Greenslade Primary School

Greenslade Primary School Erindale, Plumstead Common, London SE18 2QQ

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Inspection dates 28 February–1 March 2013

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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 across different year groups make inconsistent progress. Achievement in mathematics is weaker than that in English and leaders do not monitor pupils’ progress in mathematics rigorously enough.  Teaching is not consistently good and some teachers do not check pupils’ understanding regularly.  Some teachers do not always use questioning to best effect to extend pupils’ knowledge.  Pupils are not always given tasks that encourage them to develop their thinking skills and this slows their progress. They are sometimes not given the chance to respond to teachers’ feedback and improve their work.  Teachers’ marking, especially in mathematics books, does not always give clear guidance to pupils on how to improve or extend their knowledge.  Some teachers’ subject knowledge is not secure enough, especially in the linking of letters and sounds and the set of rules for dealing with words and sentence structures.

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

 The quality of leadership in English and mathematics varies too much.

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The school has the following strengths

 There is strong leadership from the special educational needs coordinator and good leadership in the Early Years Foundation Stage leader.  Children make at least good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, especially in the Nursery class, where some make rapid progress. Many disabled pupils and those with special educational needs also achieve well.  Pupils behave well. They get on well with their peers and all adults. They attend school regularly and enjoy their time at school.  The range of activities offered by the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well with many opportunities to learn outside of the classroom.  Governors are very supportive of the school’s work and have a clear understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 13 lessons, of which six were joint observations with the headteacher. The team also spent time in the Early Years Foundation Stage observing the quality of teaching and support that is given to children.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher to discuss the progress that pupils make throughout the school. They also used the local authority’s analyis of the school’s data on pupils’ progress from different ethnic backgrounds.  Meetings were held with the local authority’s head of primary standards and members of the governing body. There was also a telephone discussion with the School Improvement Partner.  Inspectors considered parents’ and carers’ views of the school through discussions and the 32 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). There were also discussions with pupils and staff. The team had lunch with the pupils, listened to them read and interviewed pupils during

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Information about this inspection

lunchtimes.  The team examined a number of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress, and planning and monitoring documentation. They looked at attendance figures, pupils’ work, the school’s improvement plan and behaviour records.

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Inspection team

Janice Williams, Lead inspector Additional inspector Jane Richmond Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized primary school. The proportion of girls on roll is well below the national average.  Over a third of pupils are known to be eligible for additional support through the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for looked after children, those eligible for free school meals and the children of service families. This figure is above the national average. Two pupils are looked after by the local authority and there are no pupils from service families.  Approximately half of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The major groups are of Asian and Black British heritage.  Around 21% of the pupils speak English as an additional language and this proportion is above the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported at school action is well below the national average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with

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Information about this school

a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  At the time of the inspection, the Year 4 class was away on a residential trip.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least consistently good by:  making sure that teachers check pupils’ understanding regularly and adjust tasks accordingly so that pupils make good or better progress  making sure that teachers use questioning more effectively to consolidate and extend pupils’ knowledge  making sure that teachers’ feedback gives pupils clear guidance on how to extend their knowledge, especially in mathematics  creating more training opportunities for teachers to improve their knowledge of phonics (letters and sounds) and grammar.  Accelerate pupils’ progress so that it is good across all year groups by:  providing tasks and activities that challenge pupils’ thinking skills so that they make consistently good or better progress.  giving all pupils the opportunity to respond to teachers’ feedback and improve their work.  Strengthen leadership and management by:  making sure that the quality of leadership across different subjects is consistently good

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 monitoring pupils’ learning more rigorously, especially in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because pupils across different year groups make inconsistent progress, especially in mathematics.  Most children enter Nursery with skills that are below expectations for their age. A high proportion of children are at the early stages of communicating in English and their social skills are sometimes not well developed. Children make excellent progress in the Nursery because of the exemplary use of questioning and conversations by adults that enable their vocabulary to rapidly develop.  A small proportion of the children do not continue into Reception because they leave to go to other schools. Children make good progress across the Reception because of the wide range of well-planned learning resources that provide very good opportunities for them to explore and learn together.  Pupils’ attainment by the end of Key Stage 1 is broadly in line with the national average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

