Mayflower Primary School

Mayflower Primary School Upper North Street, London, E14 6DU

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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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This is a good school

 Pupils join the school performing below age- related expectations. With good teaching, they achieve well and reach above-average levels in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The progress made by pupils English and mathematics has been significantly above the national average in recent years and the school has been congratulated by the Minister for Schools because it has made some of the most sustained improvements in pupil progress in the country.  Teaching over time is good because activities are carefully planned to meet pupils’ needs. Their work is very carefully marked, involving pupils in assessing their own work and acting upon their teachers’ very precise suggestions for improvement.  Pupils speak very positively about their school and their enjoyment of lessons. They behave well, have a clear sense of right and wrong and treat adults and each other with courtesy. They rightly believe that the school is a safe and

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This is a good school

secure environment.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher have a good understanding of what needs to be done to further improve the school. Monitoring the quality of teaching and tracking pupils’ progress are their top priorities. Staff and governors share their vision and ambition.  Governors make sure that they are well informed and are prepared to challenge as well as support school leaders.  Pupils are enthusiastic about topics they study, enlivened with visits and role play.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet consistently outstanding because the pupils who are capable of making more rapid progress are not always stretched by the tasks that are planned for them. Questioning is not always used to go beyond checking factual memory and does not always offer enough encouragement for pupils to think deeply about topics.  Pupils’ work in English and mathematics is marked in great detail but less so in other subjects. In addition, while pupils know what to do to make their English or mathematics answers better, they are not always clear about how to reach the next level.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors spent a total of nine hours observing 21 lessons or parts of lessons taught by 13 teachers. Additional activities included observations at breakfast club, during break times and a school assembly.  One lesson was observed jointly with the headteacher. Other leaders participated in visits around the school to observe how well groups of pupils, particularly those who are at early stages of learning English, were progressing.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, representatives of the governing body, phase leaders and subject leaders. A meeting was also held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the nine responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) as well as views communicated through the school’s own surveys and during informal discussions with parents and carers. They also took account of the views of the staff through meetings and responses to 35 staff questionnaires.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors listened to pupils read and examined the work in pupils’ books.  The school’s own attainment records for the current as well as previous academic years were scrutinised in addition to published information on pupil achievement. Inspectors examined planning and monitoring documents, records relating to pupil safety and welfare, including the school’s single central record of checks on staff, the behaviour logs and attendance records.

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Inspection team

Patricia MacLachlan, Lead inspector Additional inspector Shelley Davies Additional inspector Juliette Jackson Additional inspector

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Information about this school

This school is larger than the average-sized primary school. The Early Years Foundation Stage is provided in a Nursery and two Reception classes.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (extra money provided by the government for pupils eligible for free school meals) is twice the national average.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic heritage groups and whose first language is not English are significantly above the national average. The largest group is of Bangladeshi heritage. Almost all pupils are believed to speak a language other than English at home.  The school meets the current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress  The proportions of pupils that are supported at school action, school action plus or with a statement of disability or special educational needs are in line with the national average. Statements or support at school action plus are mostly for speech and communication

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Information about this school

difficulties, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and there is currently one statement for a pupil with physical difficulties.  The school provides additional services through a breakfast club.. There is no alternative provision.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Consolidate improvements in teaching and increase the proportion that is outstanding over time by:  planning tasks that include questions that challenge learners, particularly those who are capable of making more rapid progress, to develop a deeper understanding of subjects by explaining their answers in more detail  incorporating activities that encourage pupils to research topics for themselves and respond with high quality writing in all subjects  involving the pupils not only in evaluating the strengths and areas for improvement in their own work but also in choosing their next steps for reaching higher levels of attainment.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further strengthen the leadership and management of teaching by:  embedding some of the very strong assessment practices seen in mathematics and English in other subjects across the school  enlisting the stronger teachers in the school, and across the Poplar Partnership, in coaching their colleagues so that all teachers understand how to improve their teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skill levels well below those expected for their age. Good teaching, and a clear focus on story-telling, ensure that children make rapid gains, with increasing proportions making or exceeding expected progress in reading and numeracy by the end of Reception.  As pupils move through the school their rapid progress in reading is sustained because they are well taught to read by recognising sounds and letters (known as using phonics).The proportion of Year 1 pupils who reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check last year far exceeded the national percentages. Pupils of all ages enjoy reading, and the school’s records show that vast majority of Year 6 have made better-than-expected progress in reading.  Good progress is made during Key Stage 2 because teaching is well planned to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding. By Year 6, pupils’ standards of attainment are now higher than

