school, including the quality of teaching. They set challenging targets and check carefully and regularly how well these are met. In several very difficult years, through which the governors had to face severe challenge, they steered a steady path. When the opportunity arose, they took decisive action

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The leadership and management are outstanding

to appoint a new headteacher. In addition, more recently they succeeded in gaining local authority financial support to appoint a new deputy headteacher, who is supporting the headteacher exceptionally well in driving school improvement. Governors check the school’s safeguarding arrangements regularly and all requirements are met. The governors monitor the impact of spending carefully, including the pupil premium. The school is reducing a large budget deficit systematically. However, the proposed reduction in the 2013/14 school budget by the local authority due to the improvements made in the Early Years Foundation Stage in 2012 is slowing progress in removing the deficit. Governors are very aware of the need to provide value for money and cost staff against performance and pupil progress. They make tough decisions to improve the quality of education in the school. Their swift and robust action to support the headteacher in holding staff to account ensures that only consistently

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The leadership and management are outstanding

good teaching is good enough for the pupils attending Crowland.

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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 102129 Local authority Haringey Inspection number 408603

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 415 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Roger Knight Headteacher Melisha Trotman Date of previous school inspection 21 – 22 March 2012 Telephone number 020 8800 4553 Fax number 020 8211 7473 Email address head@crowland.haringey.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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