However, they do not make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics because questioning is not used effectively to check pupils’ understanding and tasks are often not adjusted to suit their needs.  Pupils are not given enough opportunities to respond to teachers’ feedback. Because tasks are not always challenging enough, some pupils are not encouraged to develop their thinking skills, and this slows their progress.  Although pupils make inconsistent progress across the school, by the end of Key Stage 2, attainment is typically above average, especially in English. This is because, in their last year at school, many pupils are taught in small group sessions, and after-school booster classes .  In the current year groups, pupils’ progress varies across different classes, especially in mathematics. Pupils from different ethnic groups make similar progress.  Most disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, those who speak English as

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

an additional language and those identified as at risk of underachievement make good progress overall because the small group support sessions are carefully structured to meet pupils’ needs.  Although most pupils in different classes make good or better progress in writing, in some classes, they do not make good progress because a few teachers do not provide thorough guidance that extends their skills in writing.  In most classes, pupils do not make good progress in mathematics. This is often because some comments from teachers do not provide pupils with clear enough guidance to improve their work or extend their skills.  Free meals pupils attain higher than their peers pupils nationally in English and mathematics. The average points score for those eligible for free school meals is similar to the national average for all pupils. In 2012, free school meals pupils attained approximately a sub-level below

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

their peers. The gap is now narrowing in both English and mathematics but especially in English because of thorough checks on their progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement because teaching is not yet consistently good. There are some weaknesses in subject knowledge and there is variability in the quality of feedback given to pupils. Occasionally, teachers do not check pupils’ learning thoroughly enough and modify tasks accordingly.  There is some good teaching in Year 6 English and in the Year 5 small group mathematics support sessions. In these lessons, pupils make good progress because teachers ask questions that make pupils think and reflect on ways of improving their sentence structures or explore ways of recording their work in a logical way that can be understood by their peers.  In most other year groups, the quality of teaching is variable. In some lessons, teachers’ questioning lacks challenge and does not help pupils to develop their thinking skills.  In sessions on reading and a few English lessons, some teachers’ lack of subject knowledge in

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

phonics and grammar hinders pupils from making good progress.  In the Nursery, children make rapid progress because of the high quality of teaching, including very good questioning and a highly stimulating learning environment. Supporting adults use engaging resources to get children to explore their feelings and develop language skills well, for example by discussing the texture of ingredients used to make ‘playdough’.  There are some examples of strong mathematics teaching, for example in Year 3. Here, the teacher provides pupils with very clear information on what they will learn and how to be successful. Very good demonstration of activities by the teacher means that pupils are attentive and continuous reference to their prior learning enables them to make excellent progress in solving problems. However, this good practice is not yet widespread.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour is consistently good in lessons and around the school. Pupils work and play well together. In the playground, they have a healthy choice of fruits or vegetables that they enjoy at break- times.  Pupils enjoy coming to school because of the many activities and rewards, such as ‘golden time’ where they are allowed to choose activities that they enjoy the most. They also praise the trips and outside learning opportunities. Pupils say they enjoyed being a part of the play ‘We Will Rock You’. They say everyone was given something to do. A Year 6 pupil said, ‘We are still getting on because of the play.’  They feel safe and bullying is not a major issue in the school; they say there are minor arguments with friends that are resolved quickly.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe while at or away from school. There has been a knife crime talk and parents and carers are involved in the anti-bullying Week and cyber-bullying