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The achievement of pupils is good

the national average in English and mathematics. Achievement is not yet outstanding because the school needs to sustain this high attainment and increase the numbers of pupils who reach Levels 5 and 6 in English and mathematics by the age of 11.  Discrimination of any type is not tolerated and all groups of pupils make equally strong progress. This includes pupils of different ethnic heritage, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, and also those who are supported through additional pupil premium funding.  Careful tracking of individual pupils ensures that all pupils make the progress they are capable of and demonstrates the school’s commitment to ensuring that all pupils have equal opportunities to succeed. Those who are supported through the pupil premium are achieving average point scores in the Early Years and Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 that are in line with the good

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The achievement of pupils is good

progress of their classmates. At Key Stage 2 the gap is beginning to narrow because performance in line with or exceeding expected progress has been made during the autumn term.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good because well-planned tasks offer pupils briskly paced opportunities to solve realistic problems. For example, in a Year 5/6 mathematics lesson on proportion and ratio, pupils used recipes to find the right quantities of ingredients to make items for larger or smaller parties. This engaged and stretched pupils in focused discussions about different solutions that were possible. As a result, pupils made good progress.  Pupils are adept at discussing whether their writing or mathematics has met improvement targets because teachers mark work extremely clearly in a way that encourages them to revise their answers. Teaching teams do not currently check work in science so extensively. Pupils do not keep records of their own progress over longer periods to help them understand how to improve their attainment levels.  Planning is thorough and capable subject leaders check that sequences of lessons offer

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The quality of teaching is good

interesting tasks that help pupils to make progress. The best teachers re-shape tasks quickly if pupils are not succeeding to help them to learn at their own pace. Pupils who are capable of making faster progress would benefit from being set more open-ended challenges that require independent research over longer periods.  School leaders’ own evaluation of teaching is accurate. Focused coaching has enabled many teachers to improve rapidly.  Some outstanding practice was seen when open-ended questions were used to promote some sophisticated responses to different texts. Both the pupils working with the teacher and the smaller groups with special educational needs or at early stages of learning English who were engaged with other adults were guided to give vivid oral descriptions of their books.  The majority of parents and carers who responded to a school survey believe that their children are happy in their lessons and tell them about their writing and home learning assignments.

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The quality of teaching is good

They also value the parent workshops that help them to understand how to support their children’s learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. This is because they are enthusiastic about the activities in which they are engaged. In the Early Years Foundation Stage children show good social skills, cooperating in activities like using building blocks or sharing their thoughts with talk partners. Behaviour is good rather than outstanding because pupils who are capable of making faster progress are sometimes passive because they have not been given activities that would stretch their capabilities.  Pupils feel well looked after by the adults around them. Pupils who previously have displayed challenging behaviour speak of the very supportive and creative ways in which they have been helped to improve because ‘there is always an adult to talk to if you need one’. Well-mannered, courteous behaviour is typical.  Bullying is rare and parents have expressed satisfaction with the school’s prompt response to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

and good management of unkind behaviour. Pupils understand what bullying means and speak highly of the anti-bullying training that the school has provided. They believe that racism is ‘completely unacceptable’ and are appreciative that any potentially offensive behaviour is very quickly sorted out by staff.  Pupils have a good awareness of personal safety, including cyber safety, and respond well to situations by avoiding unsafe behaviour. For example, behaviour around doors and corridors is very sensible and pupils line up courteously in corridors at change of lessons. Parents in discussions with inspectors rightly believe that their children are safe at school.  Attendance is in line with the national average and improving each year. Effective strategies are deployed to improve attendance among the small, and diminishing, group of pupils who are habitually absent. Pupils know right from wrong and use the school’s ‘Golden Rule’, celebrating

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

good behaviour publicly. Assemblies encourage deeper reflection and kind actions. This reinforces moral development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection have been successfully addressed. Pupils’ attainment has improved and marking now ensures that pupils have clear guidance about how to improve their work. Subject leaders are now fully engaged in monitoring pupils’ progress, with frequent checking of books and lesson plans.  The headteacher has introduced a robust system for monitoring teaching, and this has made an impact on improving classroom practice. The new performance management system ensures that only those teachers who meet required standards move up the salary scale. The headteacher has not shied away from difficult conversations about teaching performance when these were necessary.  Subject leaders coach colleagues to help them improve the quality of teaching. The school improvement plan assesses strengths and weaknesses accurately. The priorities are to increase the pace of pupil progress and make further improvements to the quality of teaching so that

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The leadership and management are good

more is outstanding.  Provision to encourage spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils express moral viewpoints and are respectful about different religions, visiting a nearby church, for example, to discuss the crib with the parish priest. Opportunities to visit museums, science centres and places of historic interest are relished and widen their cultural horizons. Budgets have been prioritised so that every classroom has a well-stocked book corner with a rich range of factual and fictional reading about different cultures. Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra curricular clubs.  Management of the Early Years Foundation Stage shows a good understanding and tracking of progress information at this age and arrangements for transition from home to school are valued by parents. One commented, reflecting the views of many, ‘Staff make it easy for the children to make the move… my child wants to spend forever in this school because she loves it so much.’

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is based on topics for which teachers plan links across different subjects, such as history and geography topics that incorporate art or literacy. The lively role plays and stimulating displays elicit an enthusiastic response from pupils. The storytelling theme across the school is having an impact on improved progress in writing in both Key Stage 1 and 2.  Safeguarding systems are in place that meet statutory requirements and policies are rigorously applied. Leaders promote equal opportunities and are assiduous in tackling any discrimination that may arise.  The local authority has provided good support to the school by sharing lesson observations and checking that the headteacher and deputy headteacher are making accurate evaluations of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Other support has included training for the governing body and the leaders of key stages and subjects to develop their capacity to sustain

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The leadership and management are good

school improvements.  The governance of the school: – The governing body knows the standards of achievement and teaching in the school because the headteacher provides summary reports under these headings. Minutes of the curriculum committee record discussions about the headteacher’s summaries of lesson observations and the strengths and areas for improvement in teaching and pupil achievement. Governors are linked to different parts of the school and make regular visits, after which they report systematically on the achievement, teaching and behaviour that they have seen. Governors monitor the improvement plan, based on an accurate understanding of how pupils are performing compared with national standards. They receive clear summaries of attainment in their respective areas from leaders in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and 2, . Because representatives of the governing body have attended school leadership meetings where their

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The leadership and management are good

school’s performance is compared with national figures, they are increasingly confident in interpreting progress of pupils in different parts of the school. The school’s appraisal policy has been revised to incorporate the new standards for teachers, and governors understand the need to establish a clearer link between teachers’ pay progression and their pupils’ progress. Checks are made that the pupil premium funds are spent on the intended groups because the headteacher reports on the impact on attainment made by the funds. The governing body is very aware of the most cost-effective ways of allocating funds because it has received training in using the Sutton Report on national benchmarks. Oversight of safeguarding is effective and the link governor makes termly monitoring visits. A training programme run by the local authority has equipped governors to monitor budgets and set targets. Governors are involved in developing home–school links, such as regular coffee

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The leadership and management are good

mornings for parents, and take an active role in events such as the World of Work week to raise pupils’ aspirations, enlisting company sponsorship and running workshops themselves.

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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 100913 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 400438

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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 357 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Salman Khan Headteacher Dee Bleach Date of previous school inspection 30 June–1 July 2010 Telephone number 020 7987 2782 Fax number 020 7538 3792 Email address admin@mayfower.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

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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