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

workshops. As a result, most pupils know how to use the internet safely and they have a clear understanding of different types of bullying.  There is an inclusive atmosphere in the school and pupils with emotional needs receive high- quality sustained support to help them manage their behaviour.  Pupils enjoy growing their own food in the garden and eating it. They all praise ‘evacuee day’ where they did many 1940s wartime activities. They were taken by coach to Wrotham in Kent where they were billeted in a 15 th- Century barn and treated as unwanted dirty guests. Pupils made their own gas mask, brought a case with their special belongings to school and experienced a lesson with air-raid siren. They were totally immersed in the time period as they played wartime games, made rationed lunches and the school’s hall was transformed in a tube- style air-raid shelter.  Most parents and carers interviewed and those who responded to Parent View say that the

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

school is safe, their children enjoy school and pupils behave well. They all praise the high level of care that pupils receive, and say that staff are approachable and the headteacher responds quickly to assist in solving any issues identified.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because teaching is not consistently good and there has been too much inconsistency in the quality of subject leadership. As a result, pupils make variable progress.  The headteacher has worked hard to create an inclusive environment; the school provides excellent care for pupils who face challenging circumstances. As a result, in some classes these pupils achieve better than their peers.  Leaders have worked closely with the local authority to examine information on pupils’ progress and identify issues with pupils’ performance.  Leaders have improve the way in which information on pupils’ progress is collected, used by teachers and presented in a format that is understood by all. Consequently, teachers willingly engage in discussions about the progress that pupils make and use assessment information to plan for the needs of learners. However, some teachers use this information more rigorously

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The leadership and management require improvement

than others; as a result, pupils make inconsistent progress, especially in mathematics.  The impact of senior leaders has shown itself in some areas; progress is good in the Early Years Foundation Stage; the English leader has implemented some effective support programmes to ensure that pupils have better literacy skills and some groups of pupils are now making good or better progress overall. The special needs coordinator has very thorough processes for identifying the needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs; she organises highly successful support sessions and provides effective guidance that enables them to make consistently good or better progress across the school.  The mathematics leader is fairly new in post and has not yet monitored the quality of teaching across the school, especially at Key Stage 2. He has done some lesson observations with the headteacher in Early Years and Key Stage 1; he is working on the school’s calculation policy and

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The leadership and management require improvement

gathering pupils’ opinions about mathematics, through the ‘Pupil Voice’, but all these strategies are yet to have an impact on accelerating pupils’ progress and improving the quality of teaching in the classrooms.  Teachers’ performance management is linked to rates of pupils’ progress and systems have been modified recently to make sure that teachers are clear about what is expected of them in terms of securing good progress for their pupils.  Although there are many training opportunities and support for teachers, there are still some weaknesses in teachers’ knowledge of grammar and the teaching of letters and sounds.  The school’s curriculum is engaging and offers a range of experiences that enhance pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The various learning opportunities that occur outside the classroom improve pupils’ behaviour, increase communication among different groups and create a tolerant environment of trust, respect and care.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The pupil premium funding is used to fund additional adult support. The funding is also used to provide additional speech and language sessions and literacy and numeracy booster programmes. This is having a positive impact on achievement for this group of pupils.  The governance of the school:  Members of the governing body are very knowledgeable about the work of the school. They clearly know the strengths of the school and areas that need further development, particularly in areas of weakness in teaching. They know that pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 make good or better progress in English and mathematics in comparison to other schools nationally. They are also aware that in some classes pupils make slow progress and they are supporting senior leaders in tackling this. They effectively monitor the spending of the pupil premium funding and ensure that effective support is provided for those eligible for free school meals and

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The leadership and management require improvement

vulnerable pupils, especially in English. Governors are linked to classes and make regular visits to the school. They work closely with the local authority to monitor the headteacher’s targets and they are clearly aware that teachers’ pay is closely linked to rates of pupils' progress, including that of the headteacher. They make sure that safeguarding requirements are fully met and effective. Members of the governing body have a secure grasp of the school’s finances.

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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 100162 Local authority Greenwich Inspection number 400394

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 240 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Anne Jefferson Headteacher David Ashley Date of previous school inspection 4–5 May 2010 Telephone number 020 8316 6847 Fax number 020 8855 6767 Email address office@greenslade.greenwich.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 sE: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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